IRJMSH Vol 12 Issue 3 [Year 2021] ISSN 2277 – 9809 (0nline) 2348–9359 (Print) International Research Journal of Management Sociology & Humanity ( IRJMSH ) Page 191 www.irjmsh.com Durga Puja Festival (Public Event) and Puja Pandals (Public Space) A mutual engagement of Culture, Space and Time Anjan Mitra 1 , Madhumita Roy 2 ________________________________________________________________ ABSTRACT Public events are a temporal experience - organised over a short period of time to manifest as well as experience, a cultural narrative. The Durga Puja festival is such a manifestation of a sacred Public Event. With its layered cultural imagination, the concept of Durga Puja is woven in myth, mythology, and cultural practices. The exact timing of this annual event is dictated by the guild of almanac-makers. They identify an auspicious Time (Din – Kshon - Muhurta) for the event every year with reference to the planetary composition and positional astronomical data. It is through this periodicity that the event also connects a spatial manifestation to an intangible realisation of the world beyond reality - the spirituality. The event is a catalyst - engaging targeted communities and social groups to perform distinct rituals and practices. This process of engagement also triggers a set of accepted behavioural patterns in a designated and appropriately designed space. These are the Puja Pandals – a unique temporary Public Space of the city. Thus, the Durga Puja Festival is instrumental, a catalyst that transforms the existing spatial structure of the city through the insertion of a number of Puja Pandals (temporary structures with encoded symbolic meaning to manifest the imagined) in Kolkata. Key words: Public Event, Festivals, Myth, Mythology, Cultural Meaning, Public Space, Urban Transformation. 1 Architect – Urban Designer, amitra4055@gmail.com 2 Professor – Department of Architecture, Jadavpur University, Kolkata 700 032, madhumi_r@yahoo.co.in