Maa Aasche (mom is coming)
Hi Folks
As we are in Mid-September we are nearing one of the most celebrated festivals in Indian Subcontinent which unites one and all. This festival is none other than Durga Pujo. It is also known as Navratri in Maharashtra and Gujarat, Dusshera in South India, And Durga Pujo in the East.
As per mythology, the festival marks the victory of goddess Durga in her battle against the shape-shifting asura, Mahisasura.Thus, the festival epitomises the victory of good over evil, though it is also in part a harvest festival celebrating the goddess as the motherly power behind all of life and creation.Durga puja coincides with Navratri and Dusshera celebrations observed by other traditions of Hinduism, in which the Ram lila dance-drama is enacted, celebrating the victory of Rama against Ravana, and effigies of Ravana are burnt. Durga puja is an important festival in the Shaktism tradition of Hinduism.
Though the primary goddess revered during Durga puja is Durga,
the celebrations also include other major deities of Hinduism such as Lakshmi (the
goddess of wealth, prosperity and the partial incarnation of Adi Shakti
Mahalakshmi), Saraswat (the goddess of knowledge and music), Ganesha (the
god of good beginnings), and Kartikeya (the god of war). In Bengali
traditions, these deities are considered to be Durga's children and Durga puja
is believed to commemorate Durga's visit to her natal home with her children. The
festival is preceded by Mahalaya, which is believed to mark the start of
Durga's journey to her natal home. Primary celebrations begin on the sixth day
(Shasthi), on which the goddess is welcomed with rituals. The
festival ends on the tenth day (Vijaya dashami), when devotees embark on
a procession carrying the worshipped clay sculpture-idols to a river, or other
water body, and immerse them, symbolic of her return to the divine cosmos and
her marital home with Shiva in Kailash. Regional and community
variations in celebration of the festival and rituals observed exist.
Durga
puja is an old tradition of Hinduism, though its exact origins are unclear.
Surviving manuscripts from the 14th—century provide guidelines for Durga puja,
while historical records suggest that the royalty and wealthy families were
sponsoring major Durga puja festivities since at least the 16th-century. The
prominence of Durga puja increased during the British Raj in
the provinces of Bengal and Assam. In today's time, the importance of
Durga puja is as much as a social and cultural festival as a religious one,
wherever it is observed.
Over
the years, Durga puja has become an inseparable part of Indian culture with
innumerable people celebrating this festival in their own unique way while
pertaining to tradition.
In West Bengal, Jharkhand,
Odisha, Assam, and Tripura, Durga puja is also called Akalbondhon (literally,
"untimely awakening of Durga"), Sharadiya pujo ("autumnal worship"), Sharodotsab ("festival
of autumn"), Maha pujo ("grand puja"), Maayer pujo ("worship
of the Mother"), Durga pujo, or merely Puja or Pujo. In Bangladesh, Durga puja has historically been celebrated
as Bhagabati puja.
I won't start with a controversy of the origins of the Durga puja as it is unclear and undocumented and i really donot want to write something just based out of some folklore and some historians.
Durga puja is a ten-day
event, of which the last five days involve certain rituals and practices. The
festival begins with Mahalaya, a day on which Hindus perform tarpaαΉa by offering
water and food to their dead ancestors. The day also marks the advent of Durga
from her mythological marital home in Kailash. The next significant
day of the festival is the sixth day (Sashthi), on which devotees welcomes the goddess and festive
celebrations are inaugurated. On the seventh day (Saptami), eighth (Ashtami) and ninth (Navami) days, the goddess along with Lakshmi, Saraswati, Ganesha,
and Kartikeya are revered and these days mark the main days of worship with
recitation of scriptures, puja, legends of Durga in Devi Mahatmya, social visits to
elaborately decorated and illuminated pandals (temporary structures meant for hosting the puja),
among others.
Durga puja is, in part, a post-monsoon harvest festival
observed on the same days in the Shaktism tradition
of Hinduism as those in its other traditions. The practice of including a
bundle of nine different plants, called navapatrika, as a symbolism
of Durga, is a testament practice to its agricultural importance. The
typically selected plants include not only representative important crops, but
also non-crops. This probably signifies the Hindu belief that the goddess is
"not merely the power inherent in the growth of crops but the power
inherent in all vegetation".The festival is a social and public event in
eastern and northeastern states of India, where it dominates religious and
socio-cultural life, with temporary pandals built at community
squares, roadside shrines, and temples. The festival is also observed by some
Shakta Hindus as a private home-based festival. The festival is started at
twilight with prayers to Saraswati. She is believed to be another aspect
of goddess Durga, and who is the external and internal activity of all
existence, in everything and everywhere. This is typically also the day on
which the eyes of the deities on the representative clay sculpture-idols are
painted, bringing them to a lifelike appearance. The day also marks
prayers to Ganesha and visit to pandals temples. Day two to five
mark the remembrance of the goddess and her manifestations, such as Kumari (goddess
of fertility), Mai (mother), Ajima (grandmother), Lakshmi (goddess
of wealth) and in some regions as the Saptamatrikas (seven
mothers) or Navadurga (nine aspects of Durga). On the
sixth day major festivities and social celebrations start. The first nine
days overlap with Navaratri festivities in other traditions of Hinduism. The
puja rituals involve mantras (words manifesting spiritual
transformation), shlokas (holy verses), chants and arati,
and offerings. These also include Vedic chants and recitations of the Devi
Mahatmya text in Sanskrit. The shlokas and mantras praise
the divinity of the goddess; according to the shlokas Durga is
omnipresent as the embodiment of power, nourishment, memory, forbearance,
faith, forgiveness, intellect, wealth, emotions, desires, beauty, satisfaction,
righteousness, fulfillment and peace. The specific practices vary by region.
The rituals before the puja begins include the following:
Bodhana: Involves rites to awaken and welcome the
goddess to be a guest, typically done on the sixth day of the festival.
Adhivasa: Anointing ritual wherein symbolic offerings
are made to Durga, with each item representing a remembrance of subtle forms of
her. Typically completed on the sixth day as well.
Navapatrika snan: Bathing of the navapatrika with
holy water done on the seventh day of the festival.
Sandhi puja and Ashtami pushpanjali:
The eighth day begins with elaborate pushpanjali rituals. The
cusp of the ending of the eighth day and beginning of the ninth day is
considered to be the moment when per mythology Durga engaged in a fierce battle
against Mahishasura and was attacked by the demons Chanda and
Munda. Goddess Chamunda emerged from the third eye of Durga and killed
Chanda and Munda at the cusp of Ashtami and Navami,
the eighth and ninth days respectively. This moment is marked by the sandhi
puja, involving the offering of 108 lotuses and lighting if 108 lamps. It
is a forty-eight minutes long ritual commemorating the climax of battle. The
rituals are performed in the last 24 minutes of Ashtami and
the first 24 minutes of Navami. In some regions, devotees sacrifice
an animal such as a buffalo or goat, but in many regions, there isn't an actual
animal sacrifice and a symbolic sacrifice substitutes it. The surrogate effigy
is smeared in red vermilion to symbolize the blood spilled. The goddess is
then offered food (bhog). Some places also engage in devotional service.
Homa and bhog: The ninth day of festival is marked with the homa (fire oblation) rituals and bhog. Some places also perform kumari puja on this day.
Sindoor khela and immersion: The tenth and last
day, called Vijaya dashami is marked by sindoor khela,
where women smear sindoor or vermillion on the sculpture-idols and also
smear each other with it. This ritual signifies the wishing of a blissful
marital life for married women. Historically the ritual has been restricted to
married women. The tenth day is the day when Durga emerged victorious against
Mahishasura and it ends with a procession where the clay sculpture-idols are
ceremoniously taken to a river or coast for immersion rites. Following the
immersion, Durga is believed to return to her mythological marital home of
Kailasha to Shiva and the cosmos in general. People distribute sweets and
gifts, visit their friends and family members on the tenth day. Some
communities such as those near Varanasi mark the day after Vijaya
dashami, called Ekadashi, by visiting a Durga temple.
Dhunuchi naach and dhuno pora: Dhunuchi
naach involves a dance ritual performed with dhunuchi (incense burner). Drummers
called dhakis, carrying large leather-strung dhaks create music, to which people
dance either during or not during aarati. Some places, especially home pujas,
also observe dhuno pora, a ritual involving married women
carrying dhunuchis burning with incense and dried coconuts, on
a cloth on their head and hands.
Below given is this year time. Hope you all have a save Durga Puja.
| Name of the Day | Day | Date |
| Mahalaya | Tuesday | 15 or 17 September 2020 |
| Maha Panchami | Wednesday | 21-Oct-20 |
| Maha Sashti | Thursday | 22-Oct-20 |
| Maha Saptami | Friday | 23-Oct-20 |
| Maha Ashtami | Saturday | 24-Oct-20 |
| Maha Navami | Sunday | 25-Oct-20 |
| Vijaya Dashami | Monday | 26-Oct-20 |
ππππ
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