A controversy over non-vegetarian food during Durga Puja has stirred a sharp debate in West Bengal, after the Vishva Hindu Parishad urged organisers to keep meat and fish away from puja pandal premises. The organisation said its appeal was meant to protect the sanctity and cleanliness of worship spaces, but critics accused it of trying to impose a narrow food code on a festival deeply rooted in Bengali custom.
Opposition leaders argued that Durga Puja in Bengal has never followed one dietary pattern. For many devotees, the festival is associated with vegetarian bhog served in community pandals; for others, especially in older household pujas and Shakta traditions, fish or goat meat may form part of ritual practice. Food in Bengal is often seen as culture, memory and identity, not merely personal preference.
Several political voices pushed back against any restriction. Some BJP leaders in the state distanced themselves from attempts to dictate food habits, while Congress and Left leaders called the move an interference in cultural life and questioned the VHP’s authority to decide how people celebrate.
The VHP later clarified that it had not demanded a blanket ban and only wanted non-vegetarian food kept outside the immediate worship area. Yet the clarification did little to calm the row. The dispute revealed a larger fault line: whether religious organisations can prescribe uniform practices for a festival that has evolved through regional diversity. As Durga Puja approaches, the plate has become a symbol of both faith and freedom.
The Theme puja row
The food debate has also merged with another sensitive issue: the future of theme-based Durga Pujas. In Bengal, “theme puja” has become a defining feature of the festival, with neighbourhood clubs turning pandals into artistic statements on migration, language, environment, politics, cinema and social justice. These installations attract huge crowds and have helped transform Durga Puja from a religious ritual into a public cultural spectacle.
Recent objections to certain themes, idols and pandal designs have therefore been read by many organisers as an attempt to narrow the festival’s creative space. The VHP’s preference for more traditional, “shabeki” forms has added to fears that Bengal’s experimental puja culture may come under pressure. Supporters of traditional formats argue that devotion should remain central, while critics counter that theme pujas are now part of Bengal’s living tradition.
Bageshwar Baba and the Navratri flashpoint
The controversy acquired a sharper edge after Dhirendra Krishna Shastri, popularly known as Bageshwar Baba and head of Bageshwar Dham, appealed during a religious event in Howrah for Hindus in Bengal to avoid selling or consuming non-vegetarian food near Durga Puja pandals during Navratri. His remarks, which reportedly described meat-eaters during the festive period as “pakhandi”, quickly went viral and turned a cultural disagreement into a wider argument over religious authority, regional identity and personal choice.
The reaction in Bengal was swift because Shastri’s appeal echoed the VHP’s earlier position but came from an outside religious figure addressing a state where Durga Puja is closely tied to Shakta traditions and Bengali food culture. Critics argued that equating vegetarian practice with piety ignored the diversity within Hindu worship itself. In many Bengali households, Navami and other festive days are associated not only with worship and bhog, but also with fish, goat meat and community feasting.
The pushback cut across political lines. Bengal BJP president Samik Bhattacharya rejected the idea that any preacher or party could decide what Bengalis should eat, pointing to customs such as luchi on Ashtami and mutton on Navami. Congress leaders went further by filing a police complaint, alleging that Shastri’s comments hurt Bengali religious sentiments and risked disharmony.
Together with the meat controversy, the theme puja row shows how Durga Puja has become a battleground over who gets to define Bengali culture: religious bodies, political parties, puja committees, or the people who celebrate it.
What does the diaspora have to say?
In the UK, the Bengali diaspora has been celebrating Durga Puja for more than two decades, with some pujas set to mark their 25th anniversary in 2026. Most celebrations continue to follow Bengal’s traditions.
Sudip Roy, a London-based tech entrepreneur and industry analyst said, “Bengal's religious life has never taken a single prescribed form. Gauranga sang Krishna's name in the streets and drew the lowest castes into devotion. Ramakrishna moved between Kali worship, Vedanta and Islam within one lifetime, insisting each path led to the same truth. Swami Vivekananda carried that openness onto a world stage. Ramprasad wrote to Kali as a wilful daughter, not a distant deity. None of them asked permission from political or institutional authority, and each shaped how Bengal worships Durga today, from Bhakti's surrender to Shakti's fierce autonomy.
“Bengal's religious inheritance is plurality, and it has outlasted every attempt to standardise it. A political body prescribing scriptural fidelity in idol design sits uneasily against this history. Artistic and ritual variation in Durga Puja is not distortion. It is continuity with how Bengal has always practised faith.”
Anirban Mukhopadhyay, organiser of Thames Durga Parade, and Director of Heritage Bengal Global Connext, a platform for the world’s Bengali diaspora told the newsweekly, “The theme and ‘independence of the artist’ concepts might have stretched a bit too far- making Maa Durga or Asur look like a politician or creating themes with gross political messages, should surely have been controlled- it wasn’t, so it’s time we stop that and come up with socio-cultural or scientific themes than political ones or those gross ones which affects the feelings of a large section of the community.
“In the UK, Durga Puja is often held in community halls where vegetarian bhog is offered to the deity, while non-vegetarian food may be sold at stalls in the same venue or nearby.
“Although a Hindu festival, Durga Puja has rituals quite different from Navaratri that we have, say in Gujarat or Maharastra. We even sacrifice goat (pantha boli) or offer hilsa (fish) to Maa Durga, as part of the ritual, all within the Hindu way of celebration in West Bengal. So, the guidelines are not relevant even in India, leave alone UK- if it was for cleanliness of the Pandal (marquee/hall), it was not necessary to highlight non-veg food, as it should have been applicable to veg food as well.”
Bhaskar Bhattacharjee, a London-based hospitality professional and academic who is actively involved with Prayash UK, promoting cultural heritage and hosting an annual Durga Puja said, “I don’t think Durga Puja should be limited to just one artistic style. Bengal has a long history of creativity and cultural expression. There’s a saying, ‘What Bengal thinks today, India thinks tomorrow,’ and I believe that innovative spirit is clear in Durga Puja.
“For Bengalis, Maa Durga is more than a goddess. We also welcome her as our daughter coming home with her children. Each puja shows this bond in its own way. Many family pujas (barir pujos), keep the same rituals and idol styles for generations, while many community pujas, or Barwari pujas, use modern themes and artistic ideas. I think both tradition and creativity can exist together. Keeping traditions does not stop new ideas, and using modern art does not mean disrespecting the goddess.
“In the UK, each puja organiser should decide this based on their own traditions and situation. At our events in the UK, we have always allowed non-vegetarian food, and this is common in many Bengali community pujas here…”
Dr Suvalagna Chatterjee, from Warwickshire Sarbojonin Sharadotsav celebrated in the heart of Warwickshire county, told Asian Voice, “I would oppose restrictions on modern or theme-based Durga Puja, while fully respecting the sanctity of traditional worship. Over the years, theme-based Puja in Kolkata has given Durga Puja a distinctive cultural identity. A theme does not necessarily diminish the beauty of the traditional idol; indeed, the traditional image and its iconic Daker Saaj have themselves evolved into celebrated artistic themes.
“Durga Puja, particularly for Bengalis, is much more than an act of religious devotion. It is deeply intertwined with Bengali ethos, art, culture, creativity and traditional beliefs. The flourishing artistry, employment opportunities and the attraction of visitors have also contributed significantly to the socio-cultural and economic life of West Bengal. The diversity of themes creates the unique experience of pandal hopping, where devotion and artistic expression coexist. This gradual evolution has been widely embraced, and imposing restrictions on an expression that Bengalis take great pride in may therefore be difficult to accept.
“For Bengalis, Maa Durga is embraced as a daughter returning to her maternal home, and food forms an integral part of that celebration. Fish and other non-vegetarian offerings have traditionally been part of Bengali religious and cultural practices, while dishes such as fish, mutton and rice are commonly associated with Puja celebrations.
“Restricting food within the premises to vegetarian options alone may therefore feel culturally disconnected to many Bengali devotees.
“In the UK, Bengali communities have already adapted and improvised their celebrations according to local regulations, venue availability and the preferences of the community.”
