Archive · 30 Aug 2026
West Bengal VHP Clarifies Durga Puja Non-Vegetarian Food Guidelines
The Vishwa Hindu Parishad gave advice about food at Durga Puja celebrations in West Bengal.
It said non-vegetarian food should not be served inside the places where worship takes place.
It said food stalls could still operate outside or near those places.
This caused a political argument.
The Communist Party of India (Marxist) said VHP was trying to change the festival’s traditions.
The Bharatiya Janata Party said people could eat whatever food they wanted.
Later, VHP said some reports had misunderstood its statement.
It explained that people could eat non-vegetarian food in a separate area outside the worship space.
The Vishwa Hindu Parishad urged Durga Puja organisers to prohibit non-vegetarian food inside pandal premises.
VHP official Swarup Chatterjee said non-vegetarian stalls could operate outside or near the pandals.
The Communist Party of India (Marxist) accused VHP of interfering with Bengali festival traditions.
The Bharatiya Janata Party said it had no objection to non-vegetarian food or stalls around pandals.
VHP’s Nirgunananda Brahmachari said its remarks had been distorted and that food could be eaten in designated areas outside mandaps.
- Who
- The Vishwa Hindu Parishad, the Communist Party of India (Marxist), and the Bharatiya Janata Party, along with their state representatives.
- What
- A dispute over VHP guidance asking Durga Puja organisers to prohibit non-vegetarian food inside pandal or mandap premises.
- When
- The guidance was discussed at a Salt Lake meeting on August 26; criticism and clarification followed later that week.
- Where
- West Bengal, particularly at Durga Puja pandals and mandaps; the cited meeting took place in Salt Lake.
- Why
- VHP said the restriction was intended to maintain the sanctity of worship premises, while critics viewed it as interference with Bengali festival traditions.
Critics and BJP Position
VHP Clarification
Food around pandals
Critics and BJP Position
The Communist Party of India (Marxist) criticized VHP’s intervention, while the Bharatiya Janata Party said people could eat non-vegetarian food and stalls could operate around Durga Puja pandals.
VHP Clarification
VHP said it only sought to prohibit non-vegetarian food inside the worship premises and had no objection to such food being available outside or nearby.
Effect on Bengali traditions
Critics and BJP Position
The Communist Party of India (Marxist) said VHP was attempting to decide how Bengalis should celebrate Durga Puja and to undermine the festival’s spirit.
VHP Clarification
VHP said its statement had been distorted and that its purpose was to maintain the sanctity of the mandap, not to address whether non-vegetarian food could be offered to the goddess.
- Organisation issuing guidance
- Vishwa Hindu Parishad
- Initial guidance
- No non-vegetarian food inside pandal premises.
- Food stalls outside
- VHP said non-vegetarian stalls could operate outside or near pandals.
- Political criticism
- The Communist Party of India (Marxist) accused VHP of trying to change Durga Puja’s spirit.
- Bharatiya Janata Party position
- The party said it had no objection to non-vegetarian food or stalls around pandals.
- VHP clarification
- Nirgunananda Brahmachari said the remarks had been distorted and referred to eating in a designated area outside the mandap.