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What makes Durga Puja intoxicating is the tension between calm spirituality and ecstatic sensuality, the twin poles of Hindu religious worship. The festival of Durga Puja is celebrated all over India with different festivities and rituals. Durga Puja is celebrated in the autumn, in the month of September/October. It is the time when the weather remains at its best giving the atmosphere a festive mood. The advent of autumn is impossible to overlook in any corner of the land.It arouses one from bed at dawn, with the sound of high-pitched, ululations, the frantic blowing of conch shells and bell metal cymbals.This simple ceremony marks the arrival of the Mother Goddess Durga, for the festival of Durga Puja.
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It arouses one from bed at dawn, with the sound of high-pitched, ululations, the frantic blowing of conch shells and bell metal cymbals. This simple ceremony marks the arrival of the Mother Goddess Durga, for the festival of Durga Puja.Common rituals and Some Important Facts Durga Puja is basically a festival with a long series of rituals followed on every day of the Puja. Starting from the day of the Mahalaya, the days of Sashthi, Saptami, Ashtami, Navami and Dashami or Bijoya Dashami every day has its own unique rituals to follow.
But it is not only the festival that has rituals associated with it, but also the making of Durga idols is governed by a series of rituals. These rituals are closely related with the holy river Ganga. The elemental ritual, which is most commonly followed, is that the ingredients that are used to make the idol of goddess Durga come from the holy river. The activity of immersing the idol in the Ganga at the end of the festival this way points to a theme of cyclical regeneration too.
Generally, the idol of Durga is flanked by the idols of Lakshmi, Saraswati, Kartik and Ganesh, all of whom are believed to be her children. The goddess sits atop a lion, which is her vahan. The favourite tableau is of her stabbing Asura, the demon. It is symbolic of the victory that she had achieved for the gods over the demons.
Some Important Facts
Time of the year: October 2001
Places to visit: West Bengal, Assam, Jharkhand, Orissa,Bihar and Mysore
Duration: Nine to five days
Best Idols Made in: Kumartuli
Day of drawing eyes on the idol: Mahalaya
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