Why UK buildings are being lit up with red lights this week

UK buildings have been lit up red this week to celebrate a religious festival. Leeds City Council announced on Wednesday it would be lighting up Leeds Town Hall and other major buildings in the northern city with red lights in order to celebrate the Hindu festival of Durga Puja. The festival of Hinduism is traditionally held for ten days in the month of Ashvina, between September and October, the seventh month in the Hindu calendar.

Leeds City Council announced: “Buildings in the city centre will switch their lights over to scarlet this evening to mark and celebrate the Hindu festival of Durga Puja.

“Durga Puja, a major festival of Hinduism, is traditionally held for 10 days in the month of Ashvina (September–October), the seventh month of the Hindu calendar, and particularly celebrated in Bengal, Assam, and other eastern Indian states. Durga Puja celebrates the victory of the goddess Durga over the demon king Mahishasura.

“It begins on the same day as Navratri, a nine-night festival in many northern and western states that more broadly celebrates the divine feminine (shakti).” ~Encyclopaedia Britannica”

Other cities including London also held celebrations for the festival on Wednesday.

Durga Puja starts on the sixth day of Navratri with Shashthi rituals on Friday, October 16, 2026, and ends on Vijayadashami (starting on Tuesday, October 20, and ending on Wednesday, October 21, 2026.

Bijoya Dashami (or Vijaydashmi) concludes the Bengali Durga Puja festivities, and devotees bid farewell to the goddess before the immersion procession begins. In many Bengali communities, married women participate in Sindoor Khela – a ritual of applying vermilion to the goddess and one another, and families exchange sweets and greetings. This day is a blend of celebration and farewell, as devotees say goodbye to the goddess and look forward to welcoming her back next year.

As per Hindu mythology, the gods created Durga, combining their divine energies to defeat the demon Mahishasura, who nearly became invincible.