By Oitijhyo Sarbojonin Cultural Association, Hinjewadi Phase 2, Pune.
For many Bengali families in Hinjewadi, Durga Puja has always meant travelling across Pune.
We would leave home early, sit through festival traffic and reach a pandal after an hour or more. We would stand in line for pushpanjali, eat bhog, watch the evening arati and then begin the long drive back.
The celebration was beautiful. But it never quite felt like our own neighbourhood puja.
Things are changing now. A few Durga Pujas have started in Hinjewadi, and we are happy about that. Every new puja brings people closer and makes this growing part of Pune feel more like home.
So why are we starting another one?
We are not trying to be the biggest.
Oitijhyo’s first Sharodiya Durgotsav will be held from 16 to 21 October 2026 at an open community ground in Hinjewadi.
It may not be Pune’s biggest Durga Puja. We may not have the tallest pandal, the largest idol or a famous celebrity performing on stage.
That is not what we are trying to build.
We want to create a para pujo.
A puja where you recognise the person serving bhog. A puja where children from the neighbourhood perform on stage, forget a few steps and still receive the loudest applause.
A place where people come for pushpanjali in the morning and return in the evening simply because their friends are there.
The programme may end, but the adda will continue.
It should feel less like an event that you visit and more like a celebration that belongs to you.
“Oitijhyo” means heritage. For us, heritage is not about how large the idol is. It is about creating memories that stay.
We hope a child attending the puja today will grow up and say, “This is my para pujo.”
This puja is for everyone.
The word sarbojonin means “for everyone.” We chose it carefully.
Hinjewadi is home to people from Bengal, Maharashtra, Bihar, Odisha, Assam, Jharkhand and many other parts of India. We live in the same societies. Our children study in the same schools. We meet in lifts, playgrounds, shops and office buses.
Durga Puja may have Bengali roots, but the joy of the festival belongs to everyone.
Anyone can join the pushpanjali. Anyone can have bhog. Anyone can watch the arati, visit the stalls or take part in the celebrations.
The cultural stage will also belong to the neighbourhood. There may be Rabindra Sangeet, a Marathi group song, a classical dance or a Bollywood performance by children from a nearby society.
You do not need to be Bengali. You do not need to know every ritual.
Just come.
Someone will explain what is happening. Someone will make space for you in the bhog line. Before long, you will feel like you have been part of the celebration for years.
Small puja, honest effort
This is our first year.
We have one ground, five days and a simple aim: to organise the puja with care.
The rituals will be conducted properly from Shashthi to Dashami. There will be pushpanjali every morning and bhog for everyone who attends.
The evenings will be for local performers. Instead of bringing in large celebrity acts, we want children, parents and local groups to have the stage.
We also want to support people from the neighbourhood.
Local artists, home bakers, food sellers and small businesses will have opportunities to participate. A community puja should help the people living around it. It should create livelihoods as well as memories.
Oitijhyo is a new name, but the organising team has years of experience.
Our members have helped organise Durga Puja, Saraswati Puja, Bengali New Year celebrations and other cultural programmes for different organisations. Together, we have worked on more than 200 events across India.
We have handled permissions, vendors, programmes, volunteers, safety and the many small problems that appear just before an event begins.
We know that organising a puja is not easy.
We also know why it is worth doing.
Hinjewadi is becoming a home.
Hinjewadi was once known mainly as an office destination. People came here to work and left at the end of the day.
That is no longer the complete story.
Families now live here permanently. Children are growing up here. Schools, shops, cafés and residential societies are full. The area continues to expand, and the new metro corridor will connect it more closely with the rest of Pune.
The Rajiv Gandhi Infotech Park covers around 2,800 acres and includes more than 800 companies. Several lakh professionals travel through the area on working days, while the wider Hinjewadi belt is now home to a large residential population.
But numbers do not make a neighbourhood.
People do.
A place begins to feel like home when families celebrate together, children grow up together and traditions slowly take root.
Our Durga Puja is one small part of that.
It may have a long bhog queue. Children may run behind the stage. A name may be misspelt on the programme sheet. Volunteers may look tired by Navami.
That is all right.
A para pujo is not remembered because everything was perfect. It is remembered because everyone was part of it.
Come and be part of the first year.
To celebrate with us, volunteer, perform, set up a stall or support the puja as a sponsor, write to contactus@oitijhyosarbojonin.com
Sources
Hinjewadi IT Park area, companies and workforce: myHQ Hinjewadi IT Park Guide
Residential population of the Hinjewadi belt: IJRASET planning study
Metro Line 3 route and station details: PMRDA and Wikipedia