History
From barowari to sarbojanin
বারোয়ারি থেকে সার্বজনীন
How Durga Puja moved from the courtyards of wealthy families to puja committees open to everyone.
'Barowari' means a puja organised publicly and funded by subscriptions, not by a single household. The first such puja is usually traced to Guptipara in Hooghly, where a group of neighbours organised their own. Sources disagree on whether that was in 1761 or 1790.
In Kolkata, Durga Puja was at first an occasion for the city's wealthy 'babus'. Over time collective efforts replaced individual ones, and 'barowari' gave way to 'sarbojanin', meaning 'for all'.
EditorialThat is why so many pandal names end in 'Sarbojanin'. When you walk into one, you are standing in a puja that neighbours paid for, built and run together.
Sources
Source: Wikipedia — Barowari
