How Kolkata’s durga puja turns into India’s biggest marketing moment

As the beats of the Dhak recede, the festive lights that made Kolkata resplendent since mid-September dim and the fervent exchange of Bijoya greetings with its usual overdose of sweet indulgences reaches a crescendo, marking the end of Durga Puja 2025, the abiding impression that lingers is probably best described in our lexicon as a grand celebration of creativity, commercialisation and competitiveness.

Truth be told, Durga Puja in Kolkata has evolved from a five-day religious festival to more like a fortnight-long street festival. Most of the bigger budget pujas are more like explorations in installation art with themes that range from the profound (like Mystical, Aura, and Hypocrisy, for example) to the more prosaic, such as recreating popular destinations, bringing alive fictional characters, or espousing pertinent social issues like woman empowerment, sustainability, the impact of technology and so on. In most cases the portrayal of the Mother Goddess also corresponds to the theme rather than the traditional depiction of her slaying the asura atop the lion. These presentations, in a sense, seamlessly blend mythology with artistic interpretations on one hand and new-age architectural techniques on the other. This has also spawned an ecosystem of theme artists at different price points. The process of their tying up with puja committees is no less than a multi-agency pitch with factors like the big idea, quality of finish/craft, chemistry, commercial terms and awards portfolio at play. For the record, most big-ticket theme artists are already signed up for 2026!

In terms of its commercial scale, the news platforms reported that the Durga Puja economy in Bengal this year can be estimated at Rs 65,000 crores, with Kolkata contributing 65-70%. The main drivers of this are shopping hubs and malls, food and beverage sales, and a whopping Rs 450 crore in spending by the various puja organisers, funded primarily from their sponsorship and advertising receipts. For years now temporary hoardings/banners, arch gates, pillars, stalls and giant product displays have been the staple media for outdoor branding during puja. Nowadays, however, most product displays are mobile/rotating, pillars are backlit and a very popular new entrant is Tunnels ( leading to big pandals) delivering an immersive brand experience. Likewise, the focus in the stalls, interestingly, is no longer on selling be it beauty or biscuits but on consumer engagement  through games, quizzes fun activities or feel-good services like free makeovers, baby nursing booths, wheelchair availability and so on, keeping with the times. There are also contests of every conceivable hue, be they for the best dhakis (drummers), for fresh, beautiful faces, or for proficiency in conch shell blowing. Food Zones is another new phenomenon in big pujas, going way beyond the kati rolls, biryanis and chow meins, with mocktails and shakes, sushi and bulgogis on offer, pandering to emerging palates! Above all, in deference to Meta and UGC (user-generated content), branded selfie booths abound with the enticement of possible gratification for posts and uploads. 

Another significant recent development is the widespread use of HD LED displays, in some cases with anamorphic 3D imaging, replacing the flex banners and hoardings of yore. They allow puja committees to capture more value from the same finite space by adding the currency of time, making a greater impact. Several big pujas and major thoroughfares saw a veritable parade of LED screens this year, much like LED runners in stadiums, beaming ROS (run of schedule) messages from different brands by the minute. The ticket size of these displays has also brought into the picture advertising concessionaires with their own expertise, clientele and investments. National outdoor agencies like Ideacafe and OAP tied up with certain prominent pujas for their share of the pie. The rates that different pujas command, not just for LEDs but indeed for all on-ground collaterals, are also a complex algorithm of media buying parameters spanning location, footfall, popularity & image of the puja, pulling power of the artist associated with it and the other brands it attracts. Thus, several marquee pujas have title sponsors, ‘powered by’ partnerships and sponsors for tentpole opportunities like Bhog, Sindoor Khela and Dhaki gear.

Actually the Durga Puja offers a unique opportunity for brand socialisation in an inclusive festive milieu. It is a platform that is utilised as much by large national players like Coca-Cola, HUL , ITC , Britannia and Eveready as it is by local or upcoming brands to earn their stripes in this market with its own strong subculture and idiom. That Tanishq eventually managed to win its pride of place in the Bengali heart after its jewellery adorned Ma Durga in a popular North Kolkata puja some ten years back is but a part of folklore.

Coming to competition, not only are the puja committees vying for artists, media mileage, footfalls, eyeballs and sponsorships, but there is also intense rivalry among them—and the theme artists—for the various puja excellence awards. While Asian Paints Sharad Samman since 1985 has been a pioneer of sorts, today it is a veritable industry with various me-toos, wannabes and inane pretenders seeking shine for themselves by being part of the puja awards circle. There are also similar awards given by several print and television media houses, of which Telegraph True Spirit remains somewhat differentiated, as it looks at parameters like safety, compliance, sustainability and visitor friendliness. Just as certain agencies hanker for metals, many puja committees compete very seriously for these awards, often without commensurate returns!

While the marketeer in me eagerly wonders what and where next, like many of my vintage, in our heart of hearts, we probably miss the homely simple pujas of our growing-up days … those bamboo-tarpaulin-frilly cloth pandals and ubiquitous clay idols with just the neighbourhood puchkawallah or an odd ice cream cart for consumerist escapades. Perhaps crass commerce in the community Durga Pujas of those days raised its hydra head only by way of a few ‘with best compliments from…’ advertisements in puja souvenirs (printed brochures, really) that various puja committees brought out, also embellished with literary content befitting the Bengali cultural ethos. 

Of course, the new trends and aforesaid changes are but an inevitable fallout of the pujas, once run on patronage, having evolved into vehicles for brand promotion with concomitant fundraising potential for the organisers.