Navratri

Navratri, the festival of nights, lasts for 9 days with three days each devoted to worship of Maa Durga, the Goddess of Valor, Maa Lakshmi, the Goddess of Wealth and Maa Saraswati, the Goddess of Knowledge. During the nine days of Navratri, feasting and fasting take precedence over all normal daily activities amongst the Hindus. Evenings give rise to the religious dances in order to worship Goddess Durga Maa. The festival is celebrated with true devotion and purity all over the country. People from various sections of the society irrespective of caste and creed celebrate this festival by visiting temples and offering pujas at the Mother’s feet.

1st - 3rd day of Navratri

On the first day of the Navaratras, a small bed of mud is prepared in the puja room of the house and barley seeds are sown on it. On the tenth day, the shoots are about 3-5 inches in length. After the puja, these seedlings are pulled out and given to devotees as a blessing from God. These initial days are dedicated to Durga Maa, the Goddess of power and energy. Her various manifestations, Kumari, Parvati and Kali are all worshipped during these days. They represent the three different classes of womanhood that include the child, the young girl and the mature woman.

4th - 6th day of Navratri

During these days, Lakshmi Maa, the Goddess of peace and prosperity is worshipped. On the fifth day which is known as Lalita Panchami, it is traditional, to gather and display all literature available in the house, light a lamp or 'diya' to invoke Saraswati Maa, the Goddess of knowledge and art.

7th - 8th day of Navratri

These final days belong to Saraswati Maa who is worshipped to acquire the spiritual knowledge. This in turn will free us from all earthly bondage. But on the 8th day of this colourful festival, yagna (holy fire) is performed. Ghee (clarified butter), kheer (rice pudding) and sesame seeds form the holy offering to Goddess Durga Maa.

Mahanavami

The festival of Navratri culminates in Mahanavami. On this day Kanya Puja is performed. Nine young girls representing the nine forms of Goddess Durga are worshiped. Their feet are washed as a mark of respect for the Goddess and then they are offered new clothes as gifts by the worshiper. This ritual is performed in most parts of the country.

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Mahalaya

"Mahalaya day”, the day Durga was assigned the task of eliminating evil. An invitation to the mother goddess to descend on earth - "Jago Tumi Jago".

The traditional six day countdown to Mahasaptami starts from Mahalaya. Goddess Durga visits the earth for only four days but seven days prior to the Pujas, starts the Mahalaya. The enchanting voice of Birendra Krishna Bhadra fill up the predawn hours of the day thus marking the beginning of  “devipaksha”and the beginning of the count-down of Durga. It is an auspicious Indian occasion observed seven days before the Durga Puja, and heralds the advent of Durga, the Goddess of supreme power. The dark fortnight of Aswayuja is known as the  Mahalaya Paksha or the fortnight specially sacred for offering oblations to the departed ancestors. Durga - goddess of deliverance - comes to earth on the seventh day after the autumn new moon. She is depicted by the 'kumors' or potters as a resplendent golden figure standing on a lion's back, each of her ten arms bearing a particular weapon, as she triumphs over the demon Mahisasura.

From this day starts 'Devipaksha' and marks the end of 'Pitri-paksha'. It is the day when many throng to the banks of river Ganga, clad in dhotis to offer prayers to their dead relatives and forefathers. People in the pre-dawn hours pray for their demised relatives and take holy dips in the Ganges. This ritual is known as 'Torpon'.

This day bears immense significance for the Bengalis. It is according to the myths that Sree Rama hastily performed Durga Puja just before he set for Lanka to rescue Sita from Ravana. According to Puranas, King Suratha, worshiped  Goddess Durga in spring. Thus Durga Puja was also known as Basanti Puja. But Rama proponed the Puja and worshiped Durga in autumn and that is why it is known as 'Akal Bodhon' or untimely worship. It was considered untimely as it is in the myths that puja was performed when the Gods and Goddesses were awake i.e. "Uttarayan" and was not held when the Gods and Goddesses rested ie."Dakshinayan". It was on the day of Mahalaya, the beginning of "Devipoksha", the Gods and Goddesses woke up to prepare themselves for Durga Puja.

Akashvani Mahalaya: In the year 1930, Mahalaya was first broadcasted over the radio in Akashvani. The programme was organised by Premankur Aatorthi, Birendra Krishna Bhadra, Nripendra Krishna Mukhopadhya and Raichand Boral. It was broadcasted live then. Later it was recorded and played. Bengal's cine star, Uttam Kumar had once recited Mahalaya while Hemanta Kumar Mukhopadhya was the music director. But it was not popular among the mass and from then it has always been the voice of Birendra Kishna Bhadra enthralling the listeners in the pre-dawn hours of Mahalaya. The script was written by Bani Kumar, music was directed by Pankaj Kumar Mallik while Dijen Mukhopadhya, Manobendra Mukhopadhya (Tabo Achinta....), Sandhya Mukhopadhya, Arati Mukhopadhya, Utpala Sen, Shyamal Mitra and Supriti Ghosh (Bajlo tomar alor benu....) sang in their melodious voices.

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The Bengalee Belief

Sati, the consort of Shiva was the daughter of Daksha Prajapati a descendant of Bramha. Sati had married Shiva against the wishes of her father. Daksha organised a sacrifice and the attendees came from various parts of the universe. He invited all of the gods and goddesses except his son in law Shiva. Against Shiva's wishes, Sati attended this sacrifice and was insulted by her father and cousins. Unable to bear this insult, Sati immolated herself.

Enraged at the insult and the injury, Shiva destroyed Daksha's sacrifice, cut off Daksha's head and when pleaded by other gods, replaced it with that of a goat and restored him to life. Still berserk with grief, he picked up the remains of Sati's body, and danced the dance of destruction throughout the Universe. The other gods intervened to stop this dance, and then the Sudarshan Chakra of Vishnu cut through the corpse of Sati, whose various parts of the body fell at several spots all through the Indian subcontinent and formed the sites of what today are known as Shakti Peethas today.

Shiva was finally pacified when the last piece fell off from his shoulder. Narayana revived sati as Uma for a new life. Ever since peace was restored, Uma, with her children, Ganesh and Kartick and with her two 'Sakhis' - Jaya and Bijaya, comes to visit her parent's home each year during the season of 'Sharat' or autumn when Durga Puja is celebrated.

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Akalbodhan

The worship of Devi Durga in the month of Ashwin is called 'Akalbodhan'- an uncustomary time for commencement of the worship. Hence this puja is called Akalbodhon.

In the 'Ramayana', Rama went to 'Lanka' to rescue his abducted wife, Sita, from the grip of Ravana, the king of the Demons in Lanka. Before starting for his battle with Ravana, Rama wanted the blessings of Devi Durga. He came to know that the Goddess would be pleased only if she is worshipped with one hundred 'NeelKamal' or blue lotuses. Rama, after travelling the whole world, could gather only ninety nine of them. He finally decided to offer one of his eyes, which resembled blue lotus. Durga, being pleased with the devotion of Rama, appeared before him and blessed him. The battle started on the 'Saptami' and Ravana was finally killed on the 'Sandhikshan' i.e. the crossover period between Ashtami (the next day) and Navami (the day after). Ravana was cremated on Dashami. Since the period of this worship was different from the conventional period (during the spring - 'Basanta'), this puja is also known as 'Akal-Bodhan' or a worship (Bodhan) in an unconventional time (A-Kaal).

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Sarbojanin (Barowari) Durga Puja

Durga Puja is the most awaited festival of West Bengal, spanning over four days at a stretch. It is not possible for everyone in the community to organize it of their own. A Durga Puja is organized by a group of people in a locality thence being known as Sarbojanin Durga Puja.

Initially, Durga Puja was celebrated only in affluent and zamindar families of West Bengal. Then Barowari Puja came into existence. The word "Baroyari" is derived from "Baro" and "Yaar" ie. a group of twelve friends. Guptipara in Hoogly was the first place in Bengal where the idea of "Baroyari" or "Sarbojanin" puja was conceived in the year 1790. It took 120 yrs. for "Baroyari" Durga Puja to reach Calcutta. The first organiser of "Baroyari" Durga Puja in Calcutta was "Sanatan Dharmatsahini Sabha" of Behala, Shakher Bazar. The overwhelming enthusiasm and participation of common people increased the number of "Baroyari" Durga Puja through out the state.

With lapse of time, the Barowari Puja was renowned as Sarbojanin Durga Puja. The word Sarbojanin comprises of two words: “Sarbo” in Bengali (Sanskrit) meaning “for all” and “Jan” meaning “people”. So the word Sarbojanin means For All People. The Sarbojanin Puja understands no restrictions in respect of Colour, Creed, Caste or Class. The “Bhog” distributed after Puja is taken as a blessing of Goddess Durga with equality and compassion. 

During Durga Puja, entire streets of West Bengal are covered by Huge Structures called “Pandal”. It is a structure made of bamboos and cloth, used as a temporary enclave for the Goddess. Each Pandal has its own theme based on current affairs, historic events, work of fiction, work of Art or of any other innovative ideas. These Pujas are organized by committee which represents certain group of people or locality. The expense of the Puja is raised by collecting funds known as “Chandaa” through door-to-door visit, concert, advertisements etc. 

On the time of Puja, the Ritual drummers – “Dhakis” carrying large leather-strung Dhak – show off their skills during ritual dance worships called Aarati. The Puja is performed traditionally in these Pandals. Many idols in Pandals are bought from Kumartoli, were the artisans live situated in North Calcutta.

Sarbojanin Durgotsav, as we know it today, started off much later in Kolkata, in the 1920s, with Shimla Byayam Samiti and Bagbazar being the earliest.  In 1926, Atindranath Bose commenced ‘Sarbojanin’ Durga puja in which anybody, irrespective of caste, creed and religion, could participate in the festivities. This was organized to instill a feeling of unity and brotherhood. At present hundreds of Pujas are held in the city’s lanes and streets.

The puja in recent years are more focused on lighting and decoration. They spend Lakhs of money to make their Pandals an Award-winning one. The communities have different prizes for different categories such as Best Puja, Best Idol, Best Pandal, Best Lighting etc. 

This form of Puja is also flourished in other states and countries of the world.

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