Immersive Durga Puja experiences

We’ve curated a series of immersive Durga Puja experiences at Chittaranjan Park (CR Park), South Delhi—each offering a different layer of the Puja, from sacred spaces and artisan traditions to textiles, food and the grand celebrations.

Our Pre-Pujo Experiences will be conducted till 8th October, while the festive experiences continue through Puja.

PRE-PUJO EXPERIENCES

1. TEMPLE GROUNDS WALK
Morning / Evening | Day of your choice
Can also be customised for groups of 2–6 people

Step into the Kali Mandir grounds and discover the stories, rituals and preparations that build up to Durga Puja. Walk through the spaces where the festivities take shape and get a close look at Maa Durga’s idol in progress—being painted, detailed and slowly brought to life.

2. ARTISAN EXPERIENCE
Temple Grounds + Workshop Hub | Evening

Go deeper into the making of the Durga idol. Meet the artisans, understand their craft and witness the transformation from an unfinished form to the beautifully painted and decorated pratima. A closer look at the hands, materials, processes and traditions behind the goddess.

3. THE TEXTILE MELA EXPERIENCE
22nd September – 12th October | Day / Evening

Explore a vibrant textile fair celebrating fabrics, weaves and craftsmanship from across India—not just Bengal. Discover the stories, techniques, traditions and cultural details woven into the textiles, through a guided experience.

DURGA PUJA EXPERIENCES

4. ANAND MELA — “BITES & MORE”
15th October | Evening

A food-focused cultural experience beyond simply tasting. Explore traditional home-cooked Bengali dishes, discover the stories and cultural significance behind them, and experience the warmth of Bengali festive food traditions at Anand Mela.

5. PANDAL HOPPING EXPERIENCE
16th October | Shashthi Evening

Step into the festive CR Park after the transformation is complete. Visit three of the area’s major Puja pandals, beautifully decorated with Maa Durga in her complete form. Experience the scale, artistry, atmosphere, rituals and collective energy that make Durga Puja in CR Park so special.

Visit our Instagram Page for A Visual Experience 

Click the Link: https://www.instagram.com/thepujoeditt/

WhatsApp to Book  8527077585 | 9818541252 

Before the Dhak Begins

Four Stories Behind Durga Puja

Delhi Connections | Pre-Pujo Walk Stories

Every year, as autumn arrives in Delhi, something changes in the air.

The first signs may be subtle—the fragrance of shiuli flowers, the sound of dhak rehearsals, bamboo structures rising in neighbourhoods, artisans working late into the evening, and familiar faces beginning to discuss Pujo plans.

And then, almost suddenly, Durga Puja is everywhere.

But before the lights are switched on and the dhak begins to play, there are stories worth remembering.

Stories of a Goddess who emerged from the collective power of the gods.
Of Rama invoking Durga before his battle with Ravana.
Of Vijayadashami, Deepavali and Shyama Puja unfolding through the same autumn festival season.
And finally, of humble straw and clay slowly becoming the magnificent pratima we bow before.

For our Delhi Connections Pre-Pujo Walks, we explore these stories not simply as mythology, but as layers of a living cultural tradition.

 

1. The Goddess Who Defeated Mahishasura

The story of Durga and the buffalo demon

The image is one that every Puja-goer recognises: Durga, poised upon her lion, weapons in her many hands, confronting Mahishasura.

But who was Mahishasura—and why did the gods need Durga to defeat him?

The story appears in the Devi Mahatmya, part of the Markandeya Purana. Mahishasura was a powerful asura who had obtained a boon that made him extraordinarily difficult for the gods to defeat. Empowered by that protection, he challenged the gods and drove them from their celestial realm.

The gods turned to one another—and from their combined divine energies emerged a radiant female form.

She was Durga.

The gods gave her their weapons: Shiva's trident, Vishnu's discus, Indra's thunderbolt and other divine weapons. Mounted on her lion, she went into battle against Mahishasura and his forces.

The battle was fierce.

Mahishasura repeatedly changed form, eventually appearing as a buffalo. Durga finally overcame him, becoming Mahishasuramardini—the destroyer of Mahishasura.

The story is therefore not simply about a warrior goddess defeating a demon.

At its heart is the idea of Shakti—the divine feminine power capable of restoring balance when the existing forces of the universe have failed.

This is why the image of Durga with Mahishasura is so powerful.

It represents victory—but also the awakening of power.

And every year, when we look at the face of the Goddess, we are looking at a story that is many centuries old.

 

2. When Rama Invoked Durga

The story of Akal Bodhon

There is another story that helps explain something particularly fascinating about Bengali Durga Puja:

Why is Durga worshipped so grandly in autumn?

The Bengali tradition of Akal Bodhon—the untimely or unconventional invocation of the Goddess—connects Durga Puja with the story of Rama.

In the Bengali Krittivasi Ramayan, Rama is preparing for his battle with Ravana. Before the decisive confrontation, he seeks the Goddess's blessings.

He is instructed to worship Durga with 108 blue lotuses.

But during the puja, Rama discovers that one lotus is missing.

Rama is traditionally described as kamal-nayan—lotus-eyed.

Determined to complete the offering, he prepares to offer one of his own eyes in place of the missing lotus.

His devotion moves the Goddess.

Durga appears and blesses him.

This extraordinary act of devotion becomes associated with Akal Bodhon—the awakening of Durga outside the conventional season of her worship.

The story creates a beautiful bridge between two great narratives:

Rama's battle with Ravana
and
Durga's battle with Mahishasura.

Victory over Ravana and victory over Mahishasura become intertwined within the autumn festival imagination.

For Bengali culture, this is not merely a mythological footnote.

It becomes part of the very identity of Sharadiya Durga Puja.

 

3. From Vijaya Dashami to Deepavali and Shyama Puja

One autumn season, many stories of victory and light

Then comes Dashami.

The drums change their rhythm. The Goddess prepares to leave. The atmosphere becomes unexpectedly emotional.

Vijaya Dashami marks the culmination of Durga Puja and is associated with the Goddess's victory over Mahishasura.

But in Bengal, Dashami carries another deeply emotional meaning.

Durga is imagined as a daughter who has come to her parental home for a few days.

And now she must return.

The immersion of the pratima therefore becomes both celebration and farewell.

“Abar esho.”

Come again.

The emotional journey does not end there.

Across India, the period around Deepavali carries several traditions and narratives. One widely known tradition connects Deepavali with Rama's return to Ayodhya after his victory over Ravana and his years of exile.

In Bengal, however, the night of Amavasya during the Diwali period is also associated with Shyama Puja—the worship of Goddess Kali.

And so, within the autumn festival season, we encounter a fascinating sequence:

Durga — Victory
Vijaya Dashami — Farewell and return
Deepavali — Light
Shyama Puja — Kali in the darkness of Amavasya

Different regions, communities and traditions tell these festivals through different stories. They should not be reduced to one single narrative.

Yet together they create a remarkable cultural landscape of victory, return, darkness, light and the divine feminine.

Perhaps that is why the festive season feels so layered.

One festival ends, another begins—and the stories continue to speak to one another.

 

4. Before She Becomes the Goddess

The making of a Durga Pratima

And then there is the story that begins not in a scripture, but in an artisan's workshop.

Before Durga stands magnificently inside a pandal, she may begin with something remarkably ordinary:

bamboo, straw and clay.

The artisan first creates the structural framework.

Bamboo provides the basic support. Straw is tied and shaped to build the body. Layer by layer, the form begins to emerge.

Clay is then applied and worked carefully over the straw structure.

A human figure begins to appear.

The artisan refines the hands, face, limbs and posture. The surface is smoothed. The clay dries. More detailing follows.

Then comes colour.

The eyes are painted.

The weapons and ornaments are added.

The Goddess begins to look like the image that millions of devotees recognise.

And finally, there is the deeply evocative moment associated with Chakshudaan—the ritual giving of the eyes.

Suddenly, the face seems to look back at us.

The transformation is extraordinary.

What began as bamboo, straw and earth has become a representation of the divine.

But there is another story hidden here too.

The story of the artisan.

The inherited skills.
The hands that understand proportions without reducing them to mere measurements.
The knowledge passed from one generation to another.
The long hours spent shaping something that will be worshipped for only a few days before returning to the elements.

This is why watching a pratima being made can change the way we see Durga Puja.

We begin to notice the process behind the spectacle.

The craft behind the ritual.

The people behind the Goddess.

 

And Then We Walk

Perhaps the best way to understand Durga Puja is not to begin when the pandal lights are switched on.

Begin earlier.

Walk into the workshop.

Look at the bamboo skeleton.

Watch the straw become a body.

Listen to the stories of Mahishasura.

Remember Rama and the 108 lotuses.

Think about Akal Bodhon.

Stand quietly on Dashami as the Goddess prepares to leave.

And then watch the lights of Deepavali appear.

Because Durga Puja is not only a festival that we see.

It is something we can walk into, listen to, question, understand and experience.

That is the spirit of our Delhi Connections Pre-Pujo Walk Stories.

Four stories.

Four entry points.

One extraordinary cultural journey into the world of Sharadiya Durga Puja.

Come before the Puja begins.

Walk the stories.
Meet the craft.
Understand the rituals.
And experience the culture.

https://www.delhiconnections.club/2026/09/durga-puja-and-circular-design.html