Durga Puja in the context of "Pantheon (gods)"

Puja (Sanskrit: पूजा, romanized: pūjā) is a worship ritual performed by Hindus to offer devotional homage and prayer to one or more deities, to host and honour a guest, or to spiritually celebrate an event. It may honour or celebrate the presence of special guests, or their memories after they die. The word puja is roughly translated into English as 'reverence, honour, homage, adoration, or worship'. Puja, the loving offering of light, flowers, and water or food to the divine, is the essential ritual of Hinduism. For the worshipper, the divine is visible in the image, and the divinity sees the worshipper. The interaction between human and deity, between human and guru, is called a Darshanam.

In Hindu practice, puja is done on a variety of occasions, frequencies, and settings. It may include a daily puja done in the home, or occasional temple ceremonies and annual festivals. In other cases, puja is held to mark a few lifetime events such as the birth of a baby, house entering ceremony or grihapravesh, first rice-eating ceremony or annaprasana, wedding, sacred thread ceremony or upanayana ceremony for the Brahmins or to begin a new venture. The two main areas where puja is performed are in the home and at temples to mark certain stages of life, events or some festivals such as Durga Puja, Kali Puja, Janmashtami, and Lakshmi Puja. Puja is not mandatory in Hinduism. It may be a routine daily affair for some Hindus, a periodic ritual for some, and rare for other Hindus. In some temples, various pujas may be performed daily at various times of the day; in other temples, they may be occasional.

A pantheon is the particular set of all gods of any individual polytheistic religion, mythology, or tradition.

Cuttack (/ˈkʌtək/ , or also Kataka in Odia [ˈkɔʈɔkɔ]), is the second largest city and the former capital of the Indian state of Odisha. It is also the headquarters of the Cuttack district. The name of the city is an anglicised form of the Odia and Sanskrit name Kataka, which literally means the fort, a reference to the ancient Barabati Fort around which the city initially developed. Cuttack is known as the Millennium City as well as the Silver City due to its history of 1000 years and famous silver filigree works respectively. The Orissa High Court and some other Odisha State Govt. offices are located there, and the city is the judicial capital of Odisha.

It is the commercial capital of Odisha and hosts many trading and business houses in and around the city. The city is famous in Odisha for foods, such as the Thunkapuri, Dahibara, Lassi, various kinds of Chat etc. Amongst all districts in Orissa, the undivided Cuttack district is famous for its tasty delicacies and sweets. Cuttack is famous for its Durga Puja, which is one of the most important festivals of Odisha. Being the favourite destination of poets and artists, it is also a cultural hub of Odisha. Due to its beauty, the term Kataka Nagara Dhabala Tagara is coined for it. The city is categorised as a Tier II city as per the ranking system used by the Government of India.

Basirhat is a city and a Greater Municipal Urban Agglomeration region of North 24 Parganas district in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is the headquarters of the Basirhat subdivision. Established on April 1, 1869, Basirhat is one of the oldest municipal boards in West Bengal. There's a proposal to carve out a new Basirhat district from the existing North 24 Parganas district. The district headquarters is planned to be in the city of Basirhat. The city is famous for Durga Puja and home of more than 100 durga puja committees.

Basirhat ranks among one of the cleanest city of India in terms of waste management according to a survey held by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs of Central Government of India. Basirhat is the first city of West Bengal to launch QR code based geo tagging system for real time monitoring of waste management.