DAKSHH ’26 at Heritage Institute of Technology: When Innovation, Energy, and Young Minds Converged
The campus of Heritage Institute of Technology, Kolkata, witnessed an extraordinary confluence of innovation, competition, and youthful energy as its flagship techno-management festival DAKSHH ’26 unfolded over two electrifying days on 13 and 14 March 2026. The student-driven festival transformed the institute into a vibrant hub of technology, strategy, gaming, and entrepreneurship, drawing participation from across institutions and disciplines.
This year’s edition of DAKSHH recorded participation of more than 1,500 students, alongside over 350 team registrations, making it one of the largest student-led technology festivals in the region. The festival hosted more than 20 competitive events, carefully curated to cover a wide spectrum of interests across modern engineering, emerging technologies, digital gaming, and entrepreneurial thinking. What made the event particularly remarkable was the scale of student involvement behind the scenes, with over 200 students of Heritage Institute of Technology working across multiple functional teams, including technology, outreach, design, finance, operations, and event management, demonstrating an impressive model of collaborative leadership and real-world project execution.
Across the two days, participants competed in a series of high-intensity events that tested technical expertise, creativity, strategic thinking, and teamwork. A 24-hour Hackathon brought together young developers and engineers who worked through the night to design innovative solutions addressing real-world challenges within a limited timeframe. The adrenaline-charged Robo War competition showcased the ingenuity and mechanical precision of robotics enthusiasts as custom-built combat robots battled it out in a thrilling arena. The festival also hosted LAN gaming tournaments, including BGMI and Valorant, attracting competitive gamers eager to demonstrate skill, coordination, and tactical dominance in front of an enthusiastic audience.
Adding a strong entrepreneurial dimension to the festival, the Start-up Expo created a platform where aspiring founders and innovators presented early-stage business ideas, interacted with fellow innovators, and explored possibilities within the rapidly evolving startup ecosystem. The expo encouraged students to move beyond theoretical learning and think about transforming ideas into scalable ventures capable of addressing real-world challenges.
Beyond the competitions themselves, the event reflected the growing culture of experiential learning among students. Organizing a festival of this magnitude required months of planning and coordination, and for the 200-plus student organizers, the experience became a practical exercise in leadership, communication, budgeting, marketing, and crisis management. The festival also featured attractive prize pools across events with accessible registration fees, ensuring that talented participants could compete while gaining recognition and rewards for their skills and ideas.
The momentum leading into the festival was built through a knowledge-driven seminar on Artificial Intelligence and Ethical Hacking that took place earlier on campus. The session featured experts from various organizations, who shared insights on emerging digital technologies, cybersecurity challenges, and the ethical responsibilities associated with technological innovation. Altogether, it set an important intellectual tone for the festival by encouraging students to think not only about building technology but also about using it responsibly.
By bringing together 1,500+ participants, 350+ teams, 20+ competitions, and a 200-member student organizing force, DAKSHH ’26 successfully created a dynamic ecosystem of learning, experimentation, and collaboration. The festival reinforced the role of student-driven platforms in nurturing creativity, encouraging interdisciplinary thinking, and providing young innovators with opportunities to test their ideas in a competitive yet collaborative environment.
As the two-day celebration of technology and innovation concluded, DAKSHH ’26 left a lasting impact on the student community, reaffirming its growing stature as a major technology festival in Kolkata’s academic landscape and a powerful platform where the next generation of engineers, innovators, gamers, and entrepreneurs come together to compete, learn, and shape the future.
Reflecting on the success of the event, Mr. Pradip Agarwal, CEO of the Heritage Group of Institutions, said, “DAKSHH reflects the spirit of curiosity, creativity, and collaboration that defines the Heritage community. Seeing more than 1,500 students and 350 teams come together to innovate, compete, and exchange ideas is truly inspiring. Platforms like these encourage young minds to experiment, solve real-world challenges, and prepare themselves for a rapidly evolving technological future.”
Prof. Basab Chaudhuri, Principal of Heritage Institute of Technology, added, “The most remarkable aspect of DAKSHH ’26 is that it has been conceptualized, planned, and executed by students themselves. With more than 200 students managing various aspects of the festival and over 20 competitions taking place across two days, the event became a powerful learning experience in leadership, teamwork, and innovation.”
