Kolkata · Durga Puja 2026
The river, the ferries and Howrah
The river is the reason the city is here, the ferries are the nicest way to cross it, and Howrah on the far bank has a festival of its own.
Written for Durga Puja 2026 · Last updated 14 August 2026
Crossing
Three ways over: the Howrah Bridge, the Vidyasagar Setu further south, and the ferries. During Pujo the bridges carry very heavy traffic and the Howrah Bridge approaches in particular are managed tightly.
The ferries between the Kolkata ghats and Howrah are cheap, quick, and the only pleasant journey in the city on Ashtami night. The catch is that they stop earlier than you want them to and the schedule is not a late-night one. Check the last boat before you cross, or you will be walking the bridge.
Howrah's own Pujo
Howrah is a separate municipal corporation with its own committees, its own crowds and its own circuit. It is much less visited by people from Kolkata than the distance would suggest, which is part of its appeal.
This dataset lists only a small number of Howrah pujas, and that is a limitation of the source rather than a statement about Howrah. There are many more than appear here.
The ghats
The immersion processions on Dashami and the days after converge on the ghats — Babughat and the main Kolkata ghats, and the northern ghats above them. The river authorities and the police manage it heavily and the barriers are not decorative.
For watching, the northern ghats at dawn on Mahalaya and the main ghats on Dashami evening are the two events worth planning for. Keep well back from the water and off the ramps.
The river as a route
Outside the immersion days, the ferry is a genuinely good way to move during Pujo. It bypasses the bridges entirely, it costs very little, and it drops you at ghats that are close to the northern and central neighbourhoods.
The practical pattern is to cross by ferry in the daytime, see Howrah in the early evening, and come back over the bridge or by Metro once the boats have stopped.
Under the river
The east–west Metro runs beneath the Hooghly between Howrah and central Kolkata, which is the fastest and most reliable crossing there is during the festival. It is also the least atmospheric, and on a peak night that is exactly what you want.
Howrah Maidan and Howrah station sit at one end of it, so a Howrah evening and a train home are compatible in a way they were not a few years ago.
The 12 pujas on this guide
The pujas this site lists in Howrah, Baghbazar, Ahiritola and Kumartuli — the neighbourhoods on either bank nearest the crossings and the ghats.
Every one of these has a confirmed position, so the Route Planner can order them and draw the walk between them.
- AhiritolaB K Paul Avenue, Ahiritola
- Ahiritola Jubak BrindaAhiritola
- Arupara Milan Sangha - HowrahHowrah
- Baghbazar Haldar Bari er PujoBaghbazar
- Baghbazar JagodhartiBaghbazar
- Baghbazar PallyBaghbazar
- Baghbazar Sarbojonin Durgotsab & ExhibitionBagbazar Street, Bagbazar
- Kamardanga Sitalatala - HowrahHowrah
- Kumartuli ParkKumartuli
- Kumartuli PreparationKumartuli
- Kumartuli SarbojaninKumartuli
- Naba BaghbazarBaghbazar
Read next
Dashami, sindoor khela and bisarjan
The tenth day: the farewell, the vermilion, and the long procession to the river that ends the festival.
Durga Puja in Howrah
Every Durga Puja pandal this site lists in Howrah — two in all, two of them with a confirmed position you can route to — with notes on what the neighbourhood is like on foot.
Mahalaya and the start of Devi Paksha
The morning a week before Shashthi when Kolkata wakes at four to a radio programme, and the festival begins in earnest.
Written by Pujo Kolkata. Pandal listings come from the PujoKolkata master dataset, with coordinates from the IndianOil–Kolkata Police Puja Guide and from community-curated puja maps of the city. Nothing here publishes a 2026 theme, a timing or a crowd level for any puja, because none has been announced. Browse every pandal.