Visitor guide · Durga Puja 2026
Your guide to Pujo in Kolkata
Five days, a city of fifteen million out on the streets, and several thousand pandals. This guide covers the practical side: how to get around, where to stay and eat, what to do if something goes wrong, and how to behave at a puja that is somebody else’s.
Guide sections
Navigating Kolkata
All five metro lines on one map, the pandals near each station, and the suburban trains that reach the rest.
Read the guideWhere to stay
Hotels by neighbourhood and budget, with the nearest metro, the pandals within walking distance and a number to call.
Read the guideFood trail
The biryani houses, roll counters, sweet shops and Bengali kitchens worth a detour, and the one dish to order at each.
Read the guideEmergency
Police, ambulance, fire, hospitals, women’s and child helplines and tourist help, each one tap to call.
Read the guideEtiquette
What to wear, where shoes come off, how to offer pushpanjali, and how to queue without annoying anyone.
Read the guideIn an emergency, call
112
India’s single emergency number. Police, fire and ambulance, from any phone, at any hour.
Tap to callBefore you go
Three things to know.
The dates
Pujo 2026 runs from Maha Shashthi on Friday, 16 October 2026 to Vijaya Dashami on Wednesday, 21 October 2026. Ashtami is the busiest day.
See the full scheduleTake the metro
5 lines and 58 stations. On puja nights it beats any car, and the Blue Line alone links north and south Kolkata.
Open the metro mapPlan to walk
Roads near the famous pandals close to traffic in the evening. Pick pandals that sit close together and walk between them.
Browse walking routes