Maddox Square

Maddox Square — Kolkata's beloved traditional puja

Maddox Square, on the Ballygunge side of South Kolkata, hosts one of the city's most beloved traditional Durga Pujas. The celebration is organised by the Ballygunge Durga Puja Samity and has been held at Maddox Square Park since 1936, after the puja was first initiated in 1935 by Saroj Bagchi.

True to its "sabeki" (traditional) character, Maddox Square keeps an ekchala idol — the classic stance of the goddess with her children — and the sholar saaj and daker saaj ornamentation crafted from beaten silver and imported foil, a look that has changed little over the decades. The marquee (pandal) is deliberately understated, focusing attention on the idol and ritual rather than on grand installation art.

What Maddox Square lacks in experimental theming it makes up for in atmosphere. On Saptami and Ashtami evenings the park and surrounding roads fill with tens of thousands of visitors who come as much for the collective mood as for "darshan." The puja is frequently counted among Kolkata's most crowded and most photographed traditional pujas.

For pandal-hoppers seeking the soul of old Calcutta's community worship rather than spectacle, Maddox Square remains an essential, almost ritual, stop.