This Puja, the doors of the 169-year-old Badan Chandra Roy Rajbari in Colootola opened to a select community of creators for ‘Pujor Prostuti’, an initiative by Make Calcutta Relevant Again, offering a closer look at the rituals, preparations, architecture and stories that have shaped the family’s Durga Puja over nearly 17 decades. : Some of Kolkata’s oldest traditions are best understood not through history books, but by stepping into the spaces where they have continued to live for generations.
For the seventh-generation custodian of the family legacy, Supratim Roy, Puja is therefore more than an annual ritual — it is the moment when the house itself seems to come alive. “This house has seen generations come and go, but every year, when Puja arrives, it feels as if the house comes alive all over again. The sounds, the preparations, the people returning to the family home and the rituals that have been followed for generations bring back a sense of continuity.
When a younger generation walks into a 169-year-old home, sees the traditions being prepared and hears the stories directly from the family, heritage becomes real and relevant to them. For Make Calcutta Relevant Again, initiatives like this are an important part of connecting Kolkata’s past with its future. The organisation describes its larger mission as helping young people engage with the city and its changing cultural, entrepreneurial and creative landscape. “Heritage cannot remain something that young people only read about or see from outside a locked gate. It has to be experienced, understood and brought into contemporary conversations. Events like Pujor Prostuti create that bridge between what Kolkata has inherited and what the next generation will carry forward,” exclaimed the representatitives of Make Calcutta Relevant Again.