Kolkata (Calcutta) celebrates Durga Pujo with overwhelming and unbelievable energy and dynamism. Durga Pujo the most important festival of Bengalis is the worship of ‘Shakti’ or the divine power. Goddess Durga symbolises the divine power.  Every Bengali away from home, no matter which part of the world a Bengali might be in, long to hear the familiar sound of Dhak, be with his family and feel the festive spirit of Durga Pujo.

Sharod’s clear blue skies with their fleecy white clouds, the golden sunshine, the swiveling of the white ‘Kash phool’ in the autumn breeze, grass blades heavily laden with morning dew, ‘Dhunuchi nachh’, the mild fragrance of ‘Shiuli phool’, the sound of ‘Dhak’, feverish preparations for the Pujos, gifts, good food, and plans for long ‘adda’ sessions with friends gives a familiar tug at every ‘Bangali’ heart. This is the time when Bengalees start counting for ‘Devi Bandana’.

Then comes the ‘Agomoni’ - Mahalaya. It’s ‘Sharodiya’, yes! Bangali’s very own.. Durga - Goddess of deliverance - comes to earth on the seventh day after the autumn new moon. Seven days before her arrival starts the Devipaksha. The day is being observed as ‘Mahalaya’, the day of invocation. In the dark night of amabasya (new moon), people pray to Goddess Durga to arrive in the earth to ward off all evils.

On the dawn of ‘Mahalaya’, homes in Bengal resonate with the immortal verses of the ‘Chandipath'.

Ask a Bengali about Chandipath and the name that strikes out immediately is that of "Birendra Krishna Bhadra". He  was a poet widely remembered for his recital of Mahishashura Mardini, a collection of shlokas and songs broadcast by All India Radio Calcutta (now Kolkata) in the dawn of Mahalaya.

In the 1930s All India Radio used to broadcast a program called Mahishashura Mardini which describes the epic battle of goddess Durga with the demon king Mahishashura. The script of this program was written by Bani Kumar and music directed by Pankaj Kumar Mallik.The enchanting rendition by Birendra Krishna Bhadra was the stand out aspect of the recital. In 1970s, the programme became a recorded one. It has been decades since then, but even today Durga Pujo opens with the same enthralling recital by Birendra Krishna Bhadra.