Berhampur's 92-Year-Old Bengali Durga Puja Tradition Endures

For the past 92 years, the Bengali community in Berhampur, the "silk city," has been celebrating Durga Puja in a traditional manner. This long-standing tradition began in 1933 when Bengali railway employees working in the then Bengal-Nagpur Railway at the railway station area started the celebrations.

Over the decades, the Bengalis in Berhampur have established a permanent mandap, or pavilion, near the Old Bus Stand to host the Durga Puja festivities. "As Bengalis started Durga Puja for the first time in Berhampur, we named it as Adi Durga Puja," explains Ashok Kumar Jana, a Bengali resident.

To maintain the authenticity of the celebrations, the organizers bring in priests, cooks, dhakis (drummers), and artists to make the idol from West Bengal. "Our aim is to keep alive the Bengali tradition while celebrating Durga Puja," says Nepal Sarkar, the committee president.

The Adi Durga Badi Society has been organizing the Durga Puja and other rituals like Kali Puja since 1998 in the mandap. "We have been celebrating Durga Puja and other rituals like Kali Puja since 1998 in the mandap," says Arabinda Sarkar, the former president of the society.