New Delhi: Durga Puja this year is seeing a rare combination of technology and tradition in Kolkata. Artificial intelligence is the focus of the Jagat Mukherjee Park pandal; an impressive mixture of mythology and futurism was established. The pandal, developed by artist Subal Pal, examines the concept of AI: Boon or Bane, combining both divine symbolism and digital imagination.

The setting looks like a massive time machine with massive buildings, twisted keyboards, and robot-like cityscapes. The image of Goddess Durga is at its very base in her conventional form, killing Mahishasura. The demon reflects the flipside of AI this year, as it portrays the dangers of overreliance and abuse. The pandal not only glorifies the triumph of the good over the evil but also ignites the thought process of the need to use technology in a responsible manner by humanity.

Jagat Mukherjee Park 2025 Durga Puja Pandal Blends Mythology With AI. (Image Credit: Pragya Singha Roy)

The Durga Puja pandals in Kolkata have long been creative and frequently inspired by modern-day problems. To Metro Underground to political satire: every year the city becomes an open-air gallery of ideas. The AI-themed pandal carries on this tradition as it integrates spirituality with an urgent global debate on the role of technology in human existence.

Other than pandals, idol-making is being transformed by AI too. The centuries-old centre of Kumartuli, the city, is being inspired by AI tools in artisans. In text-to-image prompts, the organisation takes a new idea, and potters reproduce it in clay and colour. According to Monti Paul, who is a long-term veteran artisan, AI-generated images are taking over modern Durga idols.

Pandas are not the only things which can be innovative. An electronics brand and a team of artists made the first AI-generated alpona in Kolkata in Newtown. The online design was recreated into a large-scale wall art piece by 16 artists who spent 6 days working overnight. Anindita Dev, a muralist who headed the project, said it was the largest work she had done and combined precision and passion.

To most people, these experiments add more flavours to Durga Puja. The festival is recognised by UNESCO as belonging to the intangible cultural heritage of humanity but has been a place of art, devotion and community. Today, when AI comes into the picture, it illustrates how tradition may be adjusted to modernity and remain to preserve its soul.