The pooja pandal is designed in a manner which resembles Hogwarts Castle and displays statues of the Potter characters like Hagrid and Hedgewig apart from Harry himself.
'Perhaps the greatest curse that modern technology has inflicted on the people during the pujas is powerful public address systems that blare out songs which you have no option but to listen to,' says Subir Roy.
"The puja is around 100 years old. Pranab's grandfather late Jangaleswar Mukherjee started the puja," said Goutam Roy, who has been looking after puja arrangements for the last couple of years.
This Puja-typical behaviour invariably tells you how enthusiastic Bengalis are when it comes to Devi Durga and dhunuchi naach and everything in between.
'I don't want what happened to me should happen to anyone else,' says Shagun Parihar, the BJP candidate from Kishtwar whose father and uncle were killed by terrorists.
'Although there is a visible dent in TMC's urban votes, especially among women, the CPI-M and the BJP are unlikely to benefit from this'
Take a look at the pictures!
Uttar Pradesh is under the scanner again as that state IAS Association has taken on CM Akhilesh Yadav for the suspension of Durga Shakti Nagpal, who campaigned against the sand mafia
Former India skipper Sourav Ganguly inaugurated a Puja Pandal in Howrah on Wednesday and during the inauguration the former Indian skipper opened up on India's campaign in the ongoing ODI World Cup 2023.
The Durbar Mahila Samanwaya Committee, an NGO in the heart of Kolkata's red light district, has decided to celebrate Durga Puja, reports Indrani Roy/Rediff.com.Speaking to Indrani Roy/Rediff.com, the sex workers say that they want to get rid of ostracisation and be allowed to celebrate Durga Puja just as others do.
The then Uttar Pradesh chief secretary, Durga Shankar Mishra, in an order dated June 26 and issued to all the district magistrates of the state, cited a letter from the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights dated June 7.
Devotees all over the world will now be able to watch the unique Durga Puja of Belur Math, where a young girl is worshipped along with the goddess, as the Ramakrishna Mission has decided to stream it live on Internet.
The HC was hearing three PILs challenging the restrictions on immersion of idols at the end of the five-day Durga Puja festival.
Nothing is more promising than countries putting aside hubris and ideological differences to invest in our shared future, observes Durga Sreenivasan, a delegate at COP28.
Here are some of the famous faces queued up to get ink mark on their fingers.
The dizzying inflation has failed to dampen the spirit of the Durga Puja festivities in Assam. In capital Guwahati, puja organisers have outdone themselves and their efforts are visible in the opulent and colourful puja pandals across the city.
Gen Z may not know who these ladies are, but Uma Bharti and Sadhvi Rithambara played important roles in the Ram Mandir movement for the Bharatiya Janata Party and its allied organisations in the early 1990s.
Film and television stars made their way to the North Bombay Sarbojanin Durga Puja in Juhu, north west Mumbai, to celebrate Ashthami.
Here's what the stars were up to last weekend.
Send this petition to reinstate IAS office Durga Shakti Nagpal to the UP chief minister!
On August 13, Muhammad Yunus visited the Dhakeswari Temple and reached out to the distressed Hindu community members in the wake of attacks on the minority communities.
Fast-track court Judge Vijay Kumar Mandal ordered the issue of the notice to her after hearing the complaint by an advocate Sudhir Ojha. An advocate on behalf of Sonia would be allowed to present her side on May 22 failing which the court would be free to take an ex-parte decision, Mandal directed.
The hotly debated 1998 JMM bribery case judgment, which protected former Union minister Shibu Soren from prosecution, was overturned by a seven-judge bench on Monday, ironically following a petition by his MLA daughter-in-law Sita Soren.
Kolkata is ready for Durga Puja and Mamata Banerjee is taking an active part in preparations for the festival.
Kolkata hangs its head in shame as the hope of a government with a moral compass and a heart in the right place recedes into the distance, notes Payal Singh Mohanka.
Sita lamented and said she was feeling neglected and reluctantly decided to tender her resignation from the primary membership of the party.
Union Minister Pranab Mukherjee worshipped Goddess Durga on Thursday at his ancestral home in Mirati village on 'Mahasaptami', the first day of the four-day long puja.
As a child, Sufal Das used to dream of becoming a dhaki. But a life full of adversities, and dwindling popularity of the dhak, has made him regret his dream.
And it's not just the festival Kolkata's beloved tram service is celebrating.
The actress was spotted at various events in the city, escorted by husband Abhishek and parents-in-law Amitabh and Jaya Bachchan.
Mamata imposed affirmative action to the point of absurdity. This has naturally led to counter-action: The Hindus who never thought of themselves as Hindus are now banding behind the BJP, points out Aditi Phadnis.
Even as Uttar Pradesh government justified its decision to suspend IAS officer Durga Shakti Nagpal for pulling down the wall of a religious place, the report sent by the district magistrate has held her "blemish-free".
An amateurish crime comedy that wants to be taken seriously, Mrs Undercover can never quite find its bearings, observes Sukanya Verma.
At least four babies, three boys and a girl, who were born in the Kendrapara district hospital here on Wednesday evening were named so by their overwhelmed parents.
Kolkata has turned into the proverbial City of Blinding Lights for Durga Pujo
Lakhan Singh and his neighbor Mithlesh Rai, both in their mid 50s, are cursing the floods in Bihar that has made them forgo Durga Puja celebrations in their village. They are two of hundreds of thousands of villagers in Bihar's Darbhanga, Muzaffarpur, Sitamarhi, Madhubani and Samastipur districts, which have been badly hit by floods.
The father of the nun, who was allegedly raped during the Kandhahmal riots, has left it to Goddess Durga to get her justice."I am busy with preparations for the Dussehra festival. Let the Goddess punish the culprits," said Ignace Barwa, whose second daughter was allegedly raped during a mob attack at K Nuagauon of Kandhamal on August 25."Ours is the only Christian family in the village," Rezina said, adding that they participate in all Hindu festivals.
The Muzaffarpur court had on April 16 issued a notice to the Congress president on a petition alleging that that she had hurt the religious sentiments of Hindus by her alleged portrayal as 'Goddess Durga' in a poster at the party's Muradabad office in Uttar Pradesh.
All the 450 plus puja celebration committees in Guwahati city have been asked by the police to install close circuit television cameras to monitor and videograph crowd moverment in and around the puja pandals.
Far from the rough and tumble of politics, Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee is in Kolkata at his ancestral home at Miriti in Birbhum district to perform Durga Puja as he has been doing every year.
