Kolkata’s Ganesh Puja celebrations expanded across neighbourhoods this year, with 402 organisers receiving formal police permission, new themed pandals drawing visitors and sweet makers reporting a sharp rise in demand for modaks and laddus.
Ganesh Chaturthi began on Monday morning and was scheduled to continue until Tuesday morning, with havans, devotional songs and community events taking place across the city. At Lake Kali Bari, where the Ganesh Puja entered its 16th year, custodian Netai Chandra Basu said the festival was being observed as a time to seek wisdom and remove obstacles.
The celebrations also reflected the changing visual and cultural character of Kolkata’s public festivals. On Raja Dinendra Street, organisers modelled the Ganesh idol on the Ram Lalla statue at the Ram temple in Ayodhya and installed a 55ft Hanuman figure at the entrance. Visitors stopped to photograph both installations.
At Jodhpur Park, the idol and pandal used a comic-book-inspired design, showing a baby-faced Ganapati beneath a canopy of stars and a crescent moon. The puja is organised by 15 women, all of whom are working professionals, according to organiser Puja Sarkar. The committee also distributed 100 blankets among underprivileged people on Sunday.
The number of Ganesh Pujas appeared to have increased in several parts of the city, although the Kolkata Police said the official count had not changed substantially. An officer at Lalbazar, the police headquarters, said 402 pujas had applied for and received formal permission. The officer added that many small pujas do not seek formal approval, making the total number of celebrations difficult to establish.
The festival’s public expression has also taken on a more visibly political and religious tone in some locations. Saffron was used as the theme colour at several pandals, while the Raja Dinendra Street organisers displayed the Ram Lalla-inspired idol. Club secretary Rohan Jaiswal said such a theme would not have been possible in the past because of political pressure.
At the inauguration of the Bharat Sevashram Ganesh Puja, chief minister Suvendu Adhikari described Ganesh Puja as a festival that had once been viewed as an import from Maharashtra. He said divisions between Bengali-speaking communities and Gujarati, Bihari and Hindi-speaking communities had weakened, and called for vigilance against what he described as “asuras and anti-national forces”.
The festival was also visible in Kolkata’s retail and informal production networks. Dashakarma shops remained crowded, while mini idols sold quickly at Kumartuli, the city’s traditional potters’ quarter. Sweet shops reported increased demand, particularly for dry-fruit modaks and boondi laddus.
Sanjay Todi of Gokul Sweets near Minto Park said sales of modaks and laddus had risen significantly. At Balaram Mullick and Radharaman Mullick, co-owner Sudip Mullick said the shop had produced more than 1,200kg of modaks, compared with less than 1,000kg the previous year, while laddu sales had risen by 20 per cent. A six-foot-tall modak was also displayed at a shop in Bhowanipore.
In Burrabazar, organisers planned to distribute 2,100 modaks and laddus, along with khichdi at night after a day of kirtana and yagna. Police permissions, community distributions and festival commerce will continue to shape the public footprint of Ganesh Puja as celebrations conclude across Kolkata.
