Kansas City Bengali AssociationVerified
An authentic “bengalism” for everybody — transparent and democratic
Bengali Association · Greater Kansas City · Since 2010
- 2010Serving Kansas City since
- 2011Durga Puja every year since
- 501(c)(3)Nonprofit
- Ei PorobasePuja magazine
Plan a visit
Next up: Mahalaya
Sunday, October 11, 2026 · 10:00 AM – 1:30 PM — then Durga Puja, October 16–18, at the Kansas City Scottish Rite
Heritage Park, Shelter 1 · 16050 Pflumm Road, Olathe, KS 66062
Tarpan and Chandi Path in the park, then “Mahisasuramardini” and a Bengali brunch. KCBA-sponsored — free for everyone, no tickets. Five days later Ma arrives at the Scottish Rite for three days of pujo, dhaker bajna and live music from Bengal.
Directions open Google Maps for Kansas City Bengali Association's Heritage Park, Shelter 1.
Coming up3
Mahalaya 2026
Sun · 10:00 AM – 1:30 PM · Heritage Park, Shelter 1, 16050 Pflumm Road, Olathe, KS 66062
Tarpan, Chandi Path, “Mahisasuramardini” and a Bengali brunch. KCBA-sponsored and free for attendees.
Details & tickets ↗Durga Puja 2026
Fri OCT 16 – Sun OCT 18 · From 6:00 PM Friday · all day Saturday and Sunday · Kansas City Scottish Rite, 1330 Linwood Blvd, Kansas City, MO 64109
Fri: Somlata and The Aces · Sat: Cactuss, the Bengali rock band · Sun: rituals, sindoor khela and the send-off. Pujo, dhaker bajna, cultural programs, bhuri bhoj and nirbhejal adda. Registration and ticket details still to be posted.
Details & tickets ↗- Mahalaya 202610 AM · Heritage Park, Shelter 1Free
Programs8
Durga Puja
Everyone — members, friends, visiting parentsThree days each autumn · Oct 16–18, 2026 · Kansas City Scottish Rite, 1330 Linwood Blvd, Kansas City, MO · 2025 passes: $130 adult 3-day · $80 child 6–12 · $90 student · Sat-only $95 · under 6 free
The biggest thing KCBA does, running every year since 2011 — “the biggest Durga Puja festivity in the midwest,” in their words. Friday evening is Shashthi: Ghot Protisthan, dinner and the first live act. Saturday folds Saptami, Ashtami and Nabami into one long day — morning puja and pushpanjali, lunch, evening puja, aarti, dance, dinner and the headline concert. Sunday is Dashami: morning puja, sindoor khela, lunch and the evening send-off. Every year a singer or band is flown in from Bengal (Anupam Roy in 2025; Cactuss and Somlata and The Aces in 2026), the Puja magazine Ei Porobase is released, and the volunteers cook the bhog. Tickets are sold at the door — cash, check or Zelle to kcba@kcbengalis.com — with 3-day, Saturday-only and Saturday-evening options.
Details on their site ↗Mahalaya in the park
Everyone · freeThe Sunday morning before Durga Puja · Oct 11, 2026, 10:00 AM · Heritage Park, Shelter 1, Olathe · Free — KCBA sponsored, no tickets
Mahalaya marks the start of Devipaksha and the countdown to Durga Puja, and KCBA keeps it the way it is kept back home — early, outdoors, together. Tarpan and Chandi Path at the shelter, then the “Mahisasuramardini” recital everyone grew up waking to, then a Bengali brunch (in 2017 it was luchi, aloo'r dum, chholar dal and jilebi, rain notwithstanding). Held at Heritage Park every year since at least 2017.
Details on their site ↗Kali Puja
Everyone · familiesA Saturday evening around Diwali · last held Oct 18, 2025 · Elks Lodge #2088, 13600 Arrington Rd, Grandview, MO (2023 and 2025) · 2025: $25 adults · $15 kids 5–12 · under 5 free
An evening of prayers to Ma Kali, music and cultural performances, family-friendly fireworks and sparklers in the parking lot, then dinner — the 2022 edition had Arghadeep Mitra live. Tickets at the venue, Zelle or cash; RSVP on the Facebook event so they can plan the food. The 2026 date had not been posted when this page was researched — check the events page.
Details on their site ↗Saraswati Puja & Hatekhori
Families · children taking their first lettersA Saturday in late January or February · Jan 31, 2026 this year · Village Presbyterian Church on Antioch, 14895 Antioch Rd, Overland Park · 2026: $25 adults · $15 students under 18 · under 6 free
The first festival of the year: puja from 10 AM, anjali and Hatekhori — a child's first letters, written with the priest's hand guiding theirs — at noon, lunch with Bengali bhog at 1 PM, and the cultural program from 2:30 PM. The 2025 edition closed with a Pithe Puli Utsav at 3:30. To sign a child up for Hatekhori, call Mala Das at (816) 454-4527.
Details on their site ↗Pohela Boishakh — Bengali New Year adda
EveryoneMid-April · last listed April 15, 2023 · 2023: Fontainebleau Clubhouse, 12701 Grandview St, Overland Park · 2023: $20 ages 12+ · $15 ages 5–11
An evening of adda, nach, gaan and golpo — and, as the invitation promised, plenty of food — to bring in the Bengali year. The 2017 President's letter calls it the “Baisakhi Adda.” The site lists no 2024–2026 edition; email to ask whether one is planned.
Details on their site ↗Ei Porobase — the Puja magazine
Writers, poets, artists · kids' art tooReleased at Durga Puja each year
“এই পরবাসে” — In This Foreign Land — is KCBA's annual magazine: Bengali and English writing, poetry, memoirs, an arts gallery of members' and children's work, and the sponsors' greetings. The 2024 edition was edited by Debashis Haldar with a cover by Atreyee Mukherjee; the 2017, 2022, 2023 and 2024 editions are free to read online. Contributions go through the KCBA email.
Details on their site ↗Cultural program & the KCBA dance
Members who want to performAt every puja
Each festival carries a cultural program stage alongside the rituals. One tradition to watch for: every Durga Puja the KCBA ladies — the same people running the event — perform a dance dedicated to Ma Durga, choreographed by Joyeeta Chakraborty. Local artists get a slot too; Kansas City's own Debarpan Dhar closed Durga Puja 2025.
Kids, youth & the picnic
Children and teensInvolving kids and the younger generation — with the seniors' experience behind them — is written into why KCBA was formed. In practice that is Hatekhori at Saraswati Puja, children's art in the magazine, kids' pricing at every event, the fireworks at Kali Puja, and, per the 2017 letter, a summer picnic and a night camp-out for children. No standing weekly children's class is published; ask by email.
About Kansas City Bengali Association
KCBA, a 501(c)(3) established in 2010, serves the Bengali community in and beyond greater Kansas City — Durga Puja at the Kansas City Scottish Rite with live acts from Bengal, Mahalaya at sunrise in Heritage Park, Kali Puja, Saraswati Puja and Pohela Boishakh. Built deliberately so kids, youth, adults and seniors all own the culture together.
Kansas City Bengali Association was established in 2010 as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit to serve the Bengali community within and beyond the Greater Kansas City area. Its own description of itself is worth quoting: an association built to bring “an authentic bengalism to everybody in a transparent and democratic way, where everyone's voice will be heard equally and spontaneously” — not just the best cultural programs it can stage, but an active Bengali society owned at the same time by kids, youth, adults and seniors. Openness, financial transparency and collaborative ownership are the assets it names first.
The first KCBA Durga Pujo was held in 2011 with about 150 members and guests. By the seventh year, 2017, the President's letter in the Puja magazine was expecting around 500 guests, two national-award-winning artists from India in a single weekend, and hilsa on the menu — and the calendar had grown to Lakhi Pujo, Kali Pujo, Saraswati Pujo, the Baisakhi Adda, a picnic, a night camp-out for the children, and fund-raising for the Hindu Temple and Cultural Center of Kansas City and India Fest. The Durga Puja moved into the Kansas City Scottish Rite on Linwood Boulevard, where the 2022 tenth-year celebration (delayed by the pandemic) filled the stage with a Gupi–Bagha backdrop and brought Benny Dayal to Kansas City for the first time.
Walk in today and it feels like a pujo in a para: volunteers up before dawn on Ashtami stirring khichuri bhog and frying beguni, the dhak, priests drawn from the community itself, the ladies who ran the whole weekend stepping on stage to dance for Ma, and the mailing-list email signed simply “Team KCBA.” The year runs Saraswati Puja in winter, Pohela Boishakh in spring, Mahalaya at sunrise in Heritage Park, three days of Durga Puja at the Scottish Rite and Kali Puja around Diwali — and everything is open to anyone who wants to be there.
Durga Puja 2026 — the weekend
“অপেক্ষাতেই আনন্দ” — the joy is in the waiting — says this year's flyer. October 16–18, 2026 at the Kansas City Scottish Rite, 1330 Linwood Blvd: three days of pujo, dhaker bajna, cultural programs, bhuri bhoj and nirbhejal adda. Registration and ticket details were still marked “coming soon” when this page was researched; the event page and the mailer will carry them.
- Friday, Oct 16 — the musical journey opens with Somlata and The Aces: Somlata's voice and the band's contemporary sound, a cinematic live show to welcome Ma Durga
- Saturday, Oct 17 — the headline: Cactuss, the legendary Bengali rock band, “bringing back the soul of Bangla rock to Kansas City”
- Sunday, Oct 18 — community spirit, traditional rituals and the heartfelt farewell that closes the festival
How a KCBA Durga Puja runs
The 2025 program, day by day, is the shape every year follows — with the tithis folded into a Friday-to-Sunday weekend so working families can be there for all of it.
- Friday · Shashthi — Ghot Protisthan, evening puja, dinner and the first live act (2025: Albert Kaboo Lepcha)
- Saturday · Saptami, Ashtami, Nabami — morning puja, pushpanjali, lunch; evening puja, aarti, dance, dinner and the headline concert (2025: Anupam Roy)
- Sunday · Dashami — morning puja, sindoor khela, lunch, evening program, dinner and a closing act (2025: Debarpan Dhar)
- Tickets in 2025: 3-day all-inclusive $130 adult / $80 child 6–12 / $90 student · Saturday-only $95 / $60 / $70 · Saturday evening dinner + concert $70 · under 6 free · students carry ID
- Sold at the venue from Friday 6 PM — cash, check or Zelle to kcba@kcbengalis.com (Zelle avoids online convenience fees; bring the confirmation)
The puja year
Five fixed points, in the order the year runs. Exact dates land on kcbengalis.com/events a few weeks ahead; RSVPs go through the Facebook event links there.
- Late January / February — Saraswati Puja with Hatekhori: 2024 at the Hindu Temple in Shawnee, 2025 and 2026 at Village Presbyterian Church on Antioch
- Mid-April — Pohela Boishakh, the Bengali New Year adda (last listed 2023)
- Late September / October — Mahalaya at Heritage Park, Olathe: Chandi Path, Mahisasuramardini, brunch, free
- October — Durga Puja, three days at the Kansas City Scottish Rite (2024's was at Village Presbyterian Church on Antioch)
- October / November — Kali Puja around Diwali: Elks Lodge in Grandview (2023, 2025), Village Presbyterian (2024), Powell Community Center in Mission (2022)
- Also on the record from 2017: Lakhi Pujo, a summer picnic and a children's night camp-out
Artists from Bengal on the KCBA stage
Live music is half the reason people drive in from across the metro. Who has played, by year:
- 2022Benny Dayal — first-ever Kansas City concert — plus Poushali Banerjee and Piu Mukherjee at Durga Puja; Arghadeep Mitra at Kali Puja
- 2023Ujjaini (Fri), Iman Chakraborty (Sat), Dipayan & Surangana (Sun)
- 2024Fakira (band), Sahana Bajpaie & Samantak Sinha
- 2025Albert Kaboo Lepcha (Fri), Anupam Roy (Sat), Debarpan Dhar of Kansas City (Sun)
- 2026Somlata and The Aces (Fri, Oct 16) · Cactuss (Sat, Oct 17)
Who runs it
A volunteer committee, elected — “transparent and democratic” is the founding promise — and, behind them, teams for everything from hall management to the magazine. The 2023 magazine lists teams for hall management, transportation, cultural program, finance, marketing and publicity, ticketing, website and emails, and the magazine itself. The rituals are led from within the community; the 2022 puja thanked Dilip Da, Mala Di and team for performing them.
- President — Joyeeta Chakraborty (also President in 2016)
- Vice-President — Arindam Paul
- Secretaries — Debashish Haldar, Bijon Sharmacharya
- Treasurers — Pamela Biswas & Anirban Dasgupta
- Media / Marketing — Rwitabhadra Dasgupta & Debjani Chatterji
- Website — Bodhisatwa Basu · Social Chair — Ishita Banerjee
Volunteer, sponsor, contribute
There is no sign-up page — this is a WhatsApp-and-email association — so the route is kcba@kcbengalis.com, or Joyeeta Chakraborty at +1 816-591-3784. Volunteers cook the bhog before dawn, paint the alpona, decorate the pandal, drive the artists, run the hall, the ticket desk and the kitchen. Sponsors are thanked every year in the magazine and on the Bijoya greeting; the 2023 edition lists them in Diamond, Platinum, Gold and Silver tiers, families and local businesses alike. Writers and artists get their pages in Ei Porobase, and photos from any event are welcome at the same email — they end up in the gallery.
- Volunteer — email kcba@kcbengalis.com; say which festival and what you can do
- Sponsor — email for the current tiers; recognized in the Puja magazine
- Write or draw for Ei Porobase — submissions by email ahead of Durga Puja
- Stay in the loop — the mailer sign-up on kcbengalis.com (“we won't spam, we promise”)
Flyers & photos
Tap one to open it full size — handy for forwarding.
Questions people ask
How do I join KCBA? Is there a membership fee?
KCBA has members — the 2017 President's letter welcomes that year's new members — but the website publishes no membership form, tiers or fee, so this page won't guess at one. Start with the mailer sign-up on kcbengalis.com (first name, last name, email), then write to kcba@kcbengalis.com or call Joyeeta Chakraborty at +1 816-591-3784 and ask about membership for the year.
Do I need to be Bengali to come?
No. The association exists to serve the Bengali community “within and beyond” Kansas City and to bring bengalism “to everybody”; every event page is addressed to “KCBA family and friends,” and Mahalaya is explicitly free and “everyone is welcome.” If you love a good pujo, dhak and khichuri, you are the audience.
How do tickets work?
There is usually no advance online sale — tickets are sold at the venue, paid by cash, check or Zelle to kcba@kcbengalis.com (Zelle is preferred because it avoids online convenience fees; bring the payment confirmation to the door). Kids under 6 were free at Durga Puja 2025 and Saraswati Puja 2026 (under 5 at Kali Puja); students pay a reduced rate and must carry a student ID. Durga Puja 2022 and 2023 did sell online via Eventbrite and Ticketbud, so watch the event page in case that returns.
What does Durga Puja cost?
In 2025 a 3-day all-inclusive pass was $130 for adults, $80 for children 6–12 and $90 for students; Saturday-only was $95 / $60 / $70, and Saturday evening (dinner plus the Anupam Roy show) was $70. In 2024 the 3-day pass was $110 adult. 2026 pricing was marked “coming soon” on the flyer when this page was researched.
Is food included? What's the bhog like?
Durga Puja passes are “all inclusive” — lunches and dinners are part of the ticket, and the Saturday-evening ticket is dinner plus the concert. The bhog is cooked by volunteers: khichuri and beguni on Ashtami morning is the tradition (the 2017 letter also brags about the hilsa). Mahalaya ends with a Bengali brunch — luchi, aloo'r dum, chholar dal and jilebi that year — and Saraswati Puja includes lunch with Bengali bhog, with a Pithe Puli Utsav in 2025.
Is there anything for children?
Plenty, without a formal class: Hatekhori (first letters) at Saraswati Puja — call Mala Das at (816) 454-4527 — children's art printed in Ei Porobase, family-friendly fireworks at Kali Puja, and children's pricing (or free entry under 6) at every event. Involving kids and youth is written into the association's founding purpose; the 2017 letter mentions a children's night camp-out and a picnic.
When is Durga Puja 2026 and who is performing?
Friday October 16 to Sunday October 18, 2026, at the Kansas City Scottish Rite, 1330 Linwood Blvd. Somlata and The Aces play Friday, the Bengali rock band Cactuss plays Saturday, and Sunday is rituals, sindoor khela and the send-off. Registration and ticket details were still “coming soon” when this page was researched — check the event page or sign up for the mailer.
Is Mahalaya really free? What time should I get there?
Yes — it is a KCBA-sponsored event, free for attendees, no tickets. On Sunday October 11, 2026 it starts at 10:00 AM at Heritage Park Shelter 1, 16050 Pflumm Road, Olathe, and runs to about 1:30 PM: tarpan and Chandi Path, then the Mahisasuramardini recital, then brunch.
How can I volunteer or sponsor?
Email kcba@kcbengalis.com — there is no online form. Volunteers do everything from cooking bhog and painting alpona to hall management, transportation, ticketing and the magazine (the 2023 magazine lists the teams). Sponsors are recognized in the Puja magazine in Diamond, Platinum, Gold and Silver tiers; ask for the current levels. KCBA is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit.
Can I write for the magazine?
Yes. Ei Porobase takes writing, poetry, memoirs and artwork from the community — in Bengali or English, from adults and children — and comes out at Durga Puja. Send submissions to kcba@kcbengalis.com; the 2017, 2022, 2023 and 2024 editions are on the Magazine page to see what fits.