Festivals
Kolkata Durga Puja 2026 pandals: the themes announced so far, North, Central and South
Which Kolkata pujas have announced their 2026 themes on their own pages, which are still silent, how to reach each by metro, and a North Kolkata order for one evening.
In this post (5)
Search for this year's Kolkata pandal themes and the same list turns up across a dozen sites, with the same names and the same confidence. Much of it was never posted by the pujas themselves. This guide goes by each committee's own page, as it stood on 28 September. Four big pujas had posted a theme. A few more had said something that matters, like the date their gates open or that the puja is happening at all. Several of the best-known names had said nothing yet. The three groups are kept apart below, every claim is linked to the post it comes from, and where there is nothing yet to report, the entry says so.
No pandal can be judged from a banner. The real first looks come after Mahalaya, Saturday 10 October, when the gates start opening, and they go into this guide on 11 and 15 October. The dates of each Puja day, and what happens on it, are in our Durga Puja 2026 day-by-day guide.
North Kolkata: Tala Prattoy to Ahiritola
North Kolkata has the tightest cluster this year, and the most themes out already. All five below sit near the Blue Line, between Belgachia and Sovabazar Sutanuti. Three of them, Kumartuli Park, Ahiritola and Bagbazar, are within a walk of the river and of Kumartuli itself, which Wikipedia's article on Kumortuli places between Rabindra Sarani and the Hooghly, with Ahiritola on one side and Shobhabazar on the other.
Kumartuli Park Sarbojanin
Kumartuli, North Kolkata
A theme about the river that the neighbourhood lives beside. Kumartuli Park and Kumartuli Sarbojanin are two different pujas; this is the first. Its committee's page announced the idea in a longer post in September, "Ganga tumi boichho keno", Ganga, why do you flow, and repeated it as a single line tagged #theme2026 on Sunday 27 September. What that looks like in bamboo and cloth, nobody outside has seen yet. On the evening route below, start by 3 pm so that you reach the river lanes before dark. The same September post says Kumartuli's image-makers were busy giving the goddess her form; by Shashthi most idols have left the workshops. Keep the camera down unless someone asks you to take a picture, and do not step into a workshop.
- 2026 theme
- "Ganga tumi boichho keno", per the committee's own posts
- Metro
- Sovabazar Sutanuti (Blue Line), which Wikipedia gives as nearest to Kumortuli; by train, Sovabazar Ahiritola on the Circular Railway
Ahiritola Sarbojanin
Ahiritola, by the river, North Kolkata
This year's theme is about sweets, and nobody else has described theirs in such detail. On 27 September the committee shared on its page a full account of its 87th puja, 'Madhuri Maitri: Anweshane', which follows the long history of Bengal's mishti, from jaggery, rice, coconut and kheer to chhana, sandesh and rosogolla. In it, the artist Manas Das describes a pandal that opens with a huge throne-like shape standing for a sweet shop, a giant barkosh, installations made from sandesh moulds, and a row of sweets tied to a place: the flat rosogolla of Harano Majhi at Kalighat, Tarapith's langcha, Dakshineswar's kheer sandesh. Subrata Mukha is making the idol. Come out of a pandal about sweets and you will want one, so leave time for a sweet shop on the way back.
- 2026 theme
- Madhuri Maitri: Anweshane, the history of Bengal's sweets (87th year)
- Pandal and idol
- Manas Das; idol by Subrata Mukha
- Metro
- Sovabazar Sutanuti (Blue Line), about 1.1 km in a straight line
Bagbazar Sarbojanin
Bagbazar Street, North Kolkata
The one to go to if you want the old look. Wikipedia's article on Bagbazar calls its Durga one of traditional design, and the article on Durga Puja in West Bengal counts it among the pujas known for the sabeki style. This year there were rumours that it would not be held. On 10 September the committee answered them on its page: the puja is not stopping, and it will be held the way it always has been. A "work in progress" photo followed a few days later. There is no theme to announce, because sabeki is the point.
- 2026
- On, as always (committee post, 10 Sep)
- Metro
- Shobhabazar Sutanuti (Blue Line), about 1 km; the walk takes in Kumartuli and Jagat Mukherjee Park on the way
Hatibagan Sarbojanin
Hatibagan, North Kolkata
The theme title here is the most playful of the lot. On 14 September the committee posted its official theme banner: 'Chhondochhara Chhonnochhara', which it glosses as "Rhythmless, Orderless", with a concept team of six named on it and the tag #92years. That is all it has said about what the pandal will be. Hatibagan is also one of the city's big markets, Wikipedia notes, with stalls spilling onto the footpaths, so expect the pavements packed in the evenings.
- 2026 theme
- Chhondochhara Chhonnochhara (Rhythmless, Orderless)
- Metro
- Sovabazar Sutanuti or Shyambazar (Blue Line), about 600 to 700 m from Hatibagan itself
Tala Prattoy
Tala Park, Paikpara, North Kolkata
Tala Prattoy calls its puja "Durga Puja Art", and its own site treats it like an exhibition. Last year was its centenary, with a work called 'Beejangan', a courtyard of seeds, and an idol by Bhabatosh Sutar. For 2026, the site's own page has shown a general-entry window of 13 to 24 October since at least April, when the Wayback Machine first saved it, so treat those dates as provisional until the club confirms them nearer the time. Its Facebook page has lately posted "let there be creation, not destruction; let the Puja be held with nature", but no theme title. Its record is long: Wikipedia's list of Asian Paints Sharad Shamman winners credits Tala Park Pratyay with seven wins, and in 2019 with three Best Puja awards in a row.
- Dates
- Site shows 13 to 24 Oct (posted by April; unconfirmed)
- Theme
- Not announced, as of 28 Sep
- Metro
- Belgachia (Blue Line), about 530 m in a straight line
7:20Sreebhumi Pujor Gaan: Dulbe Komor Paray Paray
Sreebhumi Sporting Club
Sreebhumi Sporting Club's own theme song from 2019, seven minutes long. Sreebhumi, in Lake Town, has not posted a 2026 theme yet; this is its sound in the meantime.
A North Kolkata order for one evening
Our order for the evening ends by the river. Start at Belgachia metro and walk to Tala Prattoy, about half a kilometre. Hatibagan is about 2 km south-west of it; if that is too far on foot, the Blue Line runs from Belgachia to Shyambazar. Bagbazar is a little over a kilometre north-west of Hatibagan, and from Bagbazar it is about a kilometre and a half down to Kumartuli Park and Ahiritola. Sovabazar Sutanuti metro takes you home, or Sovabazar Ahiritola station on the Circular Railway. These are straight lines; the lanes and the Puja crowds make every one of them longer, and on the Puja nights the police close and one-way many of these roads. Check the Kolkata Traffic Police Puja guide map and Metro Railway Kolkata for this year's routes and train hours before you set out.
Central Kolkata: Santosh Mitra Square and College Square
Santosh Mitra Square
Lebutala Park, Bowbazar, near Sealdah
The central Kolkata puja that people cross the city for. Wikipedia's article on Santosh Mitra Square dates the puja to 1936 and lists its recent pandals: the Red Fort in 2022, the Ram Mandir in 2023, a copy of the Las Vegas Sphere in 2024. For 2026, the committee's own page announced its khuti puja, the first pole of the pandal, for 5 pm on Sunday 19 July, and has since posted a countdown. It has not posted this year's theme there. Other sites print one; it goes in here once the committee posts it.
- 2026 theme
- Not on the committee's page, as of 28 Sep
- Metro
- Sealdah (Green Line), about 460 m in a straight line
College Square Sarbojanin
College Square, College Street
The puja by the College Square tank. The committee's own site has not posted this year's theme. Pair it with Santosh Mitra Square, about 1 km away in a straight line; College Street's book lanes are next door if you need a quiet half hour.
- 2026
- Theme not announced (committee's site, 28 Sep)
- Metro
- Central (Blue Line), about 580 m in a straight line
South Kolkata: Ballygunge, Deshapriya Park and New Alipore
Ballygunge Cultural Association
Lake View Road, Manoharpukur, South Kolkata
The clearest South Kolkata theme so far. In mid-September the committee posted its theme launch: 'Jojon', which it translates as "connection", by the artist Susanta Shibani Paul. Its posts tag this as its 76th year, which fits Wikipedia's note that the puja entered 65 years in 2015. One detail we liked: late in September it posted about a dinner it and the artist gave for the pandal workers and the people who keep the para clean through the Puja crowds.
- 2026 theme
- Jojon (connection), Susanta Shibani Paul
- Metro
- Kalighat (Blue Line), about 1 km in a straight line
Deshapriya Park
Rashbehari Avenue and Sarat Bose Road
The Deshapriya Park article on Wikipedia describes a playground between Rashbehari Avenue and Sarat Bose Road, with Priya cinema beside it, and one of the city's big pujas on it. In mid-September the Deshapriya Park Durgotsab page posted that the work was going on at a war footing, and a notice for stall bookings. It has not posted a theme. It is about 400 m from Ballygunge Cultural Association in a straight line, so do the two together.
- 2026
- Work under way (Deshapriya Park Durgotsab page, mid-Sep); theme not announced
- Metro
- Kalighat (Blue Line), about 800 m; Wikipedia lists its exits 3 to 5 for Deshapriya Park
Suruchi Sangha
New Alipore
No puja has won the Asian Paints Sharad Shamman's Best Puja more often: twelve times, by Wikipedia's count. The club itself dates from 1952. For 2026, two different themes are going round other sites, and they cannot both be right. The committee's own page has posted neither. Its latest post, on Saturday 26 September, is a view from above and a line: "the grand reveal awaits". So does this guide.
- 2026 theme
- Not announced on its own page, as of 28 Sep
3:34Maa Go Tumi Sarbojanin: Suruchi Sangha theme song
SVF
Suruchi Sangha's theme song from 2015, three and a half minutes, released by SVF. Keep it for the New Alipore leg.
Two South Kolkata names are still silent. Ekdalia Evergreen in Ballygunge, which Wikipedia counts among the sabeki pujas, has posted a countdown but no theme. Further south, Chetla Agrani's page carries festival greetings and no theme.
Still waiting: the pujas with nothing on their own pages
Sreebhumi Sporting Club, in Lake Town, which Wikipedia's article on Lake Town names among its theme pujas, had posted nothing about its 2026 pandal on either of its pages. Mohammad Ali Park's and Taltala's pages have been silent for years, Alipore Sarbojanin's carries only shares, and no page for Gauriberia could be found. Themes for most of these are printed with great certainty elsewhere. They are left out here because the committees have not posted them on their own pages, and a theme that cannot be traced to the people building the pandal is not worth printing. They go in on 11 or 15 October if the committees post them.
If you cannot be in Kolkata this year, the Puja still has a sound. Our Pujo mood plays the dhak, the agomoni and the theme songs on its own, and the full list is in our Durga Puja songs guide. For the dhunuchi at the end of an evening's arati, there is our note on dhunuchi naach.
16:20Play: Kali Katha: Debi Durgar NirmanKali Katha: Debi Durgar Nirman
Mirchi Bangla
Mirchi Bangla's Times of Puraan: Jagannath Basu tells, in sixteen minutes, the story of how the goddess Durga was created. For the walk to Kumartuli.
8:56Play: Love Shorts: Prem @ PandalLove Shorts: Prem @ Pandal
Akashvani Kolkata
Nine minutes of a Puja romance from the Akashvani Kolkata YouTube channel. For the queue.
For the old Kolkata that these neighbourhoods grew out of, Half Pant History is where we would start.
References (8)
- Kumortuli, Wikipedia. Checked 28 Sep 2026.
- Bagbazar, Wikipedia. Checked 28 Sep 2026.
- Durga Puja in West Bengal, Wikipedia. Checked 28 Sep 2026.
- Asian Paints Sharad Shamman, Wikipedia. Checked 28 Sep 2026.
- Santosh Mitra Square, Wikipedia. Checked 28 Sep 2026.
- Deshapriya Park, Wikipedia. Checked 28 Sep 2026.
- Puja guide map, Kolkata Traffic Police. Checked 28 Sep 2026.
- Metro Railway Kolkata, Indian Railways. Checked 28 Sep 2026.
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