Barowari refers to the public organization of a religious or other type of entity, mainly in West Bengal, India, which is extensively used for Durga Puja. The word "Barowari" comes from the words "baro", which means 12, and "yari". Much earlier, in 1790, 12 Brahmin friends in Guptipara, Hooghly, decided to institute a community Puja, and when the neighbors started to raise suspicions, they started a baro-yari or Barowari Puja in Bengal, which gained popularity. Initially, Durga Puja was an occasion for the rich Babus of Kolkata. Later, individual initiatives declined as collective enterprises came to replace it. In more recent times, the terminology 'barowari' is being replaced by 'sorbojanin'. The Barowari festival is the opposite of a household festival organized privately, often allowing the participation of outsiders. The Barowari festival is held with funds raised from the public at large through donations or subscriptions.
Etymology
The first publicly organized Durga Puja was held at Guptipara, when several men were stopped from taking part in a household Durga Puja. Twelve of them formed a committee and organized a barowari puja. There is a difference of opinion about the year of worship – 1761 or 1790.
Household pujas
There were numerous household pujas, particularly Durga Puja, in various parts of Bengal. Generally, such pujas allowed others to participate in the worshipping. However, the organization and other matters are handled by the family, who take the initiative and spend money on it. family that started in 1610 by Laksmikanta Gangopadhyay. The Sabarna Roy Choudhury family has been celebrating Durga Puja since 1610 in their ancestral home at Barisha. Durga Puja is possibly the oldest organized festival in the Kolkata region. Today, seven Durga Pujas are being held by the family. Out of these, six are at Barisha while the seventh is at Birati. The Pujas, which are held at Barisha, are Aatchala, Baro Bari, Mejo Bari, Benaki Bari, Kalikingkar Bhawan and Majher Bari. Other than the Durga Puja, the family organizes Chandi Puja, Jagaddhatri Puja, Dol Yatra and Rath Yatra utsav. The Dutta Chaudhury Zamindar family, of Andul, started Durga Puja in the year of 1609 by Kashiwar Dutta Chaudhury. However, elder family members residing in Andul have indicated that they used to worship Mother Durga in an "Achala" structure sometime since the 15th century, possibly started by Tekari Dutta. This is according to their family history, handed down the generations by the spoken word. Animal sacrifice following Tantric requirements used to be carried out during the earlier days, until it was stopped when Krishnananda Dutta became a full-fledged 'Vaishnav' due to the influence of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and Nityananda Prabhu. Eventually, it was Kashiswar Dutta Chaudhury who, by the grace of Mughal prince Shah-Jehan, was able to recover from his uncle most of what was taken. He reinstated the Andul zamindari to its former glory. He re-established the traditional worship of Mother Durga in the year 1609 AD at a new Chandi-Mandap, following Brihat Nandikeshwar Puran and according to Vaishnav rituals. It is one of the oldest Durga Puja in West-Bengal. Nabakrishna Deb started the Durga Puja in Shobhabazar Rajbari in 1757. He set a pattern for the puja which became a fashion and status symbol among the upcoming merchant class of Kolkata. The number of Englishmen attending the family Durga Puja became an index of prestige. Religious scruples fell by the wayside. The nautch girls were mostly from Muslimgharanas. The Englishmen attending the dance-parties dined on beef and ham from Wilson's Hotel and drank to their hearts' content. Rani Rashmoni used to celebrate Durga Puja at her residence with traditional pomp, including all-night jatras, rather than by entertaining the Englishmen with whom she carried on a running feud. After she died in 1861, the sons-in-law took to celebrating Durga Puja in their respective premises. There are several other households Durga Pujas in Kolkata.
Barowari Durga Pujas
The twentieth century witnessed the emergence of community Durga Puja which was also at times organized publicly. The first Barowari Durga Puja was organized in Kolkata by Bhowanipore Sanatan Dharmotsahini Sabha in 1909 at Balaram Bose Ghat Road, Bhowanipore. On this occasion, Sri Aurobindo published the famous Durga Stotra in his Bengali journal, Dharma, issue one "Kartika" dated 1316 AD. J.C. Nixon, in his "Account of the Revolutionary organizations in Bengal" noted: "Bhowanipore Party: owing to his striking personality, Jatindra Nath Mukharji was during this period gaining great popularity and esteem in anarchic circles. There is evidence for believing that the murderer of Babu Ashutosh Biswas, Public Prosecutor, on 10 February 1909, was a member of this party, while there is no doubt that Jatin Mukharji himself was one of the instigators of the murder of Khan BahadurShamsul Alam which took place on 21 February 1910.". Other Barowari Durga Puja that followed were the College Street Tamer Lane Sarbojanin Durga Utsav ESTD of 1915, Shyampukur Adi Sarbojanin of 1911, Sikdar Bagan of 1913, Nebubagan, which in 1919 became Bagbazar sarbojanin, Simla Byam Samiti of 1926. and Amherst Street Lohapatty Sarbojanin of 1943, which later became Maniktala Chaltabagan Lohapatty Durga Puja. Barowari Durga Pujas are celebrated in over 2,000 pandals in Kolkata.
