Now Durga Pooja is very much near so its urgently required to put more details of pooja date, pooja process, regional values etc. Also we should start for diwali...
‘Durga Pooja’, the words that runs a thrill in every heart and body of a Bengali is the immensely cherished occasion much awaited throughout the year. Though the essence of this auspicious festival starts from the eastern part of the country (West Bengal), it spreads across every region and religion binding them with a common fervor of celebration.
According to the lunar movements in Hindu Bengali calendar, Durga pooja falls in the autumn months of September/ October. Though the preparations like buying new clothes and setting up and decoration of pandals starts a month ago or before, the celebration mood commences with the Mahalaya, seven days before the main pooja. Mahalaya is the heralding note for the homecoming of Ma Durga as the air gets heavy with the soothing fragrance of shefali flowers and river banks covered with milky white kash grasses.
There are various mythical and religious stories backing the reason for Durga Pooja. Where on one hand it is said that the Adda Shakti was invoked by the trinity - Brahma, Vishnu and Maheshwara to rescue heaven and Gods from the atrocities of demon Mahisasura and so is one of the names of Durga ‘Mahisasura Mardini.’ The other states that it was the time when God Rama invoked her to seek blessings to win over Ravana and is called ‘Akalbodhon’. ;so termed because it is believed to be an uncustomary time of her appearance on earth as conventionally spring is the right time to worship the Goddess, when it is known as Basanti pooja. Tradition also speaks that shorod (autumn) is the time when Ma Durga comes to her father, Himalaya’s abode along with her sons Ganesha and Kartikeya and daughters Laxmi and Saraswati.
Be that as it may but the motif is to rejoice, bask in the culture, spirituality and ultimately ‘eat, drink and be merry’. The four days viz. saptami, ashtami, navami and dashami are enjoyed with utmost zeal and verve. Relatives and friends gather and a feeling of togetherness warm up the atmosphere. Wearing that exclusive dress each day, visiting every pandal to see the idols and partying till the wee hours of night revives all that zing in life which people tends to loose in their daily chores.
The last day of the event is Bijoy Dashami or Dusshera. Married women prepare special sweet dishes for their beloved Mother like naru, takti etc, offers it to her and smear other women with vermillion. The day ends with Visarjan i.e. immersing the idol in river or pond which, however, starts with an enthusiastic possession of the idol till the river bank but bidding adieu leaves behind a sense of emotional loss in everyone with the only hope that our Ma will return again the next year with all her blessings and love.
‘Durga Pooja’, the words that runs a thrill in every heart and body of a Bengali is the immensely cherished occasion much awaited throughout the year. Though the essence of this auspicious festival starts from the eastern part of the country (West Bengal), it spreads across every region and religion binding them with a common fervor of celebration.
According to the lunar movements in Hindu Bengali calendar, Durga pooja falls in the autumn months of September/ October. Though the preparations like buying new clothes and setting up and decoration of pandals starts a month ago or before, the celebration mood commences with the Mahalaya, seven days before the main pooja. Mahalaya is the heralding note for the homecoming of Ma Durga as the air gets heavy with the soothing fragrance of shefali flowers and river banks covered with milky white kash grasses.
There are various mythical and religious stories backing the reason for Durga Pooja. Where on one hand it is said that the Adda Shakti was invoked by the trinity - Brahma, Vishnu and Maheshwara to rescue heaven and Gods from the atrocities of demon Mahisasura and so is one of the names of Durga ‘Mahisasura Mardini.’ The other states that it was the time when God Rama invoked her to seek blessings to win over Ravana and is called ‘Akalbodhon’. ;so termed because it is believed to be an uncustomary time of her appearance on earth as conventionally spring is the right time to worship the Goddess, when it is known as Basanti pooja. Tradition also speaks that shorod (autumn) is the time when Ma Durga comes to her father, Himalaya’s abode along with her sons Ganesha and Kartikeya and daughters Laxmi and Saraswati.
Be that as it may but the motif is to rejoice, bask in the culture, spirituality and ultimately ‘eat, drink and be merry’. The four days viz. saptami, ashtami, navami and dashami are enjoyed with utmost zeal and verve. Relatives and friends gather and a feeling of togetherness warm up the atmosphere. Wearing that exclusive dress each day, visiting every pandal to see the idols and partying till the wee hours of night revives all that zing in life which people tends to loose in their daily chores.
The last day of the event is Bijoy Dashami or Dusshera. Married women prepare special sweet dishes for their beloved Mother like naru, takti etc, offers it to her and smear other women with vermillion. The day ends with Visarjan i.e. immersing the idol in river or pond which, however, starts with an enthusiastic possession of the idol till the river bank but bidding adieu leaves behind a sense of emotional loss in everyone with the only hope that our Ma will return again the next year with all her blessings and love.
43 comments:
I love durga pooja. Though I am not a Bengali by birth but I become very much bengali at heart especially on those four days of saptami to dashami. I become one of them and enjoy myself thoroughly.
Me too, what an experience. To be very honest I enjoy it more than diwali. The reason being that in diwali we specifically celebrate only one day in particular and talk of preparation, one week max. But preparations for Durga Pooja start a month before.
Let me tell you something to those who are not very much close to the bengali culture. Certain elements are symbolic of the approach of the pooja season. One is the kash grasses and the other is the shefali flower, as the author rightly mentions in his article.
Ok, what more, I would like to know. I love Bengalis and their tradition. It seems to be very rich. Is it something like what we have seen in Devdas? Is all the cultural hue still intact?
Let me tell you, blooming of lotus flower is also indicative of the approach of the pooja. Actually, from Vishwakarma Pooja, which is celebrated exactly a month before is where the spirit of Durga Pooja commences from.
I have heard that Durga maa has to be offered a necklace made up of 108 lotuses. Is it true? Because I have seen some idols with a huge length of lotus flower chain on the neck.
The write-up in the blog is really informative, isn’t it? I never knew before I read this that there are several stories and beliefs behind the pooja. Probably there is a dozen lore accompanied with other pooja’s as well, actually we never probe, but only satisfy with the obvious information.
Yes, it is very true that one has to offer 108 lotuses to Durga maa and that too blue lotus if we are to belief the religious scriptures. But as blue lotus is very uncommon, everyone suffices with pink lotuses only.
That’s again new information. What happened, nobody answered my query about the bengali culture. Is it really as we have seen in the flick devdas. Any bengali girl here, please tell me how to wear sari in bengali style.
I will answer that question. Its simple than how we normally wear sari. Give the first wrap around your waist and now don’t leave sari for plates. Extend it up to the other side of the waist and then flip it back to the opposite shoulder. And that’s it. Enjoy.
O! Is that really so easy. I will definitely try at home. It seems to be difficult and how come with no plates. But anyways it looks good. Nowadays, girls are trying to imitate the style, but they don’t follow the way you said.
Yes dear, bengali culture is very affluent but in olden days it was grandeur. They were known for their show of pelf and power. Durga pooja was an outlet of displaying their richness. Especially bengali zamindars conducted Durga pooja in their mansions because it incurred huge expense.
Hello is there anybody who can tell me why Mahalaya is celebrated? And I have seen in some of the Bengali TV channels that they telecast special programs on the dawn of Mahalaya where the complete episode of Durga ma killing Mahisasura is shown.
See, this is the day, as believed, that Ma starts her journey from heaven to her father’s abode. It is a pious occasion and the whole mythological story is shown as a piece of religious reinforcement on the victory of good over evil.
I will give you a piece of information. On the auspicious occasion of Mahalaya, people perform Tarpan, a ritual to offer prayers to their deceased forefathers. It is believed that this makes their soul free from the cycle of birth and death.
O! You are a true Bengali it seems. You know so much about Bengali religion. These nuances one can be aware of if he has only known his culture thoroughly. That’s great; one must be intact to his roots.
What are the other aspects related to Durga Pooja, I would be really interested to know. I hope this is the time for reunion of family members and relatives. I would like to know what is the daily routine Bengalis follow during those four days.
Actually it is not the four days, but rituals for the pooja starts from Panchami itself, two days before Saptami. It is on Sahasti, the following day that the idol of Durga is brought into the pandals.
Tell me what do you do everyday from morning till night? How do you prepare yourself? Do you wear traditional dress, dhoti- kurta, especially in Bengal? It must be really difficult to manage the plates of Dhoti, right?
All the days of durga pooja are utilized to the maximum for total enjoyment. We get up everyday in the morning; prepare ourselves for the anjali in traditional dhoti kurta or kurta pajama. We keep fast till we offer anjali and then take Bhog, eatables offered to Ma Durga.
Then in the evening I suppose everyone go for visiting pandals and the idols in groups. Yes, it is real fun, it seems. A time of life without tension and full pack zest. Some of my Bengali friends celebrate their evening this way.
I would like to share a belief regarding the home coming of goddess durga. Do you all know that ma durga is said to come in different modes of transport like elephant, boat, swing etc. and other things as well.
Can you describe what significance do these things attach? Have they certain implications of bad or good. Every religious faith has some understanding to its background. Do you have any idea as to what do these modes of transport means?
As far as my knowledge goes, approaching on elephant back means destruction of life and property. Arrival in boat means that she is bringing wealth and food grains and coming in swing signifies that she will bring diseases bad luck.
Oh! How interesting. How did you get to know all these through your religious scriptures? Are you taught all these particularly or is it imbibed in the form of lullabies, folk lore?
Yes, you are right, durga pooja is very close to a Bengali’s heart and information related to it are very much integral to our life. We wait for the whole year to celebrate this occasion, it makes our year complete.
I saw the hugeness of Durga Pooja celebration when I was in Kolkata. A month or even before massive pandal structures start to build and when they complete, they are worth seeing. Amazing interiors with innovative materials are used to develop them.
Have you any idea as to where do all the money comes from? It is collected from local people in terms of donation and at times forcefully. Buses and trucks on highways are stopped to extract money from them. Moreover, this is on the higher incline.
I know it very well. Numerous pandals are built up and poojas happen at every ten steps. Small or big, one or the other club has their bronze, silver and golden jubilee. It’s really difficult to manage so many donations for one single household.
I have heard the club members spend only some amount on the pooja and actually engage in personal merry-making with the money collected for donation. All these notorious activities defeat the purpose of Durga pooja.
I am of the opinion that the motif or lesson behind Durga Pooja does not entirely go in vain. Yes, I agree that the dark side of human mind could not be completely overshadowed by the bright light of knowledge, but we also achieve one of the largest confluence of all creeds and religion of people.
I like one thing of Durga Pooja very much. The sandhya aarati or the dhunuchi nrittya as we call it is really mesmerizing. Participate in it and you can feel the fun and frolic that will run through every strand of your body hair.
What I love the most is the special Bengali sweet dishes that they prepare during the pooja. Coconut is the main ingredient along with sugar, milk; they are probably called moa, naru if I have spelt them correctly.
Yes, truly said, I am also fond of the sweet dishes. They have a different taste. One is tiller naru and I really like it very much. You can get other Bengali sweet dishes like sandesh anywhere in any Bengali sweet shop but these home-made dishes are extremely mouth watering.
I admire the cultural colour of Bengal. The way they perform dance and sing during the pooja gives a glimpse as to how much intrinsic Rabindra and Nazrul song and dance are in their life. Rightly said?
Have you all seen the enthusiasm Bengalis exude when they go for the immersion of the idol on dashami or dusherra? You can see that tear in the corner of every eye but they are impregnate with the hope of maa’s arrival the coming year.
What is the vermillion game that married women play on dashmi, tainted all red. It appears really fantastic that the Durga idol is decorated with sindur and her lips stuffed with sweet dish.
It’s only a customary ritual. As vermillion is the symbol of marriage and Durga maa too is a married woman, she is given all the token of love and marriage. They also feed the mother with the special dishes before they bid adieu to their beloved goddess.
The hymns chanted during the pooja rituals are extremely mellifluous to hear and are real inspiring to people who can actually understand the meaning of the slokes. The pundits reciting them have an extraordinary energy in their tone. It is said that this is how one should invoke the goddess.
Durga Pooja is all about seeking blessings from the mother Goddess Durga. Every aspect of the festival is dipped in the glitz of Bengali culture. The festival may be special to Bengalis but it is an occasion celebrated by every Indian in some form or the other.
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