Durga Puja

It’s that time of the year again when we celebrate Durga Puja — often simply called the Pujas –  the biggest festival for us Bengalis. Bengali Hindus, that is. The Pujas get in full swing today, Saptami (the seventh day) though actually they start on Sasthi (the sixth day).

The Wikipedia says: "The worship of Durga in the autumn month of Sharat is the major festival in Bengal. Puja means worship, and Durga’s Puja is celebrated from the sixth to tenth day of the waxing moon in the month of Ashvin, which is the sixth month in the Hindu Calendar. Occasionally however, due to a misalignment between the lunar cycle and the solar months, it may also be held in the following month, Kartik. In the Gregorian calendar, this corresponds to the months of September/October."

Durga is the goddess who slays the demon Mahishashur, and the Pujas mark this victory of good over evil. She appears also in the Hindu epic, Ramayana, where Rama prays to her for victory against the demon Ravana.

The Wikipedia says:"In the Krittibas Ramayana, Rama invokes the goddess Durga in his battle against Ravana. Although she was traditionally worshipped in the Spring, due to contingencies of battle, Rama had to invoke her in the autumn (akaal bodhan). Today it is this Rama’s date for the puja that has gained ascendancy, although the spring Puja, known as Basanti puja, is also present in the Hindu almanac. Since the season of the puja is sharat (autumn), it is also known as shaaradiya.”

The Wikipedia adds: "The Pujas are held over a five-day period, which is traditionally viewed as the coming of the married daughter, Durga, to her father, Himalayas’ home. In the tradition of the woman visiting her parent’s house, she is accompanied by her four children: Ganesh, Kartik, Lakshmi and Saraswati. It is most the important festival in Bengal, and Bengalis celebrate with new clothes and other gifts, which are worn on the evenings when the family goes out to see the pandals (marquees where images of Ma Durga and her children are worshipped). Although it is a Hindu festival, many religious groups participate in the ritual."

In Kolkata (Calcutta) alone, more than 1,000 Puja pandals are set up to celebrate the occasion with donations from local residents and various organisations. The Pujas, of course, are public holidays.

My wife went out with her sister and niece to visit some of the Puja pandals in south Calcutta last evening. That’s why though her college closed on Friday, she won’t be coming to Singapore till Friday, so she can spend the Pujas with her parents and the rest of the family in Calcutta.

The first picture on this post shows the face of Ma Durga’s image as she appears in Mudiali, one of the pandals my wife visited in Calcutta yesterday. I downloaded all the images of Ma Durga from the website Anandautsav (which in Bengali means festival of joy) set up by the Bengali newspaper, Ananda Bazar Patrika, published from Calcutta. The other pictures show the image at 64 Pally, a Puja pandal in Kalighat, where Calcutta’s famous Kali temple is located. The third picture shows Ma Durga mounted on a lion slaying the demon, Mahishashur. She is flanked by  her children (from left, Ganesh, Lakshmi, Saraswati and Kartik). That is the image we worship during the Pujas, Ma Durga slaying the demon with her children on either side of her. 

I posted three pictures here for the three of us: my wife, my son and me. My son, now in college in the USA, won’t be able to celebrate the Pujas this year. He used to love visiting the Puja pandals in Calcutta. He usually went visiting with his mother and the family but at least one day he would be out with friends.

The Anandaustav website also shows images from pandals in other parts of the world, including Singapore. It’s definitely worth a visit.

Happy Pujas.

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