Durga Puja Celebrations
Durga Puja is a Hindu festival which honours Goddess Durga. Durga, a slayer of demons, is considered to be a form of shakti of Shiva. Originally a tribal deity, over time she was adopted into the broader Brahamanical fold. The name of the goddess means "Inaccessible" or "She Who is Difficult to Approach". As per mythology, she was created by gods (the trimurti or trinity gods - Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva and the lesser gods of the Puranic Hinduism), fully formed as a warrior to fight against a demon named Mahishasura who threatened the power of the gods and the order of creation. She killed the demon after fighting a fierce battle. She is depicted with eight or ten arms, carrying weapons provided to her by the gods. It is to mark this significant victory over evil, the festival of Durga Puja is celebrated. It is primarily celebrated in the eastern part of India in West Bengal, Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha, Assam, Tripura and also in the neighbouring countries of India viz. Bangladesh and Nepal.
In Nepal the festival is known as Dashain, dedicated to Durga and it is celebrated for 15 days. Likewise, in the northern and western regions of India, the people celebrate Navratri and although on both Navratri and Durga Puja, Durga is worshipped, yet the ways of worshipping in the east, west and north India vary. The regional variations seen can be widely attributed to cultural variations. As the term navratri itself suggests, the festival is celebrated for 9 days. Nav means 9 and ratri means nights in Sanskrit. In Gujarat, Navratri's special attractions include the popular folk-dance forms: Garba and Dandiya Rass. North India's Navratri features Ramlila which has been declared as the "Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity" in 2008. And after the nine nights, on the last day of the Ramlila performance, i.e. on the 10th day is celebrated Vijayadashmi (literally translates to the "Day of Victory") to commemorate the victory of Rama, the prince of Ayodhya after he killed Ravana, the demon king of Lanka, symbolizing the victory of good over evil. The belief has culminated into a custom on this day called Ravana Dahana and it has become a significant hallmark of the Navratri celebrations in the North. In various places in North India especially in New Delhi, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan, effigies of Ravana are burnt in open public spaces.
In the eastern region of India too the festival is celebrated for nine days, and the tenth day is celebrated as Vijayadashmi. However, there is no Ravana dahana in West Bengal (although in recent years, it has gained currency in its neighbouring states such as Bihar and Jharkhand). Instead, this is the day when the idol of the goddess is immersed into a local water body, but prior to the immersion, married women celebrate Sindoor Khela inside the pandals (marquees or temporary structures). Hence, this celebration is especially very important for the married women when they playfully apply sindoor or vermillion (a symbol of a married Hindu woman) on each other's face, wishing for long and blissful married lives for themselves.
On the last day, Vijayadashmi, the idols that were installed in various pandals make a headway for local rivers, or ponds where they are immersed (visarjan). It is believed that after the immersion the goddess with her children Ganesh and Kartikeya leaves for Mount Kailash to be with her husband, Shiva. Therefore, the people in the east hold that the goddess comes to her maika or mother's place for nine days with her children and that just as in any regular Indian family, the daughter is welcomed with lots of love and pampering when she comes to her parent's house with her children and husband, the goddess' arrival too is seen as a matter of celebrations and feastings. A range of delectable food items are prepared at homes as well as offered outside pandals at food stalls such as kathi rolls, chops and cutlets.
Months in advance of Durga Puja, idol makers are commissioned to create ornately painted pandals that will contain the idols of Goddess Durga, her children Ganesha, and Kartikeya, and other goddesses like Saraswati and Lakshmi. These idols, which are frequently incredibly detailed and impressive, are the result of months of labour from skilled artisans. In West Bengal, Kumartuli is well-known for housing a community of highly trained traditional idol builders and sculptors, referred to as kumars. For generations, these craftspeople have been creating clay statues of various deities, including Goddess Durga. Therefore, Durga Puja of West Bengal is exquisite and the kumars do deserve to be credited for creating marvels. In 2021, the UNESCO understanding its cultural relevance included it in the list of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. It is the most important festival in West Bengal for Bengalis.
Durga Puja was started by the aristocratic class in their mansions in Bengal and then later the concept percolated downward, and the common people also started celebrating by pooling their resources, hiring skilled craftspeople to carve beautiful clay models of the goddess and other deities and building pandals and thus, the idea of community pujas became prevalent.
The festival commences with Mahalaya which marks the end of pitra paksha (observed for a duration of 16 days when the ancestors are remembered and offered water and food along with some rituals) and the beginning of devi paksha when it is said that the goddess descend to descends to earth, accompanied by her children. She comes on a mount which could be an elephant, a boat, a palanquin, a lion, etc. and sometimes when it rains heavily during the time of the festival, the locals say that the goddess has arrived in a boat. The main celebrations begin on Saptami or the seventh day when the idols placed inside the pandal are unveiled or their faces or eyes are uncovered, and through pran pratishtha, they are invoked to bless the people with their presence.
Saptami, Ashtami (the eighth day) and Naumi (the ninth day), during these three days rituals, pandal hopping, cultural performances, melas/fairs, etc. keep the people extremely engaged. Dhunuchi naach is performed before the idols by men and women. Dhunuchi in Bengali means incense burner. The dance is called so because the dancers hold dhunuchi in their hands and dance during the evening aarti (ritualised worship).
.JPG)
On Ashtami, devotees observe a fast and offer pushpanjali. It is on this day that the custom of Kumari Puja is performed when young virgin girls who have not yet attained puberty are revered as embodiments of the goddess. Kumari Puja is prevalent in Nepal too where a Buddhist virgin girl of Shakya clan (the same clan to which the Buddha belonged and therefore, he is also called Shakyamuni) is chosen as a kumari, a living manifestation of the Hindu goddess, Devi Taleju or Durga. On Naumi, Sandhi Puja takes place at the intersection of Ashtami and Naumi. It's thought to be the moment when the goddess's energy is at its greatest. The following day is considered to be the last day of the battle and also the day of victory. Hence, it is known as Vijayadashmi. This is also the day of visarjan when devotees bid farewell to the goddess after which this colourful festival of belief, tradition, and collective devotion comes to its conclusion.
Comments
Post a Comment