Maitri Durga Puja 2026 at India House Houston

Maitri in Houston is holding Durga Puja on Friday, October 23 and Saturday, October 24, 2026, at India House, 8888 West Belfort Boulevard.

This is a registered community weekend, not a walk-up street fair. Registration closes October 16. Early-bird prices run through September 30: member families $100, member individuals $50, non-member families $130, non-member individuals $65, student families $70, student individuals $35. After that the rates go up. Names get checked at the door.

India House is the southwest Houston community center the India Culture Center spent decades trying to build. ICC bought the ten acres on West Belfort in 2000. Ray de la Reza designed the O.P. Jindal Center, and the building has been open since August 2008. The halls can seat up to 563. There is a clinic in the same building. You are going to a community hall, not a temple on a hill.

The address is near West Belfort and Highway 59, not on Hillcroft and not downtown. Give it its own drive. If you are coming from Bellaire Asiatown, you are still looking at a separate trip. Parking is on the India House campus.

Maitri is a Houston Bengali cultural group. The posted card compresses the puja sequence into two days. Friday lists Maha Shashti from 2 to 4 p.m., Maha Saptami from 4 to 6, and a local-artist cultural program from 7 to 8:30. Saturday lists Ashtami at 9:30 a.m., Navami at 11:30, and Bijoya Dashami at 12:30. Diaspora pujas often sit on a weekend even when the tithi fell earlier in the week. Use Maitri's dates, not a generic Navratri chart. The page header lists 8 a.m. to 11 p.m. Treat that as a container, not a reason to arrive at breakfast.

Food and cultural programs are part of the registration. Do not assume you can buy a single-meal walk-up ticket unless they say so later. Follow their Instagram or Facebook if the hour blocks shift.

Our take: go if you want a Bengali puja hall, not a city Diwali. Asia Society's Diwali Lights is the Sunday before. HTX Diwali at POST is the same Saturday as day two here. You cannot honestly do both. Pick the room you actually want.

When: October 23–24, 2026. Registration required.
Where: India House, 8888 W Belfort Blvd, Houston, TX 77031