People wait to enter the Suruchi Sangha pandal in Kolkata on Sunday, September 28, 2025.
| Photo Credit: Debasish Bhaduri
Durga Puja revellers hit the streets of Kolkata in large numbers on Sunday (September 28, 2025), expecting bad weather and rain over the next few days. A low-pressure area is likely to form over the North & adjoining Central Bay of Bengal, and rain is forecast.
From north, to south people pandal hopped in large numbers on the sixth day of the festival. Kolkata received torrential rains on Monday morning, which claimed 10 lives, but people have put the deluge behind them.
“Under the influence of the above anticipated low pressure area, light to moderate rainfall at most places over West Bengal with isolated heavy to very heavy rainfall very likely over some districts of West Bengal during 2nd to 4th October,” a press statement by the Indian Meteorological Department said.
Metro carries 9.82 lakh
Durga Puja festivities will peak over the next four days of Saptami, Ashtami, Navami, and Dashami. Over the past few years, a trend has been observed where Durga Puja revellers are choosing to visit pandals before the peak festivities pick up from Saptami. The festival will conclude with the Durga Puja carnival on the Red Road, scheduled for October 5.
On Saturday, the Kolkata Metro recorded its highest-ever passenger count of 9.82 lakhs. “An estimated 9.82 lakh passengers travelled on different corridors (of the Metro Railway) on Panchami, September 27,” a statement by the Kolkata Metro said. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, during his Man Ki Baat telecast on Sunday, referred to the inclusion of Durga Puja in Kolkata in the UNESCO list of intangible heritage of humanity in 2021.
The Pandal of Suruchi Sangha in south Kolkata with the theme Bengali language and cultural history of Bengal.
| Photo Credit:
Debasish Bhaduri
“Friends, some time ago, on account of similar efforts by the Government of India, Kolkata’s Durga Puja also became a part of this UNESCO list. If we accord our cultural events such global recognition, the world will also know about them, understand them, and come forward to participate in them,” Mr. Modi said. Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee also greeted the people on the occasion of Sasthi and shared a song sung by Trinamool Congress Minister Babul Supriyo.
Meanwhile, organisers at Md. Ali Park in Central Kolkata, who had closed their Puja Pandal on Saturday after diversion of routes, opened the pandal on Sunday after a meeting with the Kolkata Police. On Saturday, organisers of Santosh Mitra Square had alleged police harassment over their light and sound show themed on Operation Sindoor.
People visiting the Kashi Bose Lane pandal themed on ‘Pakdondi’ in Kolkata, on Sunday, Sept. 28, 2025.
| Photo Credit:
PTI
Large crowds were also seen in the suburbs of the city and in the districts across West Bengal. There are about 3,000 Durga Puja pandals in Kolkata and 40,000 across the State. The West Bengal government has distributed ₹1.10 lakh to each pandal, which cost the State exchequer ₹500 crore.
Customers at a flower wholesale market in Kolkata on Sunday amid the ‘Durga Puja’ festival.
| Photo Credit:
PTI
Published – September 29, 2025 03:05 am IST
