Bengal's grandest festival: elaborate pandals house clay images of Durga slaying the buffalo-demon Mahishasura, flanked by Lakshmi, Saraswati, Ganesha, and Kartikeya. Five days of ritual run from Shashthi's unveiling to Dashami's tearful visarjan, when the goddess is carried to the river and asked to return next year.
आश्विन शुक्ल षष्ठी–दशमी
UNESCO inscribed Kolkata's Durga Puja on its Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2021, citing its scale, artistry, and role as a citywide social leveler.
Community pandals compete each year on elaborate, often socially-themed artistic designs. Sindoor Khela — married women smearing each other with vermilion — closes the festival on Dashami before the idol's immersion.