Durga Puja Essay

Durga Puja EssayKolkata, the urban center of joy, as it is cognize, has been celebrating the Durga Puja since ages. Durga Puja, the biggest fete of the Bengalis, is the worship of Shakti or the Divine Power. As more or less of the religious celebrations around the world, the Durga Puja too has a legend of the struggle amidst the good and the evil. The dark forces eventually succumbed to the divine.I can s bowl desire I utilise to love the Durga Puja as a small infant as it was an occasion to get a month long spend in school. One of my oldest memories of the Durga Puja is that of the construction of the huge pandals on the way plunk for from my school. My friends and I employ to look hide and seek in those pandals until round angry uncle would guide us off citing some lame reasons. some other memory is that of playing with friends from the neighbourhood end-to-end the day. In fact, the days of the pujas were the how forever four days of the year when I could stay ou t till evening and yet nobody would scold me.According to Hindu mythology, Durga Puja was initially performed in the month of Basanta or spring time. This was kn induce as Basanti Puja. Rama showtime did the worship of Devi Durga in the month of Ashwin, an unusual time for this Puja and hence it is kn protest as Akalbodhan, implication an uncustomary time of commencement. It is said that hundred blue lotuses be required for this Puja to be a success. He could find only 99 and hence asideered one of his eyes as a substitute of the hundredth rose. His devotion pleased Devi Durga who blessed him and he finally won over Ravana, killing him in the process. The battle was lift offed on Saptami, generally accepted as the starting day of the Durga Puja, and ended on the period between Astami and Navami, called the Sandikhan, or the time in between. Ravanas body was cremated on Dashami, celebrated throughout India as Dussera, signifying the victory of the good over the evil.Durga Puja dates back to the 16th century, during the Mughal era. Legend has it that the origin Durga Puja was organised by king Kangshanarayan of Teherpur in the Nadia district of West Bengal. fairy Jagatnarayan of Bhaduria soon followed after.Gradually Durga Puja became the great annual festival that brought together family, friends, and neighbours, infusing look into the mundane vivification of the village communities. By the mid eighteenth century, this festival of the Bengalis had become the chief occasion of the filthy rich landlords, known as babus in Bengali, to flaunt their wealth. They invited the Europeans during every evening of the five-day long event to saving grace the occasion with their presence and join in their feasting. The presence and participation of the British notables became a matter of vainglory and prestige for their hosts. As per the Calcutta Chronicle at that place were other notable topical anaesthetics who began to host the British at their Durga Puja. Though in that location is much confusion about the inception of Durga Puja in Kolkata, some believe that the family of Saborno Chowdhury held the oldest Puja in the urban center, dating back to 1610 near Sakher Bazar in Behala. early(a)(a) old Pujas include that started by Govindaram Mitra of Kumartuli and the one at the palace at Sovabazar, known as Sovabazar Rajbari, started by King Nabakrishna Deb of North Kolkata.Where somebody initiatives declined, collective enterprise came to the rescue even in the early years. nearly 1790, 12 Brahmin friends in Guptipara in the Hoogly district of West Bengal, resolved to start a community Puja. Subscriptions were raised from the neighbours for the Pujas. This is said to be the start of the outdoor Pujas in West Bengal, popularly known as Baro-yari puja(meaning 12 friends), which gained popularity in leaps and bounds.The Sarvojanin Durgostav, literally meaning everybodys Puja, as we know it today started off much later in Kolkata in t he 1920s.The oldest Sarvojanin Durgostav is that of Bazbazar Sarvojanin, near the bank of the sanctum sanctorum Ganges, at Bazbagar.Though the celebrations around Durga Puja lasts over four days, mainly from Saptami to Dashami, the pettishness of the Durga Puja sets in much earlier in the life of the people of Bengal. It starts with the flawlessness making at the famous Kumartuli, a place famous for its well-favored trunk idols of Gods and Goddesses and pottery. The entire process of creation of the idols or murti, as it is usually known as from the collection of clay to the ornamentation is a hallowed process, supervised by rites and other rituals. On the Hindu date of Akshaya Tritiya when the Ratha Yatra is held, clay for the idols is collected from the banks of a river, preferably the Ganges. After the required rites, the clay is transported from which the idols argon fashioned. An important event is Chakkhu Daan, literally donation of the eyes. Starting with Devi Durga, t he eyes of the idols be painted on Mahalaya or the first day of the Pujas. Before scene on the eyes, the artisans fast for a day and eat only vegetarian food.Kumartuli is a place which is very close to my grand p bents residence. My grand acquire apply to go me to this place and showed me how idols were made from bamboo, clay and hay.The Sharatkal or the autumn season brings with it the ever known strands of white clouds and light cool breeze which reminds every Bengali of the nearness of the Durga Puja. The Kashful, a flower traditionally associated with autumn and the biggest festival of autumn, the Durga Puja is another(prenominal) symbol that reminds every Bengali of the auspicious occasion. Then the time comes for Mahalaya. My father used to wake us up at 4 in the morning to listen to the All India Radio where the evergreen voice of Birendra Kishore Bhadra and Pankaj Kumar Mullick lull rings in my ears. Earlier it was conducted live entirely now a recorded version is bro adcasted exactly on the same time and silent it creates the same effect to the listeners.When I was in my junior school, I was a member of the Rama Krishna Mission drama and play team. On the day of Mahalaya we used to enact a play on goddess Durga. I still recall the month long practices before the event. After school I used to go to Rama Krishna Mission for rehearsals of the acts. The sense of achievement after successful enacting of the play was really a memory to cherish. And the ice cream treat from my sustain made it all the more memorable.The idol of Goddess Durga has 10 hands which save 10 opposite weapons used to fight the evil, Asura. It is believed that Goddess Durga got the 10 weapons from 10 different Gods who gave their weapons to Goddess Durga to combine all their strength to fight the evil, as Asura was unbeatable by any other God. The conch shell in Durgas hand symbolizes the Pranava or the mystic word Om The bow and arrows represent energy. The thunderbolt sig nifies firmness. The lotus in Durgas hand is not in fully bloomed, it symbolizing demonstration of success but not finality. The Sudarshan-Chakra signifies that the entire world is subservient to the result of Durga. The sword that Durga holds in one of her hands symbolizes knowledge. Durgas trident or trishul is a symbol of three qualities Satwa (inactivity), Rajas (activity) and Tamas (non-activity). Devi Durga chose the lion as her vehicle or Vahana, which signifies the taming of the wildernesses.As a child I used to be a tiny afraid of the huge lion. My mother used to always say that Goddess Durga would perpetrate her lion to punish me if I did some mischief. But gradually as I grew up, I started liking the Vahana of Goddess Durga. In my school, I was even selected as one of the judges for best lion contest conducted by my school.Lighting, in and around the Puja pandals, also form an intrinsical part of this elaborate decorations. Chandannagar is the finishing where most of the big community pujas look to get their lightings done from. traditionally light bulbs of different colours were used to decorate various pandals but nowadays mostly light emitting diodes of various colours are used to save electricity as well as carry out the different intricate collections much easily using microprocessor chips.As a child I was a great fan of one of the Pujas held at College Square. It was famous for its lighting arrangements. As it is one of the most popular pujas which attracts a huge crowd, my father used to take me to visit this puja pandal in early hours when the light would be still on and the crowd also would be less.Ritual drummers or dhakis, as they are commonly known as, also add to the ambience of the Durga Puja. The dhunuchi nach and the beat of the drums is something which goes hand in hand. Many topical anesthetic competitions are held to find out the best dhunuchi dancer and it is really a matter of pride for the Bengali male to have won much (prenominal) a competition.Many Bengali films and music albums are published to assent with the Puja. Many magazines, desire the Anandamela and Shuktara, among others, come up with a special Puja redundant issue just for this occasion. As a child I was great fan of Shuktara and gradually I shifted from the Anandamela to Desh.In Kolkata alone, more than two atomic add 19 pandals are set up, all clamouring for the admiration and praise of the populace. The city is adorned with lights. Traffic comes to a standstill, and indeed, most people abandon their vehicles to be active by foot after a point. A special confinement force is deployed to control law and order. Durga Puja in Kolkata is often referred to as the Rio pleasure ground of the Eastern Hemisphere.In my college, I was more interested in pandal-hopping than macrocosm a part of my neighbourhood Puja. My friends and I used to go pandal-hopping throughout the day and sometimes even throughout the night. At that time the go of pandals covered used to be a great matter of pride and all my friends tried to compete with each other to visit the highest number of pandals.At the end of four 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, meaning it will happen again next year and drumbeats to the river or other water body. This is a happy occasion for some who celebrate by offering sweets to guests and relatives while a sad one for some like me to whom it means a wait of another long year to live and enjoy the festivities of the Durga Puja.Environmental hazards from the materials used to make and colour the idols pollute local water sources, as the idols are brought directly into the river at the end of festivities. Efforts are underway to introduce eco-friendly materials to the artisans who make the idols. West Bengal has been credited by its own environmental agency as being possibly the first Ind ian State to successfully curb the use of hazardous paints. However, by their own account, only two-thirds of the idols made are currently coloured with eco-friendly paints.During the Puja season emotions are high with thoughts of homecoming, happy reunions with parents and daughters married to distance places, between brothers separated across the oceans the beat of drums thud across the twilit skyline releasing a fresh boost of life amidst the locality numbed by its numerous problems. Everyone tries to blank out at least for the four days the hard-pressing reality and utmost practicality of effortless life as they take the welcome break from routine life and lose their work-a-day identity in the swirl of festivity. Thus Durga Puja indeed plays an integral part in every Bengalis life, which every Bengali however farthermost from his motherland, feels at the bottom of his heart.