The calendar
Bengali festivals, kept properly
The Bengali year has its own rhythm, and most of it does not line up with the American calendar. Here is what we celebrate, what each one actually involves, and roughly when it falls. Everything is open to the public.
Durga Puja
দুর্গা পূজাFive days in late September or October
The largest Bengali festival of the year, and the biggest thing Sanhoti does — five days of ritual, food, music and community.
Next:
Read about Durga PujaSaraswati Puja
সরস্বতী পূজাLate January or February, on Vasant Panchami
The spring festival of learning, music and the arts — and the day Bengali children are formally introduced to letters.
Read about Saraswati PujaPoila Boishakh
পয়লা বৈশাখMid-April — the Bengali New Year
Bengali New Year: new clothes, new account books, a very large lunch, and the year begun properly.
Read about Poila BoishakhLakshmi Puja
লক্ষ্মী পূজাOctober — the full-moon night, five days after Durga Puja
The autumn festival of wealth, prosperity, and light — and the night families stay awake to welcome the goddess of fortune into their homes.
Next:
Read about Lakshmi PujaKali Puja & Diwali
কালী পূজাOctober or November, on the new-moon night of Kartik
The night-time worship of the goddess Kali, held on the same new moon that the rest of India celebrates as Diwali.
Read about Kali Puja & DiwaliPithe Puli Utsab
পিঠে পুলি উৎসবWinter, around Poush Sankranti in January
The winter sweets festival — rice-flour pithe, date-palm jaggery, and a hall that smells of both.
Coming to one
You do not need an invitation
Every festival Sanhoti runs is open to the public, whatever your background or faith. You will be fed, and somebody will explain what is going on if you ask.