Kolkata: Amid the sultry air and sudden downpours of the month of Bhadra on the Bengali calendar, the moment the sky clears into a soft blue brushed with wisps of white clouds is that of levity. As is well known, Durga Puja is the biggest religious, social and cultural event in Bengal.Yet this year, with a little more than a month left on the calendar, the usual festive fervour feels muted. It is not that people have lost interest, but rather that a controversial set of directives issued by the new Bharatiya Janata Party government and bodies associated with it under the Hindutva umbrella has thrown Bengal’s statement festival into an unprecedented ideological debate. Instead of the customary countdown, public discourse has been hijacked by a series of polarising friction points – traditional versus theme-based idols and pandals, dietary diktats to restrict non-vegetarian food, ritualistic schedules and, above all, the call to limit non-Hindu involvement , which directly challenges Bengal’s long-standing tradition of sarbojanin (all inclusive) pujas, where diverse communities collaboratively build the pandals.Recognised by UNESCO as an Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, Durga Puja in Bengal has long surpassed strict orthodoxy — functioning as an inclusive festival of artistry and shared feasting where community boundaries blur.Hindutva groups, long having failed to dominate the narrative of the Durga Puja, have now swept it in a storm of discussions that run opposite to it.A few days ago, in a meeting with nearly 500 puja committees and Forum for Durgotsav representatives, Swami Nirgun Ananda, Sanatan Sanskriti Sansad secretary of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad stated: “Religion belongs to individuals, but festivals belong to everyone — this does not happen. Practically no religion accepts this.”“Everyone has the right to follow his/her own religious practices, so we cannot demean our traditional culture,” said Nirgunananda.This ran foul of and was a reference to a line repeated often by Bengal’s previous chief minister, Mamata Banerjee, “Religion is individual but the festival is for all.”Partha Ghosh, chairman of the Forum for Durgotsav, told The Wire that the VHP said that vegetarian or non-vegetarian food must not be eaten inside the pandals. But for Ghosh, this was not the major issue. “What we felt extremely bad about is the demand for dropping the word “sarbajanin” from the pujas. No one from any other religion should be allowed to be associated with the pujas, it says. We have never ever seen Durgotsav from this prism. The recognition of Kolkata’s Durga Puja by UNESCO in 2021 also clearly highlighted its sarbojanin nature. Why should we depart from our age-old practices?” asked Ghosh.Even last year, Tim Curtis, UNESCO representative in India, had highlighted that the Puja embodies the sarbojonin spirit (for all people) that has defined community worship since 1926.As is well known, Durga Puja has distinct Muslim participation – from Muslim artisans crafting intricate pandal architecture to multi-faith neighbourhoods gathering for evening feasting, the festival continues to stand as a celebration of shared identity, resilience and community warmth.Swami Tattwavidananda, assistant general secretary of the Ramakrishna Math and Ramakrishna Mission, explained to The Wire that inclusivity is an instruction by Sarada Devi – spiritual leader and wife of Ramakrishna Paramahamsa – that the group follows.“We follow what our holy mother has instructed us. We will never divert from that practice. Puja is for all. We offer both vegetarian and non-vegetarian food to Durga during Saptami, Ashtami and Navami. Our holy mother instructed so. What is sattvik ahaar, who prefers what, is decided by the respective geographical location and local customs,” said Swami Tattwavidananda.West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari interacts with monks during a administrative coordination meeting for the upcoming Durga Puja festival, in Kolkata, Monday, Sept. 7, 2026. Photo: PTI.Rohini Dharmapal, a professor and priest, echoed the same. She said: “To the Bengalis, Puja means home-coming of Uma (Durga). Uma is assumed as daughter. She comes with her children from Kailasa to earth for five days. So, food, adda, rituals, entertainment, literature and song come in a single package. Where’s the religious divide or differences of food habits here?” She believes the way anti-non-veg food sentiment during Puja days and near the puja pandals is ensuing is actually a beginning to transform Bengal’s own Durga Puja into Navaratri. The latter belongs to North India and a part of west India, where it is celebrated by Hindus in ritualistic ways and with vegetarian food only. She said: “By imposing these diktats, Hindutva groups are destroying the very core of Hinduism and religious strictures. Even in the Rig Vedas, instances of meat in Hindu religious occasions are there.”No to ‘sharodotsav’ and imaginative idolsAnd yet, incredibly, Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari on September 10 directed Durga Puja committees not to permit Communist Party of India (Marxist) book stalls outside pandals if the party refers to the festival as ‘Sharodotsav’ instead of ‘Durga Puja’. Reports said that Adhikari felt that the term diminished its religious character.Chief minister Adhikari and state ministers such as Agnimitra Paul and Sajal Ghosh too have supported diktats regarding Puja rituals, the last two have commented mostly on artistic representations of the goddess.Paul told journalists: “The mother goddess must not look like a human being. She should be like a devi.”On the other hand, Ghosh, who is in charge of a famous Durga Puja in central Kolkata stated to reporters “There should not be any joke regarding the idols. End of the day, it is a goddess. So, smaller limbs and a big head will not be allowed in order to match the theme. I will oppose.”Also read: Genocide, Migrant Rights, Secularism: Kolkata’s Puja Pandals Have Tackled Uncomfortable TruthsArtists have grown apprehensive. Two of them whom The Wire spoke to said they were now averse to taking any liberties.Famous pandal creator Anirban, who asked to be identified by his first name only, asked: “Pandal designs must not experiment in ways that offend Hindu culture and religion — this was told by the VHP. Why should our creativity take a backseat to this unacceptable clause? I will not back off.”Fish, meat and other problemsThe flashpoint has centred, largely, on culinary heritage. VHP issued guidelines urging puja committees to ban non-vegetarian food inside mandap premises, sparking intense pushback across Bengal.Then came the self-professed spiritual leader Dhirendra Krishna Shastri or Bageshwar Dham Sarkar who asked Hindus in Kolkata to break the bones of Bengalis who cook fish behind their Durga Puja pandals.Chief minister Adhikari said that whoever burnt Shastri’s photos in protest and asked for an FIR against him will be arrested. Hours after that a Bengal Pradesh Congress committee general secretary was held.The non-vegetarian food sellers who generally throw up stalls in and around the Puja are equally scared. When asked, Shankar Haldar, a fish-fry seller, questioned: “Are there really any government orders that we cannot sell non-veg items during Puja days around the pandals?”His colleague, Mantu Sardar, who runs a stall near a famous puja pandal and is an expert in making chicken kabab rolls and mutton tikiya rolls, doesn’t know how to make up the loss if the order is passed. There are many others who are anxiously waiting for a government announcement regarding thisElaborating on the set of strictures, state VHP functionary Swarup Chatterjee said on August 26: “We have requested organisers to ensure a strict prohibition of non-vegetarian food inside the pandal premises. There are no objections to non-vegetarian stalls operating outside or near the pandals.”Contrary to the belief that temple offerings must be strictly vegetarian, Bengal’s Shakta heritage has long incorporated fish and meat into sacred rituals. Traditional household pujas, such as the historic Sobhabazar Rajbari, offer cooked snakehead fish or roasted fish preparations as sacred offerings to the goddess. In Shakta tradition, mutton cooked without onion or garlic – symbolic of animal sacrifice from ancient times – is offered during Navami.After drawing flak, Nirgunananda Brahmachari, a member of the VHP’s central advisory council, stated in a video message: “Some media persons or individuals have distorted our answer to the question on the non-veg food items. They need to stick to what was exactly said.” He explained: “We had clearly mentioned that people can have food in a particular area outside the mandap to maintain the sanctity of the premise of worshipping the goddess. There was also no question asked whether non-vegetarian food can be served to the goddess or not.”VHP chief Alok Kumar clarified that the organisation had issued no formal guideline on food arrangements at Durga Puja pandals in West Bengal, saying the remarks on non-vegetarian food were a personal suggestion made during a press conference.Swami Tattwavidananda, though, puts it differently. The Sanskrit scholar said: “Sanatan means which does not change over the years, it’s constant. In Hinduism there are many issues which survived the tremendous movement of Brahma Samaj and others. In Dakshineswar Temple, we see the culmination of Shakto-Shaiva-Vaishnav milieu. So, no one can categorically state what is Sanatani and what is not.”In the meantime, two of the Kolkata pujas, namely North Kolkata’s Young Men’s Sporting Association and 20th Pally Sarbajanin, have decided not to arrange Puja this time due to the “Threat from the self-proclaimed custodian of the Hindus”. They issued a public notice and apologised to the general public for not being able to host Puja this time. Notably, both the pujas had already had a Khunti Puja (the first step, in which bamboo poles are put up) to organise Puja this year.The CM’s celebrationDays ago, the chief minister announced that the eighth day of the festival, Ashtami, will be a dry day.“On the day of Mahashtami, when we offer pushpanjali, the state will observe a dry day. Liquor shops will remain closed. Even bars will not serve alcohol,” he said.While the Banerjee government had announced an 80% rebate on electricity bills for Puja organisers, Adhikari has declared electricity free.The carnival instituted by Banerjee on the Red Road at the end of the Puja is, however, scrapped.Speaking of Adhikari, this is also probably the first time ever in the history of Bengal that a serving chief minister of the state has become the theme himself. Titled ‘Nandigram theke Nabanna, Bubaiyer Jayajatra (From Nandigram to Nabanna, the journey of Bubai)’, this south-east Kolkata Durga Puja pandal near Ruby General Hospital on Eastern Metropolitan Bypass will showcase the political journey of the BJP’s first chief minister in the state.The organisers of the theme puja centred on Suvendu Adhikari. Photo: Chandrachur Goswami.Akhil Bharatiya Hindu Mahasabha state president Chandrachur Goswami told The Wire over the phone: “Our CM first fought his student body election under his nickname Bubai. Since then, he has done tremendously well. This theme is to show gratitude to him.”What would the pandal look like? He wants to keep it as a surprise but said: “All the interior and outside decorations will be related to the chief minister’s journey till date. Even if our idol will be traditional, the background would consist of all the good works done by Suvendu Adhikari till date as a CM. Several pro-people schemes and other things will be there.”One of the major attractions is a portrait of Adhikari on a single daal grain. It has to be seen through magnifying glasses. Two half-bust figurines of Adhikari will be inside the pandal premises. “The idols are made from the clay brought from Hindu Mahasabha Ghat, which is very close to former CM Mamata Banerjee’s residence,” Goswami claimed.