The Durga puja has been
celebrated since the medieval period, and has evolved and adapted to the world
as time passed. A considerable literature exists around Durga in the Bengali
language and its early forms, including avnirnaya (11th century), Durgabhaktitarangini by Vidyapati (a famous Maithili poet
of the 14th century), but the goddess Durga was not fully integrated into the
Hindu pantheon, primarily in Bengal, in the 16th century. Early forms of
Durgotsavs (Durga festivals) were primarily private worship in personal
residences with the use of musical instruments such as the mridanga, mandira,
and smakhya.
During the 18th century, the
worship of Durga became popular among the land aristrocrats of Bengal, the Zamindars.
Prominent Pujas were conducted by the zamindars and jagirdars, being enriched
by emerging British rule, including Raja Nabakrishna Deb, of Shobhabajar, who
initiated an elaborate Puja at his residence. These celebrations brought the
Durgostavs out of individual homes and into the public sphere. Festivities were
celebrated as a community, where royalty and peasantry were welcomed into the
home of the zamindar or bania (merchant) to feast together. The festivities
became heavily centred on entertainment — music and female dancers — as well as
lavish feasts that continued for the entire month. In the 19th century, the
Pujas celebrated placed less emphasis on elaborate celebration and feasting,
and more on including all of the community. They moved from being a show of
wealth and authority by royalty and merchants back to a festival of worship and
community. Many of these old puja exist today. The oldest such Puja to be
conducted at the same venue is in Rameswarpur,
Odisha, where it has been continued since the last four centuries, starting
from the time when the Ghosh Mahashays from Kotarang migrated there as a part
of Todarmal's contingent during Akbar's rule. Today, the culture of Durga Puja
has shifted from the princely houses to Sarbojanin (literally, "involving all")
forms. The first such puja was held at Guptipara — it was called barowari (baro meaning twelve and yaar meaning friends)

