States » EastPosted at: Oct 17 2026 12:16AM


Bengal govt awards Santosh Mitra Square Durga Puja as 'Best of the Best'

Kolkata, Oct 16 (UNI) The community puja organised by north Kolkata’s Santosh Mitra Square was adjudged ‘Serar Sera’ (Best of the Best) in the ‘Devi Durga Samman 2026’ announced by the West Bengal government on Friday.
Four Durga Puja committees received the ‘Best Puja’ award, three were recognised for ‘Best Marquee’, and four were honoured for ‘Best Social Awareness’, with 23 Durga Puja committees featuring in the awards list announced by Minister of State for Information and Cultural Affairs Purnima Chakraborty at Nandan.
The main organiser of the Santosh Mitra Square puja is BJP MLA and councillor Sajal Ghosh.
The ‘Biswa Bangla Sharad Samman’, an award previously presented by the state government, has been renamed the ‘Devi Durga Samman’ this year following the change of regime in West Bengal. As in previous years, the awards have been presented across four categories: Best Puja, Best Marquee, Best Idol and Best Social Awareness.
Brindaban Garden and Chorbagan Sarbojanin secured the second and third positions, respectively, in the Best of the Best category.
The ‘Best Idol’ award went to Mudiali Club. Tala Barowari, Behala Arunoday Samity and Ahiritola Sarbojanin secured the second, third and fourth positions, respectively, in the category.
The ‘Best Marquee’ award went to 25 Palli (Khidirpur), while Amra Kojon Kalyan Samity secured the second position.
Kashi Bose Lane was recognised for ‘Best Social Awareness’, followed by Ballygunge Cultural, Ajeya Sanghati and Chakraberia in the next three positions.
The ‘Best Eco-friendly’ award was presented to Nalin Sarkar Street, with Rajdanga Naba Uday Sangha finishing as runner-up. Allen Park secured the third prize in the category in its maiden year.
For Best Illumination, the top prize went to Santoshpur New South, followed by Bakulbagan and Shibmandir Sarbojanin.
The top-ranked puja committees will each receive a cash prize of Rs 1 lakh, while the others will receive Rs 50,000 each. The awards will be presented to the puja committees on October 26, the day of the ‘Bijoya Sammilani’, at the Milan Mela grounds.
Special awards were presented to Bodyguard Lines Residential, Shyam Square, Samajsebi Sangha and Thakurpukur SB Park.
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