DUER PALLI Durga Puja

Durga Puja is widely celebrated in the Indian states of Assam, Mithila region of Bihar and Nepal, Jharkhand, Manipur, Odisha, Tripura and West Bengal, where it is a five-day annual holiday.In West Bengal, Tripura, which has a majority of Bengali Hindus, it is the biggest festival of the year. In Assam due to presence of huge number of Bengali Hindus and quite a large number of Assamese Hindus of Shakta sect of Hinduism (Assam is predominently Vaishnavite Hindu populous state), it is one of the biggest religious festivals, as the biggest festival is Bihu which is secular in nature. Not only is it the biggest Hindu festival celebrated throughout the state, it is also the most significant socio-cultural event in Bengali Hindu society. Apart from eastern India, Durga Puja is also celebrated in Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Punjab, Kashmir, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Kerala. Durga Puja is also celebrated as a major festival in Nepal where 82% is Hindu, and in Bangladesh where the 8.5% population is Hindu. Nowadays, many diaspora Assamese and Bengali cultural organisations arrange for Durgotsab in countries such as the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Australia, Germany, France, The Netherlands, Singapore and Kuwait, among others. In 2006, a grand Durga Puja ceremony was held in the Great Court of the British Museum.