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The annual autumnal Bengali extravaganza......Durga Puja celebrating the triumph of good over evil in the form of goddess Durga prevailing over demon king Mahishahura, usually takes place in the month of October spread over a period of four days. The Indian state of West Bengal, the country of Bangladesh and Bengalis spread over the rest of the world celebrate this festival with much gaiety and pomp. General bonhomie pervades the air in both rural and urban Bengal. Festivities range from utilitarian forms of worship involving a few to elaborate grand affairs involving entire communities.
The city of Kolkata, (West Bengal, India) comes forward as the place where the celebrations have managed to attain a separate dimension altogether in terms of style and grandeur. Still four days to go but the city's already making an effort to get us into the mood.
Bengalis have a special connection with "Kash". When in full bloom it says "Durga Pujo" is round the corner. For me nostalgia hits like a gush of wind! My whole childhood does a fly-by...
A man in spotless whites being carried in a human powered rickshaw while the famous Kolkata yellow cab whizzes past. I have ambivalent feelings towards this rickshaw which is legally banned - some say it is "cruel" whereas for the many rickshaw pullers it is not much different from a cycle rickshaw and has added advantage of being useful in case of a street flooded in monsoon.
This is an auspicious ritual that is done in Indian festivals. This is happening in the Bengali festival of Durga Puja. This signifies purity and signifies the Good of fire.
More to come ......
© Mrinal K Paul All Rights Reserved
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Photo taken on : 06.10.2011
Place : Raja Krishtodass Laha Bari, Bidhan Sarani, North Kolkata, Kolkata, West Bengal / Paschim Banga, India
Prasun Dutta Photgraphy | © www.prasundutta.com | All Rights Reserved.
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No PP here.
Your Comments and Critics are my inspiration.
All Rights Reserved - © Mrinal K Paul
Unauthorized use or reproduction for any reason is prohibited
The Durga puja has been celebrated since the medieval period, and has evolved and adapted to the world as time passed. A considerable literature exists around Durga in the Bengali language and its early forms, including avnirnaya (11th century), Durgabhaktitarangini by Vidyapati (a famous Maithili poet of 14th century), but the goddess Durga was not fully integrated into the Hindu pantheon, primarily in Bengal, in the 16th century. Early forms of Durgostavs (Durga festivals) were primarily private worship in personal residences with the use of various musical instruments such as the mridanga, mandira, and smakhya. It was during the 18th century, however, that the worship of Durga became popular among the land aristrocrats of Bengal, the Zamindars. Prominent Pujas were conducted by the zamindars and jagirdars, being enriched by emerging British rule, including Raja Nabakrishna Deb, of Shobhabajar, who initiated an elaborate Puja at his residence. These celebrations brought the Durgostavs out of individual homes, and into the public sphere. Festivities were celebrated as a community, where royalty and peasantry were welcomed into the home of the zamindar or bania (merchant) to feast together. The festivities became heavily centered around entertainment -music and female dancers- as well as lavish feasts that continued for the entire month. In the nineteenth century, the Pujas celebrated placed less emphasis on elaborate celebration and feasting, and more on including all of the community in the celebration. They moved from being a show of wealth and authority by royalty and merchants back to a festival of worship and community. Many of these old puja exist till now. Interestingly the oldest such Puja to be conducted at the same venue is located in Rameswarpur, Orissa, where it has been continued since the last four centuries; starting from the time when the Ghosh Mahashays from Kotarang migrated there as a part of Todarmal's contingent during Akbar's rule. Today, the culture of Durga Puja has shifted from the princely houses to Sarbojanin (literally, "involving all") forms. The first such puja was held at Guptipara — it was called barowari (baro meaning twelve and yar meaning friends)
This Mahalaya, we pray to Maa Durga to bless with strength to overcome the global pandemic. May the divine blessings of Maa Durga ensure good health and happiness in everyone’s life. May our planet prosper!
Shubho Mahalaya!
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#idol
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#Kolkata
Clicked on October 8, 2016
location - Delhi
Nikon D750
ƒ/1.8
85.0 mm
1/200
100
Photographed at --Akalbodhon Sarbojonin Durgotsab, Chetla, South Kolkata.
Worshiping Durga, As I feel :
To me worshiping goddess Durga encompasses so many deeply seated aspects of human lives and nature. The imagination of such a Goddess-form has its age old story depicted in the Hindu Puranas and that had been fabricated by the wisdom of ages as a symbolic one for Bio-Geo-Socio-Economic-Cultural and Aesthetical upliftment of humankind and its relationship with nature, through the practice of worshiping.
Once in a year She, The Mother Durga, is thought to come from her abode at mount Kailash in Himalaya to the land of Bengal at the time of Autumn, the finest of all six seasons when Bengal turns into a nature’s paradise. The snow white clouds against the deep azure of the sky, the gentle cool breeze carrying the sweet fragrance of flowers, the turning colors of the leaves, the golden sunlit lush green paddy fields and the waving clusters of dazzling white inflorescence of Kash dramatically prepare the minds of Bengal apt for celebration of life. Artists of versatile talents from Bengal and other states culminate their finest ever skill and efforts for making the idols of Durga using conventional natural resources like clay, wood, organic colors, that are all mostly biodegradable. The pandals( the temporary abodes of Devi Durga) all over Bengal, especially in urban cities turn into the finest galleries of art and culture covering an unimaginably wide range of form and traditions, represented by Bengal and neighboring states of India. Durga puja becomes a wide open opportunity to discover and re-discover the art and artistry of Bengal, and not only that, this is the biggest festival of Bengal that provides a great competitive platform for innumerable artists and workers to learn and earn.
The time of Puja is the time for togetherness, is the time for sharing and caring. The traditional concept of making the idols of Durga, her four children and her husband Lord Shiva against a single background structure( which is in Bengali: Ek chalchitra) seems to me a very symbolic one! It implicates to me a strong bondage between the family members, or in a greater sense the relationships between individuals. An example of unity in diversity.
To save the world, Brahmma(the god of creation), Vishnu( the god of sustenance), Moheshwara/ Shiva(the god of destruction) and all of the gods emitted beams of fierce light from their bodies. The blinding sea of light reached Parvati, and Durga emerged from this pool of light. This is very symbolic. I see durga as a domain where there have been convergence of all form of energies; she is the symbolic epitome of unified force, as it is the most cherished theory of modern-day physics- “the unified field theory”. And therefore, She is the Symbolic epitome of concentrated knowledge and wisdom. She can create(sristi), She can sustain( sthiti), and She can destroy(loy). She comes over here to create all good things and to sustain them on this earth, and to destroy all evil power, as depicted by triumph over Mahisasura.
Her four children are very symbolic to me for four aspects of socio-economic- cultural upliftment. These are the four aspects to create a balanced nation or a person as an individual.
“Lakhsmi”, her elder daughter, is a symbol of wealth. She carries with her a bunch of ripe paddy and a container of vermilion. Ripened paddy is the symbol of agricultural success. And vermilion is the symbol of peaceful marriage in Hindu custom.
“Swaraswati”, her younger daughter, is a symbol of art and culture. She carries with her a sitar, a classical Indian instrument depicting music, that is the highest form of the faculty of art.
“Kartika”, her elder son, is the commander-in-chief of the gods for war. He is the warrior and protector from enemies. He carries a bow and arrows. He knows how to target an enemy. And he is the symbol of leadership qualities.
“Ganesha”, her youngest son. He is the symbol of knowledge and wisdom.
And Mother Durga is the creator of all her four children, the four faculties associated with biological, social, cultural and intellectual evolution of man.
Therefore, She is the idealistic epitome of Gunas (qualities), that we all her children should acquire for. And there lies the true meaningfulness of worshiping our mother, Durga.
On the tenth day after the triumph, the day of Vijaya Dashami ( suvobijoya), mother along with her family sets her journey back to her final adobe in himalaya, leaving the earthly world behind. The clay idol is thus immersed in the holy water of Ganges to symbolize her journey. And thus the whole celebration comes to an end.
Every year you will find photos of Durga Pujo (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Durga_Puja) in my photostream. Even after visiting Kolkata/Calcutta for six consecutive Durga Pujos, the creativity displayed at the pandals still doesn't seize to amaze me!
As we entered this pandal, the two faces of Goddess Durga (about 10ft in height) greeted us. The left side is her human face, whereas the right is more traditional, artistic and stylised. These faces formed the gateway into the room where the main idol was kept. You can get a sneak peek of the idol through the little raindrop shaped window!
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There’s a beauty in God’s fury as well for it is not for mere destruction. It is for salvation and providence, for nurturing of life.
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Durga Puja, also called Durgotsava, or Agamani, is an annual Hindu festival originating in the Indian subcontinent which reveres and pays homage to the Hindu goddess, Durga.
I couldn’t quite figure out what it is that the woman with parted teeth was telling her neighbour drying her sari along the length of the exposed red brick wall. Whatever it was, it was no laughing matter though I did see them exchange smiles later.
Throngs of visitors crowded the narrow lanes in Kumartuli to watch and photograph artisans busy completing Durga idols in time for Panchami. It was Durga Pujo in Kolkata.
We meandered among curious visitors and hard-at-work artisans who were recovering from the setback posed by unexpected rains.
Travel Blog: windyskies.blogspot.com
The Story of Mahisasuramardini : The myth.
Durga, meaning "the inaccessible" or "the invincible", is a popular fierce form of the Hindu Goddess or Devi. She is depicted with multiple arms,carrying various weapons and riding a ferocious lion( in Bengal). She is pictured as battling or slaying demons, particularly Mahishasura, the buffalo demon.
Her triumph as Mahishasura Mardini, Slayer of the buffalo Demon is a central episode of the scripture Devi Mahatmya. Her victory is celebrated annually in the festivals of Durga Puja.
The word Shakti means divine energy/force/power, and Durga is the warrior aspect of the Divine Mother/Brahman(Supreme Absolute Godhead).
As a goddess, Durga's feminine power contains the combined energies of all the gods. Each of her weapons was given to her by various gods: Rudra's trident, Vishnu's discus, Indra's thunderbolt, Brahma's kamandalu, Kuber's Ratnahar, etc.
According to a narrative in the Devi Mahatmya story of the Markandeya Purana text, Durga was created as a warrior goddess to fight an asura (demon) named Mahishasura. Brahma had given Mahishasura the power not to be defeated by a male. Mahishasura had unleashed a reign of terror on earth, heaven and the nether worlds, and he could not be defeated by any man or god, anywhere. The gods were helpless. Shiva, realizing that no man or god (male) can defeat Mahishasura, made a request to his wife Parvati(Durga) to take the role of a female goddess warrior in order to slay the demon. Parvati took his request and went to the Ashram of priest disciple named Katyayan to assume the role of a warrior. Meanwhile, the gods went to Brahma for help and, with Brahma, then made their way to Vaikuntha—the place where Vishnu lay on Ananta Naag. They found both Vishnu and Shiva, and Brahma eloquently related the reign of terror Mahishasur had unleashed on the three worlds. To save the worlds, Vishnu, Shiva and all of the gods emitted beams of fierce light from their bodies. The blinding sea of light reached Parvati at the Ashram of the priest Katyayan and Durga emerged from this pool of light. The goddess Durga took the name Katyaayani from the priest. She introduced herself in the language of the Rig-Veda, saying she was the form of the supreme female aspect of Brahman (Prakriti) who had created all the gods. Now she had come to fight the demon to save the three Worlds. They did not create her; it was her lila that she emerged from their combined energy. The gods were blessed with her compassion.
To combat the evil Mahishasura, she had appeared in a great blinding light, to combat this demon and end it for all to be in peace. The terrible Mahishasura rampaged against her, changing forms many times. First he was a buffalo demon, and she defeated him with her sword. Then he changed forms and became an elephant that tied up the goddess's lion and began to pull it towards him. The goddess cut off his trunk with her sword. The demon Mahishasur continued his terrorizing, taking the form of a lion, and then the form of a man, but both of them were gracefully slain by Durga.
Then Mahishasur began attacking once more, starting to take the form of a buffalo again. When Mahishasur had half emerged into his buffalo form, he was paralyzed by the extreme light emitting from the goddess's body. The goddess then resounded with laughter before cutting Mahishasur's head down with her sword.
Thus Durga slew Mahishasur, thus is the power of the fierce compassion of Durga. Hence, MataDurga is also known as Mahishasuramardhini—the slayer of Mahishasur.
Source: Wikipedia.
~On the OccasiOn of Durga Puja in Kolkata"
A girl playfully imitates her sculptor father, after being admonished not to interrupt his work. The artist is finishing a clay idol of goddess Lakshmi in his small workshop in Kumartuli area of Kolkata.
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~On the OccasiOn of Durga Puja in Kolkata"