At the end of 18th century, 12 Brahmin youths of Guptipara first conducted a Durga Puja by collecting subscriptions from the public and this came to be known as barowari puja ('baro' meaning 12 and 'yaar' refers to friends). However, the first sarbojonin puja which saw the true participation of  people from all walks of life, irrespective of their caste, creed and social status, was held in Calcutta in 1926. It was aimed at creating a bonding between the people of a nation still in bondage and  to fire the youth with the true spirit of nationalism. The first sarbojonin puja in pre-Independence Calcutta posed its own set of dilemmas and dramas for the organisers but their strong belief in nationalistic ideals helped them to tide over every crisis.

 In 1925, a communal riot had sparked off in the area around Harrison Road, leading to apprehensions that the Kali Temple at Thanthania might be attacked. Scores of young men started to keep a watch on the temple, round-the clock. A few days later, when the emotions subsided and peace returned, the need for some sort of physical training for the local youths was keenly felt, leading to the setting up of Simla Byayam Samity. Although there were a few change of addresses of the aakhara where the youth trained in various physical exercises, Atindranath Bosu, a nationalist leader and social worker founded Simla Byayam Samity at an open ground on Vivekananda Road. He was an associate of Bagha Jatin and later of Aurobindo Ghosh. On April 2, 1926, Simla Byayam Samity was established through Birasthami Utsav. An idol of Mahabir (Hanuman) considered to be the patron deity of wrestlers and bodybuilders, was brought in. Right from the day the samity started, nearly 400-500 students came everyday to practise from morning till 7pm in the evening. Not only did Atindranath keep an eye on each of the students who came to learn and practise either various physical exercises, wrestling or lathi khela, (a traditional martial art with sticks) he also refused to collect any fee from them. He covered all expenses as well as provided nourishing diet of nuts or broth of mutton leg to build up their strength. His son, Amarendranath Bosu, a dedicated Congress worker was an extremely proficient lathial and trained the students in this form of traditional martial art which was quite popular in Bengal. The pursuits of physical activity and body building started by the samity also went a long way towards dismissing the myth fabricated by the British that Bengalis were not a martial race.

 Next year, in 1926, the Durga Puja was held in the premises of the Simla Byayam Samity. It was truly a watershed year. This is because Durga Pujas in the city, till then were usually held in the houses of the rich and powerful men, mostly zemindars. Apart from the invitees, general public, particularly the womenfolk did not get the opportunity to participate in these family organised pujas. Yet, Durga Puja was the most important festival of the Bengalis. When Atindranath decided to keep it open for general public, a truly 'sarbojonin' (for everybody) Durga Puja was held for the first time. Gradually, it spread to the rest of the city and finally far and wide, even overseas. A few religious figures were keen to perform rituals to sanctify the pandal but Atindranath rejected the proposal since it was not in harmony with the nationalist ideology. He was keen to forge a bonding between the communities who would work together to achieve freedom. According to his disciple Sachindrakumar Singha who reminisced about the organisation, Atindranath wanted to protect when the women or any particular religion were threatened by anti-social elements but he was never in favour of creating disturbances between the communities. Hence, the puja too was open to all, rich-poor, Brahmins and non-Brahmins, everybody could participate in the rituals and make offerings to the goddess.

 The clay idol was a huge one but ek-chala (a single wooden frame). The daaker saaj (the silver foils came by post, hence the name) was a strict no-no since it was foreign-made and so all decorations and jewellery were made with clay and then painted over. Master sculptor Nitai Pal crafted the idol.

 The platform for the idol was a wide one. There were a few pillars of bricks over which planks of pine wood were laid and then a bamboo frame was placed. The idol was placed on this frame. The idol faced the west. The backdrop was covered by cloth on which quite a few lines were written from Vande Mataram. Bahute tumi maa shakti, hriday tumi maa bhakti, tomari protima gari mandire mandire were fittingly inscribed on the backdrop. 

The first sarbajanin puja drew people in hordes. People of all caste, creed participated in the puja including women, many of whom came at dawn to view the idol before going for a dip in the river Ganges. The pandal hummed with life in the evening during arati conducted to the beats of dhak-dhol (drums). The visitors were also served with luchi, potato curry and sweet boondi as prasad. The sarbojonin puja also drew the freedom fighters and those fired by the spirit of nationalism and hence the puja was dubbed as “Swadeshi puja”. On the day of ashtami, there were displays of various physical activities and exercises including lathi-khela in which the students and youth participated and these also drew huge crowds.

However, on the day of dashami, there were some moments of anxiety as a few people from Burrabazar insisted that the procession with the idol should go through Harrison Road (Mahatma Gandhi Road) in front of the said masjid which had been at the centre of riots. But Atindranath refused. It was after a lot of effort by 20-25 strong men that the heavy clay idol could be lifted and placed on a trolley truck. The whole premises were surrounded by a large contingent of police, both armed and lathi wielding ones. However, when the procession reached Vivekananda Road, those trouble-makers laid down on the road, not allowing the procession to advance further. They were forcibly removed. Again there was another attempt as the idol reached Cornwallis Street (Bidhan Sarani). But the procession continued on its way reaching Beadon Street where the electric wires of tram got almost entangled with the frame of the idol. However, Birendranath Bosu risked his life and used an unwieldy wooden stick to raise the live wires and the idol was able to pass through to continue towards Nimtala. In front of the procession, the students of the samity played with lathis  along with drumbeats. Finally, the procession reached the ghat and idol was immersed without any other untoward incident.

The Simla Byayam Samity's Durga Puja was a rallying point for nationalist leaders and revolutionaries and drew the likes of Subhas Chandra Bose, Sarat Chandra Bose,  Jyotindramohan Sengupta, Bhupendranath Dutta and many more. It also played a vital role in developing physical literacy among the youth but that's another story for another time.