At Ramdhan Mitra Lane, in Shyampukur Area, the first North Kolkata Baroari Committee was formed in 1911. It’s heard from the Senior Citizens of the area that a few local boys kept a idol of Lord Kartik on the doorstep of a house. (It’s said that if a Kartik idol is found at your doorstep it should be worshipped by the household so as to avoid any misfortunes.) The head of the household was not int
erested to go ahead with the festivities of Kartik Puja, so the local boys collected chandas (a form of donation) and went ahead with the Kartik Puja. This successful Kartik Puja aroused the desire to have a Durga Puja in the Area. The Brothers Sri Phani Mitra, Mani Mitra, Satyacharan Das and others where the main protagonist in forming the Shyampukur Baroari which later became famous as the Shyampukur Adi Sarbojanin Durgotsab. The Idol has been made in the traditional "Ekchala" with the colour of the Pratima, that of the stem of Shiuli (Night-flowering Jasmine). The main base of the Pratima is five and a half hath (which is roughly 99 inches). The height is 14 poya (quarters) which is still maintained. The same face layout had been used over the years without any change. There have been various experiments with the Pandals during the history of the Puja but never with the Pratima. The Puja is conducted in the Baisnab way. Suresh Chandra Samajpati, Birandra Krishna Bhadra, Dukhiram Mujamdar, Santosh Kumar Majumdar and other noted personalities have had themselves involved with this Puja Committee.
