Namaskar,

          22 years ago some people came together and dreamt of puja in Moscow. First times are always special. The novelty of puja in matushka Rossia, the two purohits who were specially flown in from Calcutta and the immense excitement while awaiting the very first protima are unforgettable. Our first puja was inaugurated by Swami Lokeswarananda of Ramakrishna Mission. Since then Swami Jyotirupananda who is the founder of Moscow Ramakrishna Math has been conducting our puja and is the president of our Moscow Durga Puja Committee.

Yes, our Moscow puja turns 22 this year! With time indeed our puja has grown up. The revelry probably little brighter and definitely the crowd bigger. The entire Indian community of Moscow comes together for the celebration. The puja is organized and funded on a voluntarily basis by the Indian community in Moscow.

Unlike US and Europe, where Puja is organized over weekends, we in Moscow take pride in conducting puja on the actual dates.  While being spiritual and religious in its nature, the Durga Puja is also a “Sarvajanin” event – it is a social and cultural event. It is a secular event meant for people from all communities and faith and everyone is welcome with open arms.  Our celebrations are dotted with numerous cultural activities which comprise of songs, dances, contests and quiz with a special focus on our children.

Aaratrika, a festive annual socio-cultural magazine is published for the occasion and launched at the Shaptami gala programme.  Aaratrika’s content is simple - festive, fun and straight-from-the-heart. We welcome stories and thoughts of all who find our culture interesting and our children actively contribute in it. Aaratrika aspires to connect the Indians annually to reflect on significant anniversaries and important issues in various spheres like culture, music, literature, cinema, ecology. The underlying theme of the Puja and Aaratrika is peace and harmony and celebration of diversity and inclusion. We also aspire to serve as a cultural bridge between India and Russia.

We are joined in our celebration by our Russian friends who adore India, find our colourful festivals fascinating, who after pratima darshan queue up for bhog and prasad along with us. There are Russian academicians, Indologists and people specializing in oriental culture who make it a point to visit our puja every year.

Fervently hoping for puja days to be warm and sunny, we are all set to celebrate our happy 22nd!

Moscow Durga Puja Committee

Durga Puja Committee