[From 2024: Santoshpur Lake Pally pandal]

If there’s one festival you must experience in your lifetime, it’s Durga Puja in Kolkata—a celebration of art, devotion, and community that has earned a place on UNESCO’s Intangible Cultural Heritage list. Think of it as the world’s largest street art and installation festival, with the city itself transformed into a living gallery.

This year the festival dates are September 28 to October 2.

With a premium access pass, you can join curated trails that take you through some of the city’s most stunning pandals.

• Durga Puja Passport 2025 gives you seamless access across curated pandals: Book here.

• Bonedi Barir Pujo Parikrama offers an intimate window into traditional pujas celebrated by Kolkata’s old aristocratic houses—less glitzy than the big pandals, but more intimate, deeply atmospheric. Explore options here for the full day (9 AM to 5 PM) including AC transport, breakfast, Bengali lunch and guide. Ideal for those who like history, art & less crowded pandals.

• Interested in experiencing Durga Puja just like a local? Try this much talked about three hour Durga Puja walking tour, hosted by Soham, the founder of Calcutta Capsule. Last year, Steph & Pete joined. Discover what they experienced.

Tour details and bookings available here via BookMyShow here.

Now, if you happen to be in Kolkata a week before the festivities begin, you can still get a flavour of Puja art.  

Massart.in’s curated preview show features 24 contemporary Durga Puja artworks alongside one traditional and one Bonedi Bari puja—ideal for those who love cultural deep-dives. Details here.

And if you can’t make it this year, don’t worry. Each year, Founding Fuel brings you a carefully curated list of the best pandals by Ronaan Roy, who has been pandal-hopping with his family for years. We will publish Ronaan’s selection for 2025 on Saturday, October 4.

Like in the previous years, this year too, you can follow Ronaan’s pandal hopping on the highlights section of his Instagram (here).

In the meantime, you can get a flavour of what to expect from his earlier curations: 

Art in the Name of the Mother Goddess (2022)

(Vivekananda Athlethic Park in Haridevpur, 2022)

The 11 Best Kolkata Durga Pandals from 2023

(Naktala Udayan Sangha, 2023)

Art under the Eye of the Mother Goddess (2024)

(Dum Dum Tarun Dal, 2024)

Whether you go in person or follow along from afar, Durga Puja is more than a festival—it’s a city-wide work of art.