Festivals
Durga Puja in Bengaluru 2026: the pujas, the dates, and what the census says about Bengalis in the city
Durga Puja 2026 in Bengaluru: the days by drikpanchang's Bengaluru reckoning, what twelve Bengali associations have announced, the nearest Namma Metro to each, and what the 2011 census actually counts.
In this post (7)
- When is Durga Puja 2026 in Bengaluru?
- Durga Puja pandals in Bangalore: Ulsoor, Koramangala, Whitefield and the east
- South Bengaluru: Bannerghatta Road, JP Nagar, Electronic City and Begur
- North Bengaluru: Palace Ground and Bagalur
- Which is the best Durga Puja in Bangalore?
- Does Bengaluru have more Bengalis than Kannadigas?
- If your Puja this year is a laptop in Whitefield
Durga Puja 2026 in Bengaluru begins on Shashthi, Friday 16 October, and ends on Bijoya Dashami, Wednesday 21 October. Bengali in Bangalore on Bannerghatta Road, BARSHA in Electronic City, EBCA in Whitefield, the Begur trust and the Kaggadasapura association all give those six days on their own sites. The one surprise is Saptami. By drikpanchang's reckoning for Bengaluru's sunrise it falls on Saturday, a day ahead of Kolkata.
When is Durga Puja 2026 in Bengaluru?
Drikpanchang's Durga Puja calendar for Bengaluru puts the Bilva Nimantran, the Bodhon and the Adhivas on Friday 16 October, and Saptami with the Kola Bou's bath on Saturday 17. Its Kolkata calendar holds the Bodhon back to Saturday and moves Saptami to Sunday 18. From Ashtami on, the two cities agree.
It comes down to sunrise. Saptami tithi begins at 5.54 am on Saturday 17 October, the same moment everywhere in India. Drikpanchang gives Bengaluru's sunrise that morning as 6.10 am, so the day Bengaluru wakes to is already Saptami. Kolkata's sun is up at 5.34 that morning, twenty minutes before the tithi turns, so Saturday dawns there on Shashthi and Kolkata's Saptami waits for Sunday.
| Day | Kolkata (drikpanchang) | Bengaluru (drikpanchang) | EBCA, Whitefield (Benimadhab Sil's panjika) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fri 16 Oct | Shashthi, Bilva Nimantran | Shashthi; Bodhon, Amantran, Adhivas | Shashthi; Bodhon, Amantran, Adhivas |
| Sat 17 Oct | Shashthi; Bodhon, Amantran, Adhivas | Saptami, Kola Bou's bath | Saptami, Nabapatrika |
| Sun 18 Oct | Saptami, Kola Bou's bath | Saptami until 8.27 am, then Ashtami | Maha Ashtami |
| Mon 19 Oct | Ashtami; Sandhi 10.27 to 11.15 am | Ashtami; Sandhi 10.27 to 11.15 am | Sandhi 7.26 to 8.14 am |
| Tue 20 Oct | Navami | Navami | Navami |
| Wed 21 Oct | Bijoya Dashami, sindoor khela | Bijoya Dashami, sindoor khela | Dashami, sindoor khela |
The last column is there because not every Bengaluru committee reads the same almanac. EBCA's schedule says it follows Benimadhab Sil's Full Panjika for 1433, which puts Maha Ashtami on Sunday and the Sandhi Puja three hours earlier than drikpanchang does. The Aerospace Park association in Bagalur also has Ashtami on Sunday. Drikpanchang lists the all-India Vijayadashami on Tuesday 20 in both cities, and puts the Bengal immersion and sindoor khela on Wednesday 21. Go by your own pandal's card. Our day-by-day guide to the Puja has what each rite means.
Durga Puja pandals in Bangalore: Ulsoor, Koramangala, Whitefield and the east
Metro distances below are straight lines on OpenStreetMap, so the walk is always a little longer.
The Bengalee Association, Bangalore
1/A Assaye Road, Ulsoor
The oldest puja on this page. The association's Facebook page gives 1959 as its founding year, and a post there on about 23 September says it "celebrates 76 years of Durga Puja" and calls it "the oldest Durga Puja in Bengaluru". So the Puja, from 1950, is older than the registered association. Its own site lists this year's Shri Shri Durga Puja under 15 October 2026 and promises more details. Wikipedia's article on Sarathi, the Koramangala puja, says Ulsoor used to be the nearest Durga Puja for the Bengalis of Koramangala.
- Since
- 1959 as an association; its Puja goes back to 1950
- 2026
- Listed under 15 Oct on its own site; programme not announced yet
- Metro
- Halasuru (Purple Line), about 1.5 km; Trinity, about 1.7 km
Sarathi Socio-Cultural Trust
Mangala Kalyana Mantapa, Ganapathi Temple Road, Koramangala
Sarathi's own history begins in 2003, when about twenty people met at the Koramangala Club and pledged about ₹3 lakh among themselves. It has been at the Mangala Kalyana Mantapa since 2004. Its page says 2026 is its 24th year, in the same hall and open to all, and its home page now carries the schedule: Shashthi on Friday 16 October, the Nabapatrika from 8 to 9 am on Saturday, the Sandhi Puja from 7.26 to 8.14 am on Monday, and on Dashami, Wednesday 21, the puja and visarjan from 9.20 to 10.47 am and sindoor khela from 11 am. Bhog is at 12.30 pm on Saptami, Ashtami and Navami. Wikipedia's article on Sarathi calls its five-day cultural programme Sammad.
- 2026
- 24th year; Fri 16 to Wed 21 Oct
- Metro
- Central Silk Board (Yellow Line), about 2.3 km; BTM Layout, about 2.4 km
Kaggadasapura Bengali Association
V K Sports Convention Hall, Malleshpalya
Its site gives the founding day, 15 August 2007, and the 2026 dates, 16 to 21 October, at the V K Sports Convention Hall in Malleshpalya. A visitor quoted there mentions that the hall is air-conditioned.
- 2026
- Fri 16 to Wed 21 Oct
- Metro
- Benniganahalli (Purple Line), about 2.5 km from Malleshpalya
East Bengaluru Cultural Association (EBCA)
Katamnallur, Whitefield
EBCA's Durga Puja 2026 page gives 16 to 21 October, entry free, with every timing from Benimadhab Sil's panjika: the Nabapatrika from 7.41 am on Saturday, Ashtami on Sunday, the Sandhi Puja from 7.26 to 8.14 am on Monday. Bhog, khichuri and labra, is free daily from 11.30 am to 1 pm. Its book fair, more than 5,000 Bengali books, is billed as College Street coming to Whitefield under the name Maddox Square of Bangalore. Both names are Kolkata's.
- 2026
- Fri 16 to Wed 21 Oct, free entry
- Bhog
- Daily 11.30 am to 1 pm, by its own page
- Metro
- Whitefield (Kadugodi), Purple Line, about 6 km; take a cab
15:43Play: Kali Katha: Debi Durgar Bodhon O NabapatrikaKali Katha: Debi Durgar Bodhon O Nabapatrika
Mirchi Bangla
Jagannath Basu's Kali Katha on Mirchi Bangla's Times of Puraan, about 16 minutes on the Bodhon and the Kola Bou, the two rites that land on different days in Bengaluru and Kolkata this year. A good one for the cab to Whitefield on Friday evening.
Sarjapur Outer Ring Road Bengali Association (SORRBA)
Samskruti Pavilion, Sarjapur Road
Formed in 2008 by the Bengali families around the junction of Sarjapur Road and the Outer Ring Road, SORRBA says it is celebrating 18 years of togetherness. Its own map link puts the Puja at the Samskruti Pavilion convention centre on Sarjapur Road, and its timetable runs from Shashthi, Friday 16 October, to Bijoya Dashami, Wednesday 21, with the Sandhi Puja from 7.26 to 8.14 am on Monday 19 and the sindoor khela on Dashami. The ₹1,500-a-person Aashirbad membership includes bhog on Saptami, Ashtami and Nabami and a members' queue for anjali.
- 2026
- Fri 16 to Wed 21 Oct
- Metro
- None close: Electronic City and Infosys Foundation Konappana Agrahara (Yellow Line) are about 8 km away; take a cab
South Bengaluru: Bannerghatta Road, JP Nagar, Electronic City and Begur
Bengali in Bangalore (BinB)
Chandrodaya Convention Center, Dairy Circle, Bannerghatta Road
BinB began on Orkut in 2005, as an online community. Its Durga Puja 2026 page gives 16 to 21 October at the Chandrodaya Convention Center, with food stalls inside the campus and the dhunuchi naach to the dhak.
- 2026
- Fri 16 to Wed 21 Oct
- Metro
- Jayadeva Hospital (Yellow Line), about 1.7 km; BTM Layout, about 1.8 km
Sanskritik Bengali Association
Elite Banquet Hall, Puttenahalli Road, JP Nagar 6th Phase
Sanskritik's site marks its tenth foundation day in August 2026. The same page gives the Puja as 16 to 21 October at the top and as 17 to 21 October in its events list, so check the card before you plan a Friday evening there.
- 2026
- 16 or 17 Oct to Wed 21 Oct (the page gives both)
- Metro
- Jaya Prakash Nagar (Green Line), about 1.2 km
BARSHA
South Avenue Grounds, Konappana Agrahara, Electronic City
The Bengali Association for HSR and Sarjapur began in December 2014, and its 2026 page calls this its 11th Puja. It is the only puja here that has named its theme: Anchal, the end of a mother's sari, standing for two motherlands, Bengal and Karnataka. The idol is being made by an award-winning artisan from Kumartuli. By its page, the Puja opens at 8 am on 16 October and closes at 12.30 pm on 21 October, and the food stalls have already sold out.
- 2026 theme
- Anchal
- 2026
- Fri 16 Oct, 8 am to Wed 21 Oct, 12.30 pm
- Metro
- Electronic City or Beratena Agrahara (Yellow Line), each under a kilometre
Begur Bengali Socio Cultural Trust
Milana Greens, Mylasandra Road, Begur
The fullest evening calendar. Its Durga Puja 2026 page runs 16 to 21 October at Milana Greens, an open ground, with a dandiya night on 17 October, Rupankar Bagchi singing on 18 October, a night of members' own performances on 19 October, and Ashmita Kar with the InSync band on 20 October. Bhog is booked in advance, and pets are welcome.
- Evenings
- Dandiya 17 Oct; Rupankar Bagchi 18 Oct; Ashmita Kar 20 Oct
- Metro
- None close; Singasandra and Hosa Road (Yellow Line) are about 4 km from Begur
South East Bengaluru Bengali Association, SEBBA, is the other name you will hear around HSR Layout. Its site announces a fourth Durga Puja at the White House in HSR Layout, 17 to 21 October, with its schedule posted. It keeps Ashtami over two days, Sunday 18 and Monday 19, with the Sandhi Puja from 7 to 8.14 am on Monday. Bhog is from 1 pm, Saptami to Navami, paid at the venue, and on Dashami sindoor khela is open to all from 11 am.
16:20Play: Kali Katha: Debi Durgar NirmanKali Katha: Debi Durgar Nirman
Mirchi Bangla
The next episode, Jagannath Basu again, about 16 minutes: Debi Durgar Nirman, the making of the goddess. Keep it for the long ride out to Begur or Electronic City.
North Bengaluru: Palace Ground and Bagalur
R T Nagar Bengali Socio Cultural Trust
Gate 9, Palace Ground
It opens a day before most pujas here, on Panchami. Its Durgotsav 2026 page goes from Panchami to Dashami, Thursday 15 to Wednesday 21 October, at Gate 9 of Palace Ground, with the idol and the theme brought from Kolkata, Chandannagar lights on display and a free community lunch for more than 7,000 devotees. The trust dates itself to 2006. Its schedule keeps Saptami on both Saturday 17 and Sunday 18, as drikpanchang does for Bengaluru.
- 2026
- Thu 15 to Wed 21 Oct
- Metro
- Cubbon Park (Purple Line), about 2.2 km from the middle of Palace Ground; Mantri Square Sampige Road (Green Line), about 2.3 km
Bengali Association of Aerospace Park (BAAP)
Shri Mahaganapathi temple, KIADB Aerospace Park, Bagalur
The puja for the airport side of the city. Its Durgotsav 2026 page gives five days, 16 to 20 October, at the Shri Mahaganapathi temple in the Aerospace Park township. Its own table puts Dashami, with the sindoor khela, on Tuesday 20, a day ahead of drikpanchang, so check the day before you drive out.
- 2026
- Fri 16 to Tue 20 Oct, by its own schedule
- Metro
- No metro; come by cab via Yelahanka
The photograph at the top is on Wikimedia Commons under a CC BY-SA 4.0 licence, and our crop of it is shared on the same terms.
Which is the best Durga Puja in Bangalore?
At least three of these call themselves the biggest in Bengaluru. Choose by what you want from the day.
- For the longest history, go to Ulsoor: by its own count it has 76 years of Puja behind it, and Halasuru station is a short auto ride away.
- For a theme pandal, BARSHA is the only one that has named its theme. It is also a short walk from a Yellow Line station.
- For the rites by a Bengal panjika's clock, EBCA in Whitefield, which has put every timing on its page.
- For singers on a stage, Begur's calendar is the longest, but you will need a cab.
Does Bengaluru have more Bengalis than Kannadigas?
No, and not by a small margin. In the Census of India 2011 table of mother tongues for Karnataka's towns, the BBMP area, the city's single corporation in 2011, with its outgrowths, had 8,495,492 people. Of them, 3,574,226 gave Kannada as their mother tongue, or 42.07 per cent. Bengali was the mother tongue of 55,128, which is 0.65 per cent. That is about 65 Kannada speakers for every Bengali speaker.
| Mother tongue | Speakers | Share of the city |
|---|---|---|
| Kannada | 3,574,226 | 42.07% |
| Tamil | 1,388,305 | 16.34% |
| Telugu | 1,166,338 | 13.73% |
| Urdu | 1,104,124 | 13.00% |
| Hindi | 476,673 | 5.61% |
| Bengali | 55,128 | 0.65% |
Bengali came ninth in the city, after Kannada, Tamil, Telugu, Urdu, Hindi, Malayalam, Marathi and Konkani. If you have seen 44.5 per cent Kannada quoted, that is the whole Bangalore Urban district, not the city; in the district table Bengali speakers number 61,475 there, 0.64 per cent.
The census counts mother tongue, not where a family is from, and it is from 2011. It is still the latest published count; there is no current published count of Bengalis in Bengaluru, so any figure quoted without a source is a guess.
If your Puja this year is a laptop in Whitefield
Some of you will spend Shashthi, a Friday, on work calls. For those hours we would keep the Pujo mood running and save two songs for the drive home. There are more in our Durga Puja songs list.
3:20Tomar Jonnyo
Asha Audio
Rupankar with Drono Acharya, a Puja song from 2019, a little over three minutes. Play it on Saturday if you mean to hear him at Begur on Sunday night.
3:09Pujor Kodin
Zee Music Bangla
Snigdhajit and Aditi, about three minutes, from 2022. It is about the few days of the Puja, which is all most of us get off work.
If you want the Mahalaya broadcast on the morning of 10 October wherever you are, the times are in our Mahalaya guide.
References (12)
- Durga Puja calendar 2026, Bengaluru, Drik Panchang. Checked 28 Sep 2026.
- Navpatrika Puja 2026, Bengaluru (sunrise and Saptami tithi), Drik Panchang. Checked 28 Sep 2026.
- Panchang for Kolkata, 17 October 2026 (sunrise, Shashthi until 5.54 am), Drik Panchang. Checked 28 Sep 2026.
- Sandhi Puja 2026, Bengaluru, Drik Panchang. Checked 28 Sep 2026.
- Durga Puja calendar 2026, Kolkata, Drik Panchang. Checked 28 Sep 2026.
- C-16 City: Population by mother tongue (town level), Karnataka, 2011, Census of India. Checked 28 Sep 2026.
- C-16: Population by mother tongue, Karnataka, 2011, Census of India. Checked 28 Sep 2026.
- Pink Line (Namma Metro), Wikipedia. Checked 8 Oct 2026.
- Sarathi Socio Cultural Trust, Wikipedia. Checked 28 Sep 2026.
- Yellow Line (Namma Metro), Wikipedia. Checked 28 Sep 2026.
- Purple Line (Namma Metro), Wikipedia. Checked 28 Sep 2026.
- Green Line (Namma Metro), Wikipedia. Checked 28 Sep 2026.
Pictures: Durga at Bongodhara's puja in Bengaluru on the morning of Dashami, 26 October 2020.: Pallab2310, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped
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