Durga puja is performed during
the nine days of Navaratri. According to the Hindu
calendar it falls on the first nine days of the
month of Ashwin (october). It is celebrated all
over India, but with great zeal in the eastern
part of India especially West Bengal.
The azure sky with fleecy white clouds and the
nip in the air marks the advent of autumn –
the season for Bengal’s most popular festival,
Durga Puja or the worship of Goddess Durga. Durga
Puja is celebrated with customary pomp and fanfare
twice a year – once in the month of March
or April (basant) and again in the month of September
or October (ashwin), during the moonlit fortnight.
On both the occasions, the puja is a nine-day
affair with the last day coinciding with Ram Navmi
and Dussehra respectively.
The Mother Goddess is venerated in one form or
the other all over India, though her popularity
is at its peak with the Bengalis. This celebration
in honour of the goddess, the mother of the world,
begins on the first day of Ashvin, and goes on
for nine days. The goddess is the personification
of Power, or “Shakti”. She is known
by many names: “Kali”, “Laxmi”,
“Sarasvati”, “Chandi-ka”,
“Durga”, “Bhavani”, “Ambika”,
“Ashtabhuja” (eight hands). Her main
task is to punish the wicked. She is engaged in
war, and weapons are in her hands (four, eight,
eighteen...) She is sitting on a lion. Her weapons
are the “shul” (pike), “chakra”
(wheel), “parshu” (axe) and “talvar”
(sword). Kali is known as “Mahisha-surmardini”,
the slayer of the demon Mahishasur. The fight
against the demon begins on the first day until
he is defeated on the ninth day
The book is an introduction to Durga Puja, the
grandest festival in eastern India, a celebration
that provides a glimpse into the rich cultural
heritage of Bengal. It is also a ready reckoner
of all aspects of the Puja-its mythical origins,
its socio-cultural evolution, its economic ramifications
and its elaborate rituals. Spiced up with anecdotes
and trivia collected from journals and newspapers
from the 19th century to the present day, It is
a compendium of knowledge associated with the
worship of the Mother Goddess, one of the oldest
surviving Hindu traditions.
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