In Hooghly district’s Chinsurah, Durga Puja is as much a story of homecoming as it is of history. In centuries-old thakurdalans (family courtyards), the goddess takes different forms. She either sits on Shiva’s lap, or bears the familiar weapons of the warrior goddess, slaying Mahishasura, but with Vaishnava symbols.These pujas also carry the imprint of the town’s cosmopolitan past. The Dutch East Indian Company established its permanent trading settlements in Chinsurah in 1635, and the town subsequently became home to Dutch, English, Armenian and Persian merchants, as well as Mughal and Nawabi elites, and Hindu occupational groups.In the 18th century, Suvarnabanik merchant families from Saptagram settled southwest of Fort Gustavus, the Dutch fort built in 1740 and so named in 1742. Despite the Dutch presence, the old houses participate in the region’s wider cultural fabric, celebrating Durga and Kartik Puja, absorbing foreign influences and evolving over the years.The Indian Express visited three such houses that trace the histories of their puja, and spoke to the descendants on their customs, and traditions. Devotees walk past a statue of Shyama Prasad Mukherjee, founder of the Bharatiya Jana Sangh, the ideological precursor to the BJP, as they visit the Suruchi Sangha Durga Puja pandal, themed on his life, in Kolkata on Friday, October 16, 2026.Express photo. by Partha Paul.Adhyabati (House of Adhya) celebrates their 292nd Durga Puja this year. Founded by Badan Chandra Adhya, the rituals follow strict Vaishnava traditions. The Adhyas say that they are an ekannabarti (joint family), with multiple generations living under the same roof.The Adhyas welcome Durga, not in her Mahishasuramardini, i.e., the figuration of Mahishasura being slayed, but in Hara-Gauri form. She is seated on the lap of Shiva without her mount, lion, while he rests on his mount, Nandi. Mahishasura is completely absent in this form. She has two arms, while Shiva is moustached and pot-bellied.Story continues below this adDescendants Rabin, Ashish, and Samar Adhya explained that contrary to shakti tradition that worships Durga as the destroyer of evil, Vaishnava traditions celebrate her homecoming.There is complete abstention from meat and cooked rice between Mahalaya and Vijaya Dashami. The chaalchitra (the semi-circular backdrop behind the idol) displays different episodes of the goddess’s life, including her marriage with Shiva. The idols have been crafted by Narayan Pal, whose family has been hereditary potters. The goddess is adorned with gold and silver jewels on Maha Shashthi, while members of the household organise cultural programmes on Maha Navami. According to the Adhyas, there is no distinction between puja and utsav; worshipping Durga is a celebration for them. On Vijaya Dashami, the goddess is carried on the backs of twenty-three men to the ghats of the Hooghly River.Boro Seal Bari, founded by Nilambar Seal in 1763, has been celebrating Durga Puja for 30 years now. Rajat Seal, a descendant and member of the family trust, said that the Seals are renowned for their Kartik Puja that dates back to 224 years. Devotees walk past a statue of Shyama Prasad Mukherjee, founder of the Bharatiya Jana Sangh, the ideological precursor to the BJP, as they visit the Suruchi Sangha Durga Puja pandal, themed on his life, in Kolkata on Friday, October 16, 2026.Express photo. by Partha Paul.According to family legends, Ayodhyaram Seal, resident of Gaur and a descendant of the family contemporaneous to Bengal’s first Nawab Murshid Kuli Khan, had started worshipping Durga in a ghot (a ceremonial earthen vessel). However, Rajat Seal maintains that the lineage of Ayodhyaram came to an end with his generation, and never constituted the main lineage of the Seal family. Here too, the goddess is worshipped according to Vaishnava traditions in the Hara-Gauri form. The chaalchitra portrays the marriage of Shiva and Durga, showing them in their familial lives. The goddess is ornamented in jewels on Maha Shashthi. Following Vaishnava traditions, they abstain from meat for the duration of Puja. However, such abstentions do not extend into the personal lives of the people. Bhagirathi Rui Das, a resident of Masagram, has been playing the dhak here for the past three decades.Story continues below this adDebajyoti Halder, a descendant and the current priest of Halder Bari says that their Puja is over 450 years old. According to legends, Sandeshwar Tala, where the Halders live, was once a large crematorium. A pot of gold was divinely revealed to a poor resident Brahmin, and instructed to worship Durga, and Vasuki Sridhar, the ancestral tutelary deity. An ancestor called SatyacharanHalder inherited the Durga Puja. The Halders, too, are Vaishnava by faith. But unlike others, they worship Durga in her Mahishasuramardini form. However, to preserve the Halder’s Vaishnavite distinctiveness, the deity features a white mark under her third eye, and her lion is also white in colour.Debajyoti Halder said that while Mahabali (ritual sacrifice) is indispensable to the rituals, and since Vaishnavism imposes a strict restriction on meat, a wax gourd is sacrificed on Maha Navami. Kumari Puja is also performed on the same day. On Vijaya Dashami, the family abstains from cooking. The idols are immersed in the Halder’s ghat adjoining the home. The Halders too live under one roof, and call their Puja a tin-shariki Puja (Puja of three stakeholders).(Sharanyo Basu is an intern with The Indian Express, Kolkata)