CM Manik Saha joins Durga Puja parikrama at Forward Club
Synopsis
Tripura Chief Minister Dr. Manik Saha began his Durga Puja parikrama on the evening of Maha Shashthi, visiting the Forward Club pandal on Mantri Bari Road in Agartala on October 16, 2026.
Key Takeaways
Manik Saha visited the Forward Club on Mantri Bari Road as part of his Durga Puja parikrama .
The visit took place on the evening of Maha Shashthi , October 16, 2026 — the opening day of the five-day festive stretch.
Saha shared four photographs from the pandal on his official X account.
Tripura observes Durga Puja as a major cultural event owing to its significant Bengali-speaking population.
The parikrama tradition is a standard form of community outreach by chief ministers in Tripura and West Bengal during the festival season.
On the auspicious evening of Maha Shashthi, Tripura Chief Minister Dr. Manik Saha stepped out for his Durga Puja parikrama — the traditional round of community pandal visits — stopping at the Forward Club on Mantri Bari Road on Friday, October 16, 2026.
Dr. Saha shared the visit on X, writing in Bengali: 'মহা ষষ্ঠীর সন্ধ্যায়, দুর্গা পূজা পরিক্রমায় - ফরোয়ার্ড ক্লাব, মন্ত্রী বাড়ি রোড' — ('On the evening of Maha Shashthi, during the Durga Puja parikrama — Forward Club, Mantri Bari Road') — accompanied by four photographs from the pandal.
Maha Shashthi and the start of the grand five days
Maha Shashthi marks the formal beginning of Durga Puja's most festive stretch, when the goddess is welcomed with the ritual of Bodhon — the ceremonial invocation. For Tripura, with its large and culturally vibrant Bengali community, the festival is among the year's most significant, drawing crowds to neighbourhood clubs and elaborate pandals across Agartala and beyond.
The parikrama tradition and a chief minister on the ground
The parikrama — a circuit of pandal visits — is a time-honoured way for elected leaders in West Bengal and Tripura to engage directly with constituents during the puja season. For Dr. Saha, the Forward Club stop on Mantri Bari Road was part of that wider outreach, placing him visibly alongside ordinary devotees on one of the festival's most charged evenings. It is the kind of ground-level presence that chief ministers in the region use to reinforce community ties during the cultural calendar's peak.
Point of View
High-visibility form of community engagement — blending cultural participation with political presence. For Dr. Manik Saha, whose BJP leads a state with a culturally strong Bengali identity, the parikrama signals attentiveness to a tradition that transcends partisan lines. The gesture is low-key but deliberate: being seen at neighbourhood clubs during the festival's most celebrated evenings reinforces a grassroots connect that formal rallies rarely replicate. With assembly politics ever in motion, such moments of cultural proximity carry quiet electoral weight.
NationPress
16 Oct 2026
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Durga Puja parikrama?
A Durga Puja parikrama is a traditional circuit of visits to community pandals during the festival, commonly undertaken by devotees and public figures alike to pay respects at multiple shrines across a city or town.
Which pandal did Tripura CM Manik Saha visit on Maha Shashthi 2026?
Dr. Manik Saha visited the Forward Club pandal on Mantri Bari Road in Agartala on the evening of Maha Shashthi, October 16, 2026.
Why is Durga Puja significant in Tripura?
Tripura has a large Bengali-speaking population for whom Durga Puja is one of the most important cultural and religious festivals of the year, marked by elaborate pandals, processions, and community celebrations across the state.
What is Maha Shashthi in Durga Puja?
Maha Shashthi is the sixth day of the lunar fortnight and marks the formal opening of Durga Puja's main five-day celebration, featuring the Bodhon ritual — the ceremonial invocation of Goddess Durga.
