Bonedi Pujos of Chinsurah-Hooghly area

“At the upper end of a large room, there was a kind of stage erected, about four feet from the ground. Above it, was a superb canopy, supported, on each fide, by two pillars. The whole was covered with red cotton cloth, which was spangled with flowers, made of thin plates of silver; and which, by the numerous lamps, with which the chamber was illuminated, had a very brilliant effect.”

~Johann Splinter Stavornius, describing a Durga Puja celebration he witnessed in a bania household in Chinsurah around 1770

One of the oldest cities along the Hooghly river, Chinsurah is known not only for its Dutch-era and British-era heritage structures- it boasts a large number of bonedi household Durga Pujas. Most of these families migrated to the Hooghly-Chinsurah region in the 17th and 18th centuries owing to Indo-European trade. The families of Hooghly-Chinsurah are particularly noteworthy, for most of them are of Vaishnavite bania background. Their sectarian affiliations did not stop them from worshipping the goddess in grand celebrations, but heavily influenced their mode of worship. In fact, most of them follow the Baishnab mawt e pujo, with family members strictly following a vegetarian diet throughout the Puja, worshipping the goddess not in her usual demon-slaying Mahishasurmardini form, but in the peaceful Shiva-Parvati/Hara Gauri form. 

Pujas in Chinsurah proper

  Neogi Bari, Kanakshali

Location- opposite to Kanakshali Primary school click here 

Adhya bati, Panchanantala

Celebrating Durga Puja for around 290 years, the Adhyas of Kamarpara are among the oldest and most well-known families in town. Almost every person who grew up in Chinsurah has a childhood memory of walking to the thakurdalan of the house with their family to see Durga seated on the lap of a giant idol of Shiva, who peacefully looks over visitors with a silver chilam in his hand. Another nostalgic element that this house has still retained is generationally hiring the same sweetmakers for the bhog of the goddess, or what Bengalis fondly call "bhiyen bosano." The family's tutelary deity is Shyamrai Jiu. The Puja also got a feature on UNESCO's website!

Location- opposite to Chinsurah Deshbandhu Memorial High School (click here)

Pathak Bari, Kamarpara 

Location- click here

Saha Bari, Tetultola

Location- Tetultola lane, opposite to Kamarpara Mondol Bari (click here)

Boro Seal Bari, Seal Goli

One of the oldest standing monuments in Chinsurah, with some of its portions dating back to 1763, the Boro Seal Bari of the suvarnabanik Seal family resumed celebrating Durga Puja a while ago in its grand old thakurdalan in the Hara-Gauri form after performing ghat-puja for a long while. However, the Kartik Puja of this house is way older. The family's tutelary deity is Shridhar Jiu. Being a religious family, the Seals were renowned for their cultural and religious celebrations and donations. 

Location- click here

Sebakram Pal Thakurbati, Pal Goli

The Pal family celebrates Durga Puja in the ghat form. Back in the day, the thakurdalan saw performances of famous singers, poets and ‘Kobiga,ner dol’. Durgacharan Laha of the famous Laha family of Kolkata also married into this family.  

Location- near Shandeshwartala Shiva temple (click here)

Boro Jagannath Bari, Shyambabur Ghat

Known mainly for its 300-year-old Jagannath temple and rath, the Dhar family also celebrates Durga Puja in the Hara-Gauri form. The temple-estate was supposedly once the property of the Mullicks of Calcutta, who gifted this to the Dhars in marriage, as a result of which it is also popularly called the Mullick bari.

Location- opposite to the entrance of Shome Training School (click here)

Haldar Bari, Shandeshwartala 

The Haldars are one of the oldest residents of Chinsurah. The earliest reference to the Halders is that of Digambar and his son Ghanshyam Halder, who established the Shandeshar Shiva temple, just behind which their family Rath yatra, Kartik Puja and Durga Puja are still celebrated.

Location- take the narrow path between the Shandeshwar Shiva temple and the Durga temple (click here)

Dutta Bari, Dutta Goli

Originally, hailing from Burdwan, the Duttas migrated to Chinsurah around the 18th century during Bargi attacks. Alongwith their belongings, they brought with them their deity which they've been worshipping for ages- an ashtadhatu statue of Durga. The throne of the deity and the sword used for sacrificing the wax round are noteworthy. 

Location- click here

Sagar Dutta Thakurbari, Sagar Dutta Lane, Choumatha

The Durga Puja of Dutta Bari was begun in 1862 by Sagarlal Dutta, a jute merchant in Kolkata, after whom the Sagore Dutta Medical College is named. The goddess is worshipped here in the Abhaya form, where she is seen blessing with two hands instead of having ten, and having two lions instead of one.

Location- near Hooghly Collegiate School (click here)

Adhya Bati, College road

While the Durga Puja of Panchanantala's Adhyabati is well known, not many people are aware of another branch of the Adhya family, who rhave been celebrating Durga Puja for the past 110 years. 

Location- R.N. Sadhu Road, near Mohsin College (click here)

Mondal Bari

The merchant family of Mondals too celebrates the goddess in the Hara-Gouri form. The original thakurdalan constructed by Padmalachan Mondal that stands in Kamarpara however doesn't host Durga Pujas anymore. The family now celebrates Puja in turns (pala) between two branches. On even years, it is celebrated in the Durga Dalan in Balaram Goli, Kamarpara (click here), while in odd years, it celebrates Durga Puja where formerly stood the Dutchvilla-Mondolbari, a section of which is still preserved in the Aurobindo apartment beside the Kuthir math (click here).

Pujas in Hooghly

Seal Bari, Ghutiabazar

Location- click here

Mullick bati Durga Dalan, Ghutiabazar 

Said to be over 350 years old, the Durga Puja of the Mullicks is also done in the Hara Gouri form. The family celebrates Rath yatra, but interestingly the chariot carries not Jagannath but their tutelary statue of Radha-Krishna. The suvarnabanik family originally carried the title of 'Dey', later adopting Mullick under Mughal. A section of this family is the famous Mullick family of Burabazar, Calcutta, which too celebrates Durga Puja in the Hara Gouri form. 

Location- click here

Pujas in North Chandannagar area

Ghosh Bari, Ghosh Lane

Despite being in North Chandannagar, these two houses are best accessible through Chinsurah. 

Location- click here

Ghosh Bari, Buroshibtola

An offshoot of the same Ghosh family, this house apparently hosted Subhash Chandra Bose once. 

Location- near the North Chandannagar Police outpost (click here)