PujaParikrama
Open app

Visitor guide · Getting around

Navigating Kolkata during Pujo

The metro is the fastest way between pandals on puja nights, when the roads stop. Here is every line on one map, with the pandals within walking distance of each station, and the suburban trains for the pujas the metro does not reach.

Metro lines
5
Stations
58
55 after counting interchanges once
Pandals near a station
257
Within a 1 km walk

Interactive map

The metro, line by line.

Choose a line to bring it forward, then tap any station to see which pandals are within a 1 km walk. The number beside each station in the list is the count of pandals near it.

Loading the metro map

Tap a station on the map, or pick one below, to see the pandals within a 1 km walk. White dots are interchanges.

Pick a line to list its stations

  • Blue LineDakshineswar to Kavi Subhash
  • Green LineHowrah Maidan to Salt Lake Sector V
  • Purple LineJoka to Majerhat
  • Yellow LineNoapara to Jai Hind Bimanbandar
  • Orange LineKavi Subhash to Beleghata

Puja timetable. Metro Railway Kolkata publishes a special Puja timetable a few days before Shashthi. In recent years the Blue and Green lines have run late into the night on Saptami, Ashtami and Navami, while the newer lines have closed earlier. Check the official timetable before you plan a late return.

Kavi Subhash is partly closed. Blue Line platforms closed since July 2025, when cracks were found in the columns holding up the platform. Trains terminate at Shahid Khudiram. The Orange Line platforms are open.

Line 1

Blue Line

Dakshineswar to Kavi Subhash · 26 stations · 178 pandals within a 1 km walk

India’s first metro, and still the spine of Pujo. It runs straight down the old city, from Kumartuli and the north Kolkata bonedi baris, through College Square and Esplanade, to the big theme pandals of the south.

  • Change at Esplanade for the Green Line, at Noapara for the Yellow Line and at Dum Dum for suburban trains.
  • The Blue Line platforms at Kavi Subhash are closed for rebuilding, so southbound trains end at Shahid Khudiram.
  • On the busiest nights some stations make gates entry-only or exit-only. Follow the station staff rather than the gate you came in by.
Show all 26 stations
  1. Dakshineswar
  2. Baranagar
  3. Noapara(change for Yellow Line)
  4. Dum Dum
  5. Belgachia
  6. Shyambazar
  7. Shobhabazar Sutanuti
  8. Girish Park
  9. Mahatma Gandhi Road
  10. Central
  11. Chandni Chowk
  12. Esplanade(change for Green Line)
  13. Park Street
  14. Maidan
  15. Rabindra Sadan
  16. Netaji Bhavan
  17. Jatin Das Park
  18. Kalighat
  19. Rabindra Sarobar
  20. Mahanayak Uttam Kumar
  21. Netaji
  22. Masterda Surya Sen
  23. Gitanjali
  24. Kavi Nazrul
  25. Shahid Khudiram
  26. Kavi Subhash(change for Orange Line)

Stations with the most pandals nearby

Shobhabazar Sutanuti

40 pandals within a 1 km walk

Girish Park

38 pandals within a 1 km walk

Shyambazar

34 pandals within a 1 km walk

Jatin Das Park

30 pandals within a 1 km walk

Line 2

Green Line

Howrah Maidan to Salt Lake Sector V · 12 stations · 48 pandals within a 1 km walk

East to west, and under the Hooghly. It links both of the city’s big railway terminals, Howrah and Sealdah, with Esplanade, then runs out to Salt Lake for the block pujas there. If you arrive by train, this is your first metro.

  • Change at Esplanade for the Blue Line. It is the busiest interchange in the city on puja nights, so allow extra time.
  • Howrah is the deepest metro station in India, more than 30 m below the street, so allow time for the escalators.
  • Sealdah metro is next to Sealdah railway station, for suburban trains north and south.
Show all 12 stations
  1. Howrah Maidan
  2. Howrah
  3. Mahakaran
  4. Esplanade(change for Blue Line)
  5. Sealdah
  6. Phoolbagan
  7. Salt Lake Stadium
  8. Bengal Chemical
  9. City Centre
  10. Central Park
  11. Karunamoyee
  12. Salt Lake Sector V

Stations with the most pandals nearby

Sealdah

13 pandals within a 1 km walk

Esplanade

7 pandals within a 1 km walk

Phoolbagan

7 pandals within a 1 km walk

Central Park

7 pandals within a 1 km walk

Line 3

Purple Line

Joka to Majerhat · 7 stations · 32 pandals within a 1 km walk

Behala’s line, running above Diamond Harbour Road from Joka to Majerhat. Behala has one of the densest clusters of theme pandals in the city, and most of them are a short walk from a Purple Line station.

  • The line does not yet reach the city centre. At Majerhat, walk to the railway station for Circular and Budge Budge line trains.
  • Behala Chowrasta and Behala Bazar are the stations for the main Behala and Barisha pujas.
Show all 7 stations
  1. Joka
  2. Thakurpukur
  3. Sakher Bazar
  4. Behala Chowrasta
  5. Behala Bazar
  6. Taratala
  7. Majerhat

Stations with the most pandals nearby

Behala Bazar

14 pandals within a 1 km walk

Taratala

14 pandals within a 1 km walk

Behala Chowrasta

8 pandals within a 1 km walk

Sakher Bazar

7 pandals within a 1 km walk

Line 4

Yellow Line

Noapara to Jai Hind Bimanbandar · 4 stations · 4 pandals within a 1 km walk

The airport line. Jai Hind Bimanbandar is at Kolkata airport, and Noapara joins the Blue Line, so you can reach Esplanade or the south from a flight without a taxi.

  • Change at Noapara for the Blue Line.
  • Dum Dum Cantonment metro is next to the railway station of the same name, on the Bongaon line towards Barasat.
Show all 4 stations
  1. Noapara(change for Blue Line)
  2. Dum Dum Cantonment
  3. Jessore Road
  4. Jai Hind Bimanbandar

Stations with the most pandals nearby

Noapara

2 pandals within a 1 km walk

Dum Dum Cantonment

1 pandal within a 1 km walk

Jessore Road

1 pandal within a 1 km walk

Jai Hind Bimanbandar

1 pandal within a 1 km walk

Line 6

Orange Line

Kavi Subhash to Beleghata · 9 stations · 11 pandals within a 1 km walk

Along the Eastern Metropolitan Bypass, from New Garia to Beleghata. It serves the neighbourhoods along the Bypass, from Mukundapur to Kasba, and the hotels and hospitals that line it.

  • There is no direct change to the Blue Line while its Kavi Subhash platforms are closed. Shahid Khudiram is about 900 m away on foot.
  • Barun Sengupta is the station for Science City.
Show all 9 stations
  1. Kavi Subhash(change for Blue Line)
  2. Satyajit Ray
  3. Jyotirindra Nandi
  4. Kavi Sukanta
  5. Hemanta Mukhopadhyay
  6. VIP Bazar
  7. Ritwik Ghatak
  8. Barun Sengupta
  9. Beleghata

Stations with the most pandals nearby

Kavi Sukanta

5 pandals within a 1 km walk

Hemanta Mukhopadhyay

3 pandals within a 1 km walk

Kavi Subhash

2 pandals within a 1 km walk

Satyajit Ray

1 pandal within a 1 km walk

Beyond the metro

Suburban trains and the Circular Railway.

Some of the best-known pujas are a long walk from any metro station but a few minutes from a railway platform. Local trains leave from Sealdah and Howrah, and the Circular Railway follows the river. Buy tickets at the counter or in Indian Railways’ official ticketing app, and expect office crowds on weekday evenings.

Circular Railway

Dum Dum Junction to Majerhat, along the river

A slow, uncrowded line that follows the Hooghly through the oldest part of the city. It is the pleasant way to reach Kumartuli and the riverside pujas of the north, and it meets the metro at both ends.

Sealdah South

Sealdah to Garia, with the branch through Lake Gardens and Tollygunge

The trains to reach the Ballygunge, Dhakuria and Jadavpur pujas, several of which are a long walk from any metro station but only minutes from a railway platform.

Sealdah North and Bongaon

Sealdah to Barrackpore, and Dum Dum to Barasat

For the North 24 Parganas pujas, from Lake Town and Dum Dum out to Barasat, which has some of the most ambitious pandals outside the city.

Howrah lines

Howrah to Belur, Bally, Uttarpara and Serampore

Across the river for the Howrah and Hooghly pujas, and for Belur Math, where the Kumari Puja on Ashtami morning draws enormous crowds.

On the night

Everything else on wheels.

The metro and trains do the long hops. For the rest, here is what works on puja nights and what does not.

Walk the last kilometre

Roads around the biggest pandals close to cars in the evenings and many become one-way. Take the metro or a train as close as you can, then walk. It is faster, and it is how the city does Pujo.

Taxis and app cabs

Cabs are useful early in the day and for getting home at 3 am. In the evening peak, expect surge pricing, long waits and drivers who cannot reach the pandal you asked for.

Buses

Buses run on every main road and are cheap, but they crawl in Pujo traffic and are diverted around closures. Good for a long hop in the afternoon, poor for pandal-to-pandal at night.

River ferries

Ferries cross the Hooghly between Howrah and the north Kolkata ghats. They are a calm way to reach the riverside pujas, but services wind down in the evening, so check the last boat before relying on one to get back.

Plan a walking route Keep your group together on a live map

More from the guide.

Where to stay

Hotels by neighbourhood and budget, with the nearest metro, the pandals within walking distance and a number to call.

Food trail

The biryani houses, roll counters, sweet shops and Bengali kitchens worth a detour, and the one dish to order at each.

Emergency

Police, ambulance, fire, hospitals, women’s and child helplines and tourist help, each one tap to call.

Etiquette

What to wear, where shoes come off, how to offer pushpanjali, and how to queue without annoying anyone.

Puja 2026 schedule

Every date and tithi timing, with Sandhi Puja to the minute.

Pandal-hopping routes

Ready-made routes that group pandals you can walk between.