Das family’s 15-day Puja begins at ancestral home

KOLKATA: The Das family’s Durga Puja near the Anandapalit Shil Lane Post Office in Kolkata commenced on Thursday evening. The Puja, which is being held at their ancestral home, will span 15 days, beginning on Krishna Navami and concluding on Shukla Navami. Despite the idols in the Patuapara not being fully completed, the Puja began as scheduled.

Though deeply rooted in tradition, this Puja is relatively new, having started just 15 years ago. While the Das family now resides on Anandapalit Road, they continue to hold the Puja at their ancestral home on Shil Lane. The worship takes place beside the family’s household deities, Radha and Krishna.

The daily rituals throughout the year are conducted by the family’s priest, but the Durga Puja is personally performed by the family’s only son, Prasenjit Das, a mechanical engineer by profession. His sister, Moumita Das, who is a physician, previously participated as a priest until she got married.

In an interview with Millennium Post, Prasenjit Das shared that 15 years ago, he and his sister decided to start this Durga Puja, initially not as a grand event.

They began the rituals on Krishna Navami, taking on all responsibilities themselves. Alongside their formal education, they learned Sanskrit but soon realised that mastering the language alone wasn’t enough to conduct the rituals. Prasenjit then delved deeper into the study of the Puranas, Vedas and Upanishads, eventually pursuing Vedic studies at Banaras Hindu University after completing his engineering degree.

The Das family’s Durga Puja adheres to the teachings of traditionalist scholar Shulapani.