With the festival of Durga Puja knocking on the doors, Corona Virus pandemic is a huge concern for not only in the nation but also throughout the whole world especially given the fact that it's been said that the second wave of Covid is being spread. Amid all of this chaos, Durga Puja is a ray of hope for the Bengalis where they can forget all the tensions happening around and celebrate with happiness.
The relevance of Durga Puja:
Durga Puja in bengali culture depicts the return of Maa Uma (Durga), the wife of Lord Siva to Earth, which is her Father's homeland (Kailasa). During these 4-5 days, she stays here with her four children-----Lakhmi, Ganesha, Kartikeya and Saraswati. The bengalis celebrate her stay with joy and happiness and stay away from all the pressure and tensions revolving around their lives.
Durga Puja also marks the victory of good over evil wherein Maa Durga defeated and killed the evil demon Mahishasura who wreaked havoc on the people of Earth and waged war with the Gods.
Brief history of Durga Puja:
Although the festival is considered to be celebrated from the ancient times, but the historical records suggests that Durga Puja was started by the royal and wealthy families of West Bengal from around 16th century and continued to be the festival of rich until the concept of "Barowari" came into existence where a locality started organizing Durga Puja by getting monetary contributions from families staying nearby.
An interesting fact about Durga Puja is, this time of Puja which is during the October month of each year is called "Akaal Bodhan" which basically means worshipping in the unconventional time. The reason is, Durga Puja was basically celebrated during the Spring (Basanti) which is considered to be the actual time to celebrate Puja. This time period of Puja was done by Lord Rama during the Ramayana phase where he worshipped Goddess Durga before his war against Lanka king Ravana.
How important is Durga Puja to the lives of Bengalis:
For the bengali households, Maa Durga more than a Goddess is more of a part of the family who has returned to her paternal house for few days and will reside here to celebrate as a family and on Dashami (tenth day), will return back to her husband's house.
Every bengali, no matter which part of the world they reside in, wait for these 5 days the whole year and try to return to their native place to have fun and enjoy with their families. Puja shopping starts from one month before the start of Durga Puja and you can see the streets of Kolkata crowded with shopaholic people. There are exclusive collections and discounts just during this time of the year and basically the preparation of the Puja is almost a month long!
Duration of Durga Puja:
The vibes of Durga Puja actually starts from Mahalaya, this is the day when people pray to Goddess Durga to descend on the Earth. A programmee comprising of devotional songs is aired on all the major radio stations of West Bengal at 4:00 AM and every household without fail wakes up in the morning to listen to those songs whose duration is about 2 hours.
Durga Puja primarily is celebrated for five days, from Mahashasthi (6th day of Lunar phase) to Mahadashami (10th dayof Lunar phase). During the Durga Puja, people can see a different atmosphere of their known city which is filled with lots of light and colourful lightings. People meet up with their friends and family and hop around the Puja pandals during these five days even the whole night in the city of Kolkata! One can see a lot of themed Puja nowadays where a Puja pandal is decorated and themed in order to address various social issues right from natural calamities to saving our environment. Not only these entertain people but also provide livelihood to a lot of people who take part in making those pandals for months.
The last day of Durga Puja:
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