I have been involved with Durga Puja since 1996 in various capacities. It is my privilege to serve our Puja Committee as the Chairperson this year. We are going to celebrate our 43rd year of Durga Puja this year. I would like to pay my respect to my predecessors who have pioneered it and some of them are not with us now although their legacy remains with us.

Thousands of miles away from our motherland, we Bengalis celebrate this festival with great enthusiasm and excitement. Durga Puja is part of our rich heritage and culture. In 2022, UNESCO has recognised Kolkata’s Durga Puja in its Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity (ICH) list. It was one of the proud moments for us for our heritage to be recognised worldwide as UNESCO world heritage site. I believe Bengalis like me who admire ‘Sanatan Dharma’ should feel proud to continue to propagate our rich culture and heritage to our next generation in our new adopted land.

This festive season not only has the religious essence but there is mix of cultural and social collaboration. It is an occasion for reunion, rejuvenation and a celebration of traditional culture and customs. The spirit of friendliness, warmth, compassion, cohesive bonding
extends beyond many barriers as religion, ethnicities, class and spiritual beliefs.

Goddess Durga is considered as the personification of the active side of divine “Shakti” energy of Lord Shiva. This is the festivity of victory of ‘good over evil’ celebrated over five days. We offer prayers to Maa Durga to be blessed with qualities as knowledge, power, strength, bravery, happiness, peace, humility.

As the chairperson of Puja Committee, I welcome everyone to come along with family and friends and join hands with us to keep our festive vibe alive. We would like to invite and embrace each and every one from wider community, from all walks of life who would love to be a part to come and celebrate this occasion with us and make our endeavour a huge success.
With all of your cooperation we can take our festivities to greater heights.

Our aim is to spread inclusiveness and generate a stronger and cohesive bond between different communities through our festive period and beyond it.

Finally, my best wishes for this festive season to everyone for happiness, good health and prosperity.

May Goddess Durga shower her blessings on all of us!

Gautam Kumar Patra