Tracing down the ages, Durga Puja dates back to the 16th. century Mughal era. Legend says that the first Puja was organized by Raja Kangshanarayan of Taherpur, Nadia. The expenditure at that age was a huge amount to around Rs. 9 lacs. Following the tradition, other Hindu kings too  came forward and thus  Durga Puja spread its wings to far flung locations as Gour, Rajmahal, Murshidabad and Krishnanagar. 

Later Durga Puja became the biggest annual festival which brought family, friends and neighbours together thereby infusing life into various moribund village communities.  The transformation in the character of Puja was brought in by the arrival of the British who dug their roots deep into the country's social fabric. However, by mid-18th century this national festival of the Bengalis had become the most celebrated occasion for wealthy Bengalis (called babus) to flaunt their wealth.  Quite surprisingly the British too started participating enthusiastically. They not only had prasaad but did the pranaam, often lying prostrate on the ground and the soldiers would salute "Goddess Doorgah". The enthusiasm was such that even the Company auditor-general John Chips also organized Durga Puja at his Birbhum office.   

In 1840 a law was promulgated prohibiting Company officials from attending native social occasions. This reduced the desire and initiative of the babus in hosting Durga Puja. 

Though the initiative of individuals were dampened and was on the decline, collective spirit came in as a replacement. It is said that sometimes earlier in 1790, 12 Brahmin friends in Guptipara, Hooghly had decided to institute community Puja. They collected subscriptions or Chanda  from their neighbours. Thus started the baro-yari or baroari puja in Bengal. (The word baro-yari or baroari may have been coined so because the literal meaning of Baro-yar is 12 pals). 

Gradually community Durga Puja were in rise and so also the rivalry or competition between neighbouring localities. It so was intense that once, the locality of Shantipur had spend Rs. 5 lacs for Puja preparations. The idol was so huge (90 feet) that it had to be dismembered for immersion. The organizers or neighbouring Guptipara took this opportunity to make mockery on Shanitipur by organizing a Puja with Ganesh (son of Mother Durga) in unbleached white cloth(Kacha), mourning his mother's "death".  

Without mentioning a few anecdotes about the intoxicated organizers, Durga Puja of those early days remains incomplete.  

While inspecting the progress of the construction of the Duga idol on Shashthi night (the first day of Durga Puja), the Singha family head who was on a a high, screamed out: "When I being the real lion here, what the hell is the beast doing under the goddess's feet". Thus, he wrapped himself in a blanket and lied down near the clay lion. It can be guessed how embarrassed the babu's felt next morning when everybody found him there.  
Another incident of an  intoxicated babu on a Dashami Night (the night when the idol is immersed on river Ganges) go as follows:
For the immersion purpose, two boats were rented. One carried the babu with his friends and the other carried the 'dhakis'. The boats were rowed and on reaching the middle of river Ganges the Durga idol was placed on a plank in-between. The boats then separated, and the idol was immersed in traditional way. The dhakis started beating the dhak and the beat of dhak reached crescendo. Suddenly the babu's eyes fell on the dhakis. "Why are you still afloat?" he shouted in a high. "The Goddess has set sail for Mount Kailash and don't you have to guide her ?" he thundered. To satisfy the babu's humour, his friends sunk the other boat. The poor dhakis had to swim ashore.