Women in heavy jwellery and zari-bordered silk saris are accompanied by their well-dressed children. The good looking men in silken kurtas and fine dhotis with intricately designed borders and their old loyal servants with new clothes gifted by their generous masters throng the Puja mandas.The pandals smell of perfume, new clothes, incense, flowers etc., and the drummers create a pious environment by their rhythmic

beating of drums during aarti every morning and evening of the three-day puja.
The beating of dhak and kansar and the dhunuchi dances, with a spirit of joy and boundless fun are a part of the frenzied celebrations.
The pandals remain crowded and one has to goad through the crowd to catch a glimpse of the Goddess. The idols are beautiful images of the Goddess that appals one of their artistic deftness. Devotees visit these pandals not only to appreciate their skillful creation but also to offer prayers to the benevolent Goddess.
The community pujas continue to flourish with their bloated budgets. In a constant struggle for prestige and glamour between localities, they vie with one another to outsmart and overspend their rivals.

personal to national crisis. No one questions the source of the money; or, more significantly, where it goes. In some cases it is noticed that several Puja committees decide to contribute substantially to the Chief Minister's Relief Fund. It is, no doubt, a healthy gesture and a positive attitude towards the society. The money collected is spent on the occasion for pandal making, illumination, cultural programme and other glamorous reasons relating to the pujas, run into crores of rupees in Bengal.
Experiments of making images with various materials and numerous designs have been continuing for the past many years by most of the puja committees of Kolkata and outside Kolkata, but the traditional style of daaker saaj images, as in the case of the old Bagbazar pandal, commands maximum reverence of the devotees for all the time.
Durga Puja is the most important festival of Bengal.Outside Bengal, Durga Puja is held in other parts of the country such as Delhi, Varanasi, Kanpur, Patna, Allhabad and many other cities and towns, where there are domiciled Bangalees living for years. Durga Puja held outside Bengal is celebrated with equal fervor and zeal. One may not come across the excessive extravanganza there but the devotion and community feeling reigns high.