Shiv Mandir Sarbojanin Durga Utsav Samity

Shiv Mandir Sarbojanin — Old-World Devotion at Lake Temple Road

Shiv Mandir Sarbojanin Durga Utsav Samity is one of the long-standing community pujas of the Kalighat locality in south Kolkata, established in 1936. Set on Lake Temple Road, the club carries forward the sabeki (traditional) sensibility of the city's older pujas while keeping pace with changing presentation styles, and it remains a focal point for the surrounding paras during the autumn festival.

The 2025 theme was Bishhari (বিষহরি, commonly invoked for the serpent-deity Manasa, the "poison-holder"), a concept rooted in Bengali folk and mythological imagery. True to its name, the club's celebrations centre on the Shiv Mandir (Shiva temple) of the area, giving the puja a distinctly devotional character. Generations of local residents take part in the rituals and cultural programmes, and the pandal typically blends classical idol craftsmanship with measured, theme-based decor rather than large spectacle. The festival unfolds in the traditional order — the goddess welcomed on Shashthi, worshipped through Saptami, Ashtami (with the solemn sandhi puja at the junction of the eighth and ninth lunar days), Navami, and finally Dashami, when the idol is carried for immersion. For the neighbourhood, Shiv Mandir's puja is less a tourist attraction than a continuing act of collective worship.

• Founded: 1936
• Location: 25 Lake Temple Road, Kalighat; nearest metro Rabindra Sarobar
• 2025 theme: "Bishhari" (Manasa, the poison-holder)
• Character: traditional, deity-centred community puja
• Zone: South Kolkata

The club’s steady, unhurried approach offers a contrast to the city’s larger spectacle pujas and helps preserve a thread of older Kolkata festive custom within a rapidly changing neighbourhood.