Namaskar,

          20 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 20 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.

Our celebrations are dotted with numerous cultural activities and the annual puja magazine Aaratrika is released on Shaptami. 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.

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 20th!

Durga Puja Committee