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After the Puja

The Red Road Carnival and the immersion

After Bijoya Dashami the goddess leaves for the river. Neighbourhoods carry their idols to the ghats of the Hooghly, and a selection of the year’s pujas parades down Red Road in a carnival held by the state government.

Carnival 2026

Date not yet announced

It is usually held a few days after Bijoya Dashami (Wednesday, 21 October 2026 this year). We will add the date as soon as the state government announces it.

Puja dates

What the carnival is

Since 2016 the West Bengal government has held a Durga Puja carnival on Red Road, the broad avenue beside the Maidan. A selection of the year’s pujas, many of them award winners, bring their idols on decorated floats. Each committee has a few minutes in front of the stands, with dhakis, dancers and folk performers, before moving on towards the river.

It is a chance to see many of the year’s most talked-about idols in one evening, and it has become part of how Kolkata celebrates the festival’s place on UNESCO’s heritage list.

How to watch

  • Watch it live

    Seats along Red Road are limited and given out by pass. Most people watch the live broadcast on television or online, which also shows each tableau up close.

  • If you have a pass

    Arrive early, carry the pass and a photo ID, and expect security checks. Bring water and as little else as you can.

  • Roads around the Maidan

    Red Road and the roads around it close to traffic on carnival day. Use the metro to Maidan, Esplanade or Park Street and walk.

Pujas taking part in 2026

The list of pujas is published by the state government closer to the date. It will appear here once it is out.

Bisarjan: the immersion

Immersion begins on the evening of Bijoya Dashami and goes on for several days, as each committee chooses its day. After the morning’s sindoor khela, the idol is lifted onto a truck and taken through the streets with the dhak playing, the neighbourhood dancing alongside. At the ghat, volunteers carry the goddess down the steps into the Hooghly.

The municipal corporation sets up lighting, barriers and help at the main ghats, and in recent years has used cranes to lift the frames out of the river soon after immersion, to keep the Hooghly cleaner.

Ghats used for immersion

These ghats in central and north Kolkata are regularly used. Kolkata Municipal Corporation confirms the list and the timings each year.

Watching safely

  • Stay behind the barriers and leave the steps to the volunteers carrying the idols.
  • Do not go into the water. The Hooghly’s current is strong, and the ghats are slippery and crowded.
  • Keep children close and agree a meeting point; the processions are loud and fast-moving.
  • Expect road closures around Strand Road and the ghats in the evenings.

Read about the morning before: sindoor khela, the farewell in red.