Durga Puja — September / October - Creative Travel I A family story since 1977

Rooted in ancient myth, Durga Puja commemorates the ten-armed Goddess Durga’s victory over the buffalo demon Mahishasura, a story of feminine power prevailing where all else had failed. The festival spans ten days during the Hindu month of Ashwin, opening with Mahalaya, when the dawn recitation of the Chandi Path is said to invoke the goddess and begin her journey to earth.

Its heart beats loudest in West Bengal, Assam, Odisha, and among Bengali communities across India. Elaborate pandals, temporary structures crafted by skilled artisans, rise overnight, each housing a sculpted idol of Durga flanked by her children. The thunder of dhak drums fills the sacred days of Saptami, Ashtami, and Navami, as devotees offer flowers at dawn and the air thickens with incense and prayer. On Vijayadashami, women celebrate Sindoor Khela, smearing vermilion on each other in a tender farewell before the goddess is carried to the river, her immersion both an ending and a promise of return.

For visitors, no festival quite matches the scale of emotion, artistry, and devotion that Durga Puja holds within a single week.