How does one explain the excitement of something such as the biggest Bengali festival of the year? How does one explain Durga Pujo to non-Bengalis? Non- Indians?
Durga Puja is also a festivity of Good (Ma Durga) winning over the evil (Mahishasur the demon). It is a worship of power of Good which always wins over the bad.
:-)
More at -Wikipedia Article- Durga Puja , although NOTHING can capture the awesomeness of Durga Puja! We have little Durga Puja's everywhere. I have fond memories of Durga pujo, in Kolkata (Calcutta), and Chennai and other places.
Breathe!
"A man in Delhi once asked me "What is so special about Durga Puja In Kolkata? It's just as big as Diwali is here in the North".
I simply smiled and replied 'You have no idea'.
Waiting for my late evening flight to Mumbai at the airport, and I thought that there probably isn't any festival in any city in the world that can match Kolkata's Puja in intensity. You can take the craze of Diwali in Delhi, Christmas in London, Summer Carnival in Rio de Janeiro, Valentine's day in Paris and then add it to the month long madness of Olympic Games or the World Cup and cram all that into a span of 5 days and you still wouldn't know what you are missing if you haven't been in Kolkata during Durga Puja"
- Vir Sanghvi, Hindustan Times
Yeah, what IS Durga Pujo? More importantly why is it so important to ME!
For about 3-4 years when we lived in Madras, now known as Chennai, we went to the Besant Nagar Durga Pujo. It was conveniently on the same street as our house, just a short walk. Over a few years we got to know the Bengali's in the SMCA Bengali group. I had some very close friends, and even more family friends. We enjoyed together the 5 days of intense bonding and celebration. We were family now, relishing our Bengali heritage through dance, performances of plays, music, worship, poribeshon (service), and ofcourse the obligatory adda (gossip), which is the epitome of Bengali-ness. I miss all that, my friends, the food, the service, the worship, family, the drama...
I found an article that explains it so well, go figure it's wiki!
Durga puja mood starts off with the Mahishasuramardini– a two-hour radio programme that has been popular with the community since the 1950s. While earlier it used to be conducted live, later a recorded version began to be broadcast. Bengalis traditionally wake up at 4 in the morning on Mahalaya day to listen to the enchanting voice of the late Birendra Krishna Bhadra and the late Pankaj Kumar Mullick on All India Radio as they recite hymns from the scriptures from the Devi Mahatmyam. During the week of Durga Puja, in the entire state of West Bengal as well as in large enclaves of Bengalis everywhere, life comes to a complete standstill. In playgrounds, traffic circles, ponds—wherever space may be available—elaborate makeshift structures called pandals are set up, many with nearly a year's worth of planning behind them. The word pandal means a temporary structure, made of bamboo and cloth, which is used as a temporary temple for the purpose of the puja. While some of the pandals are simple structures, others are often elaborate works of art with themes that rely heavily on history, current affairs and sometimes pure imagination. ---->(Yes my parents and I still wake up early and listen to this all day! But we can't celebrate like we once used to not in USA... although I celebrate it in my heart).
Somewhere inside these complex edifices is a stage on which Durga reigns, standing on her lion mount, wielding ten weapons in her ten hands. This is the religious center of the festivities, and the crowds gather to offer flower worship or pushpanjali on the mornings, of the sixth to ninth days of the waxing moon fortnight known as Devi Paksha. Devi = goddess; Paksha = period; Devi Paksha meaning the period of the goddess). Ritual drummers dhakis, carrying large leather-strung dhak –– show off their skills during ritual dance worships called aarati. On the tenth day, Durga the mother returns to her husband, Shiva, ritualised through her immersion into the waters also known as Bhaashan and Niranjan. --->(Or Bishorjon).
At the end of six days, the idol is taken for immersion in a procession amid loud chants of 'Bolo Durga mai-ki jai' (glory be to Mother Durga') and 'aashchhe bochhor abar hobe' ('it will happen again next year') and drumbeats to the river or other water body. It is cast in the waters symbolic of the departure of the deity to her home with her husband in the Himalayas. After this, in a tradition called Vijaya Dashami, families visit each other and sweetmeats are offered to visitors (Dashami is literally "tenth day" and Vijay is "victory").
Durga Puja commemorates the annual visit of the Goddess with Her children to Her parents' home, leaving finally on the Dashami to be re-united with Shiva. This leaving ceremony is symbolised by the immersion of the idols on Dashami.I simply smiled and replied 'You have no idea'.
Waiting for my late evening flight to Mumbai at the airport, and I thought that there probably isn't any festival in any city in the world that can match Kolkata's Puja in intensity. You can take the craze of Diwali in Delhi, Christmas in London, Summer Carnival in Rio de Janeiro, Valentine's day in Paris and then add it to the month long madness of Olympic Games or the World Cup and cram all that into a span of 5 days and you still wouldn't know what you are missing if you haven't been in Kolkata during Durga Puja"
- Vir Sanghvi, Hindustan Times
Yeah, what IS Durga Pujo? More importantly why is it so important to ME!
For about 3-4 years when we lived in Madras, now known as Chennai, we went to the Besant Nagar Durga Pujo. It was conveniently on the same street as our house, just a short walk. Over a few years we got to know the Bengali's in the SMCA Bengali group. I had some very close friends, and even more family friends. We enjoyed together the 5 days of intense bonding and celebration. We were family now, relishing our Bengali heritage through dance, performances of plays, music, worship, poribeshon (service), and ofcourse the obligatory adda (gossip), which is the epitome of Bengali-ness. I miss all that, my friends, the food, the service, the worship, family, the drama...
I found an article that explains it so well, go figure it's wiki!
Durga puja mood starts off with the Mahishasuramardini– a two-hour radio programme that has been popular with the community since the 1950s. While earlier it used to be conducted live, later a recorded version began to be broadcast. Bengalis traditionally wake up at 4 in the morning on Mahalaya day to listen to the enchanting voice of the late Birendra Krishna Bhadra and the late Pankaj Kumar Mullick on All India Radio as they recite hymns from the scriptures from the Devi Mahatmyam. During the week of Durga Puja, in the entire state of West Bengal as well as in large enclaves of Bengalis everywhere, life comes to a complete standstill. In playgrounds, traffic circles, ponds—wherever space may be available—elaborate makeshift structures called pandals are set up, many with nearly a year's worth of planning behind them. The word pandal means a temporary structure, made of bamboo and cloth, which is used as a temporary temple for the purpose of the puja. While some of the pandals are simple structures, others are often elaborate works of art with themes that rely heavily on history, current affairs and sometimes pure imagination. ---->(Yes my parents and I still wake up early and listen to this all day! But we can't celebrate like we once used to not in USA... although I celebrate it in my heart).
Somewhere inside these complex edifices is a stage on which Durga reigns, standing on her lion mount, wielding ten weapons in her ten hands. This is the religious center of the festivities, and the crowds gather to offer flower worship or pushpanjali on the mornings, of the sixth to ninth days of the waxing moon fortnight known as Devi Paksha. Devi = goddess; Paksha = period; Devi Paksha meaning the period of the goddess). Ritual drummers dhakis, carrying large leather-strung dhak –– show off their skills during ritual dance worships called aarati. On the tenth day, Durga the mother returns to her husband, Shiva, ritualised through her immersion into the waters also known as Bhaashan and Niranjan. --->(Or Bishorjon).
At the end of six days, the idol is taken for immersion in a procession amid loud chants of 'Bolo Durga mai-ki jai' (glory be to Mother Durga') and 'aashchhe bochhor abar hobe' ('it will happen again next year') and drumbeats to the river or other water body. It is cast in the waters symbolic of the departure of the deity to her home with her husband in the Himalayas. After this, in a tradition called Vijaya Dashami, families visit each other and sweetmeats are offered to visitors (Dashami is literally "tenth day" and Vijay is "victory").
Durga Puja is also a festivity of Good (Ma Durga) winning over the evil (Mahishasur the demon). It is a worship of power of Good which always wins over the bad.
:-)
More at -Wikipedia Article- Durga Puja , although NOTHING can capture the awesomeness of Durga Puja! We have little Durga Puja's everywhere. I have fond memories of Durga pujo, in Kolkata (Calcutta), and Chennai and other places.
Breathe!
No comments:
Post a Comment
Hi! I'd love to hear what you thought of this post!