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Visitor guide · Etiquette

Pandal etiquette

Every pandal is somebody’s puja: a neighbourhood’s year of work, or a family’s centuries-old ritual. Visitors are welcome everywhere, and a few customs go a long way. When in doubt, watch what others do, or ask a volunteer.

The basics

Dress, shoes, queues and cameras.

What to wear

There is no dress code at a community pandal, but Pujo is when Kolkata dresses up, and you will feel the difference.

  • Anything clean and comfortable is fine for pandal-hopping. Many people wear new clothes on each day of Pujo, and sarees, panjabis and kurtas are everywhere.
  • Cover shoulders and knees for temples, Belur Math, the bonedi bari pujas in private homes, and for anjali in the morning.
  • Wear shoes you can slip off and on quickly. You will do it many times a night.
  • On Dashami, if you join sindoor khela, wear something you do not mind turning red.

Shoes and the shrine

The area in front of the Devi is treated as a shrine, even inside a temporary pandal.

  • Take your shoes off before stepping onto the platform in front of the idol, or wherever you see others leaving theirs. At most theme pandals you can stay shod while walking through.
  • Temples and larger pujas run shoe counters, often free or for a few rupees. Keep the token safe; finding your pair without it on Ashtami night is a long job.
  • A cloth bag for your shoes saves the counter queue altogether.
  • Do not touch the idol, the decorations or the offerings, and keep children from climbing on the barricades.

Queues and crowds

The famous pandals draw queues that run for hours. They work because nearly everyone follows the same few rules.

  • Join at the back. Volunteers will often run separate lines, or quicker access, for older people, people with disabilities and families with small children. Use them if they apply to you, and let others use them.
  • Routes are usually one-way, in through one gate and out through another. Do not try to walk against the flow to find your group; meet at the exit instead.
  • Keep moving in front of the idol. Take your photograph, say your prayer and step on, because a thousand people are behind you.
  • Follow the volunteers and the police. Their job on these nights is to stop a crush, and the instructions that seem fussy are the ones that do it.

Photographs

Photography is welcome at almost every pandal. People are another matter.

  • Ask before photographing people up close, especially women during sindoor khela and priests during a ritual.
  • Turn off your flash during aarti and Sandhi Puja, and anywhere a sign or a volunteer asks you to.
  • Do not fly a drone. Flying one over a crowd needs police permission, and the police keep a close watch on the skies over the big pandals.
  • Tripods and selfie sticks are often refused in crowded pandals. In a bonedi bari, ask the family before photographing the thakurdalan.

Step by step

How to offer pushpanjali.

Anjali is the offering of flowers to the Devi, made together with everyone present while the priest recites the mantra. You do not need to know the words or be a Hindu to join; you only need to follow along respectfully.

  1. 1

    Come in the morning, ideally fasting

    Anjali is offered on the mornings of Saptami, Ashtami and Navami, and the Ashtami anjali draws the biggest crowds. Many people fast until they have offered it. Pujas announce their anjali times; arrive a little early.

  2. 2

    Shoes off, hands washed

    Leave your shoes outside the area in front of the idol and wash your hands if water is provided.

  3. 3

    Take flowers and bel leaves

    Volunteers hand them round. Hold them between your palms, joined in front of your chest.

  4. 4

    Repeat the mantra after the priest

    The priest recites the Sanskrit mantra a line at a time and everyone repeats it. It is usually done in three rounds. Nobody minds if you only follow along quietly.

  5. 5

    Offer the flowers

    At the end of each round, offer the flowers towards the Devi’s feet, gently. At a crowded puja they are collected in baskets and offered for you.

  6. 6

    Take the charanamrita

    Holy water may be poured into your palm afterwards. Sip it, and touch your wet hand to your head.

Customs

Bhog, Dashami, family pujas and the dhak.

Bhog and prasad

Food offered to the Devi becomes prasad, and sharing it is part of the puja.

  • Many neighbourhood pujas serve khichuri bhog to everyone who comes, most of all on Ashtami. Accept it if offered; you do not need to be from the para.
  • Take prasad with your right hand, and touch it to your forehead before eating if you want to follow the custom.
  • Take only what you will eat. Wasting bhog is noticed.
  • If there is a donation box, a small contribution is appreciated but never required.

Sindoor khela and Dashami

On Vijaya Dashami the Devi is bid farewell before the immersion, and the mood turns from celebration to a fond goodbye.

  • After the devi boron, married women offer sindoor to the Devi and then smear it on each other’s faces. It is traditionally for married women; many pujas now welcome everyone, so ask the organisers before joining.
  • Do not photograph women during sindoor khela without asking.
  • Immersion processions close roads near the river in stages through the afternoon and evening. Keep clear of the ghats unless you are with a puja committee.

Visiting a bonedi bari

The old family pujas of north Kolkata are held in private homes that open their courtyards to visitors.

  • You are a guest in someone’s house. Keep to the courtyard and the thakurdalan, and do not wander inside.
  • Respect the family’s visiting hours; some close the doors during rituals and meals.
  • Dress modestly and speak quietly. These are religious ceremonies first and sights second.

Dhunuchi naach and the dhak

The evening aarti, with drummers and dancers swinging clay burners of smoking coconut husk, is the sound of Pujo.

  • Watch from a step back. The burners are hot, the smoke is thick, and the dancers need space.
  • Join the dancing only if you are invited. Many paras hold friendly dhunuchi competitions, and an invitation is common.
  • If you have asthma, stand upwind of the dhunuchi.

Say it right

Pujo greetings.

Shubho Sharodiya
Happy autumn festival
The weeks before and during Pujo.
Shubho Ashtami
Happy Ashtami
On the day; swap in Shashthi, Saptami or Navami.
Shubho Bijoya
Blessed victory
From Dashami for some weeks after. Touch an elder’s feet, embrace friends, and share sweets.
Aschhe bochhor abar hobe
It will happen again next year
Chanted as the Devi leaves for immersion.

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