Join us and celebrate Durga Puja in Kingston

We are The Kingston Durga Puja Committee.

We are Bengalis, people with roots and connections to Bengal in Eastern parts of India. We are young and old, students and professors, families and single souls.

We are also Kingstonians.

We, who have settled far from our homeland for various reasons, cannot ever fully come to terms with that feeling of nostalgia and longing for one's homeland, the joy of simple childhood pleasures. The spirit starts welling in Fall when India prepares to celebrate the biggest season of festivities. Being a large and diverse country, we call it by different names - and people from and around West Bengal call it Durga Puja.

Goddess Durga is worshipped as the Mother of the Universe and is the embodiment of all good qualities, including love, beauty, wealth and power. The image of Goddess Durga symbolically represents the protection of good and the destruction of evil. The auspicious festival of Durga Puja is an annual five-day celebration in the Indian subcontinent that pays homage to the goddess Maa (Mother) Durga. It celebrates the victory of good over evil as goddess Durga killed the demon king, Mahishasur. According to Hindu mythology, the goddess is believed to visit her earthly abode during this time to bless her devotees.

Bengalis in Kingston are used to travelling to Ottawa or Toronto to partake in the festivities. 2022 will be the first year we attempt to organize a grand Durga Puja as a single-day event and set up a permanent format so that the tradition continues.

Of course, there are significant challenges around the venue, provisions that have to come in from GTA, food, stage and lighting and other operational expenses, but the biggest is getting the Idol airlifted from India to Canada.

The campaign funds will be used primarily for the Idol, venue, food and operational expenses, prasad and event, stage, lighting and decor. Any surplus funds will roll over to make next year's event smoother, bigger and better.

We will do everything in our effort to make this event a success. Our team of 25 plus volunteers is working tirelessly to pull off a seamless experience even with the short timeline available. We seek your help, blessings, love, and support to make this dream a reality. We also take this opportunity to invite you to attend the festival. We highly appreciate your valuable support to our endeavour and believe this will be a landmark event that will spark a tradition. Tentatively, we have decided to celebrate the occasion on 2nst October (Sunday), the day of Maha Saptami. We will provide you with further details, so follow us on our social media channels.

Respectfully,

The Kingston Durga Puja Comittee