From UK to Global: the Puja Parikrama map story
From 61 UK pujas mapped by hand in 2018 to 286 celebrations in 29 countries in 2026. বাংলায় পড়ুন →
Green: confirmed on the organiser's own website
Yellow: from a directory or event listing
Grey: no 2026 dates found yet
Red: sources disagree
Please confirm with the organiser before you travel.
My story
In 2017 I was a young researcher in Edinburgh, far from home, and every autumn I had the same question: where is the nearest pujo? So I decided, on my own, to put every Durga Puja in Britain on one Google map. My cousin Sarnava then built an app based on it.
It took about a month. I phoned organisers, sent WhatsApp messages, checked venues and dates, and added each pujo by hand. In 2018 my friends Maitri Roy and Abhirup Ghosh joined me, and together we had 61 pujas on the map, from Aberdeen to Bournemouth, from Belfast to Middlesbrough. The Telegraph and Eastern Eye wrote about it. Then, over the years, the map was lost. Only those 61 records survived.
This year I tried something different. I didn't pick up the phone. I asked two AI assistants, ChatGPT and Claude, to help me search the whole world. They searched organiser websites, embassy calendars and online directories, and then checked each other's work. In about two hours, I had a map of 286 Durga Pujas in 29 countries.
What surprised me most was not the speed but the checking. One AI found mistakes the other had made: an address its source never mentioned, old venues, a wrong postcode, a misspelled street.
And what the map shows made me proud. Durga Puja is not only an Indian festival any more. Ma is worshipped from Espoo in Finland to Wellington in New Zealand. There are pujas in a palace in Munich, a rowing club in Dublin, cricket clubs in England and the Netherlands, and two in Times Square, New York. London's Belsize Park pujo is 60 years old this year.
But I must be honest. I did not contact a single organiser this year, so this map is a starting point, not the final word. Green pins are confirmed on the organiser's own website, yellow come from directories, and grey still need 2026 dates. AI can search the web, but it can't pick up the phone. That part needs you.
So please explore the map. Find your pujo. If it's missing or wrong, tell me through the form on the home page, and send your photos. Try the puja quiz and share it with friends.
Let's build this map together, from local communities to a global family.
Asche bochor abar hobe!
Sumit Konar
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