Silk Route

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It is that time of the year once again when we can smell the intoxicating fragrance of the Shiuli flower, and the Kaash flower swaying with mirth bringing a wisp of freshness in the air and hear ‘Anandamayee’s footsteps in the air. The wide blue skies and the chanting of vedic hymns fill up the atmosphere. Every heart beats in the rhythm of the Dhaak or the drums coming from within and bringing with it the aura of festivities and celebrations. It’s the time for Maa Durga the goddess of deliverance to come down to fill the lives of her devotees with ecstasy.

It’s what for which every Bengali lives for. The entire year we wait for those four days saptami, astami, navami & dasami) when the entire Bengali community comes together to celebrate the homecoming of the Goddess. There is a natural buoyancy and exuberance during those four days of the puja, one doesn’t even feel the way time flies by. It just feels yesterday that we were listening to Mahalaya and…

The worship of the Mother Goddess is not only limited to Bengal alone, the Bengalis have taken her to all parts of the world where she has been revered by different communities. Durga Puja has turned out to be more of a social festival and the preparations required to make it successful depends entirely on the contributions from all sections of the society.

Durga, in Sanskrit means ‘She who is incomprehensible or difficult to reach.’ Goddess Durga is a form of Shakti or power worshiped for her gracious as well as terrifying aspect. Mother of the Universe, she represents the infinite power of the universe and is a symbol of a female dynamism. Durga Puja captures the hearts and minds of her ecstatic devotees.

The festival starts from the first day of the waxing phase of moon in autumn called the Mahalaya. The activities start before dusk with chants of various hymns of ‘Mahishasura Mardini’. The goddess- comes to earth on the seventh day after the autumn new moon and the grandeur begins.To commemorate this festive occasion, the preparation starts about two to three months back. No stones are left untouched to make this occasion a grand success. After all it is our Mother who comes to visit us only for a few days after an entire year. Decoration ideas awaken the dormant creative spirit and welcome the goddess with open arms. The whole idol statue is painted with pink or yellow earth colours and the last earth colour applied is the red colour. The eyes are then painted and other detailing is done by the main artist. The idols of Durga are then varnished and hair made of jute is glued and then the idol is dressed and ornamented.

The countdown begins a month in advance when shops stay open till late at night and on Sundays and other holidays to accommodate more and more customers with their shopping. Dressing material, sarees, clothes and furnishings worth millions of rupees are sold during the month ahead. From wristwatches to washing machines, jewellery to journals, anything sells. Starting from the multinationals down to the roadside sweetmeat shop all vie with each other to have a pie of the cake.

Bengali’s virtually embark on a shopping spree during the festival when new clothes and shoes are bought for own as well as for all your near and dear ones. New clothes, decors, pujo barshiki or festive magazines and the festive songs or pujor gaan, adds to the fun of the festival to young and old. The multinationals these days sponsors big community pujas, dole out gifts; organise lucky draws and contests to attract the attention of the gullible revelers, while the locality sweetmeat shop prepares mouth-watering desserts and sweets.

Younger ones of the family are exalted as they get days off from school to celebrate the festival and during this time even the elders do not force them to study. Female members get busy selecting saris and jewellery for the festive occasion and even the male members aren’t far behind when it comes to dressing up for the grand Puja festival. For, Durga Puja is the time to look good and feel great. Universally Durga Puja is the biggest festival of Bengalis all over the world.

To say that it is being celebrated with fanfare and gaiety in India and particularly in Kolkata is an understatement. Huge, big and small idols of the ten-armed Goddess Durga destroying the Demon, accompanied by her two sons, Lord Ganesha and Kartikeya, and two daughters Goddess Laxmi and Saraswati painstakingly created by artisans, mainly at Kumartuli area of north Kolkata are placed at the puja pandals erected for the purpose.

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The much acclaimed pandals reflect the engineering skills of the craftsmen. Pandal decoration, lighting and innovative and mesmerising designs are a major attraction of Durga Pujas which are built according to well made plans. Bamboo poles, planks of wood and meters of cloth are needed to construct such amazing mammoth structures. But, in the new era, theme-based structures have become a craze. Ideas which are unique and special are explored by the para pujas (community pujas) to attract more and more visitors. The city strikes a different chord altogether echoing the music of bonhomie, brotherhood and festivity.

The Durga Pujas, whether it is at the traditional family houses or the big community ones, have a charm of their own. The ambience, rituals and glitter associated with the pujas at Sovabazar Rajbari, and in several houses in north Kolkata are unforgettable experiences. Sweet smell of flowers and incense sticks fills the air at all community pandals. Prasad or food distributed after the daily rituals satisfy already satiated appetites.

Loud-speakers blare film songs till they seem to have been hammered into the subconscious. Add to this the frenzied drums and drummers during the festive season, emotions raise high with the beat of the drums across the twilight skyline bringing everyone alive. These dhaak players come in hordes from the rural parts of Bengal. Swirl of excited, eager, shining faces surges from one pandal to another with increasing urgency as the night grows older.

The women wearing their best new crumpled tangail saris and are often seen cutting vegetables and fruits for ‘Prasad’ in the pandals in the day time and move across different pandals in the evening. The well-dressed young girls with their puffed off hair set with glittering ribbons on the top are found giggling and hustling in frenzied mood in the crowd of the known and unknown visitors. And of course by evening there are hundreds of women limping along thanks to the blisters caused by the new sandals. It’s all an integral part of the durga puja.

Innovative illumination of these pandals by the famed electricians of Chandannagar is another attraction of the Durga Puja. Being in the midst of Durga Puja celebrations in Kolkata is an unforgettable experience which every one treasures for their lifetime.

Skill and creative ideas are used to make the most exquisite and intricate designs which leave the viewers awe-struck. Built in such an elaborate and grand manner they appear stunning often depicting famous architectural splendors. These pandals are later decorated with galaxies of twinkling lights. The lighting works attract huge crowds which depicts stories and legends of Durga Puja.

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The rituals start with the invocation of the Mother Goddess on Bodhan, the first day through Naba Patrika Sthapan or setting up a giant banana tree clad in a saree beside Lord Ganesha and worshipping her as his wife) on saptami. Mothers generally keep a fast on sasthi, the day preceding saptami, to pray for the well being of their children. Pushpanjali or floral offerings to the Goddess in the morning and the Sandhya Arati in the evening are held every day.

The Goddess is worshipped in various forms during her stay here. One of those forms is the ‘Kumari’, the Virgin form. A girl aged between one to sixteen and not reached her puberty, symbolising the Kumari form is worshipped in front of the idol of Goddess Durga. She is made to sit on a decorated chair before the goddess with a lotus flower in her hand.

The maha ashtami on the eighth day is an especially significant day. The priest breathes life into the idol of the goddess as he performs an integral part of the puja that is the sandhi puja or worship in the evening at the juncture of the 8th and 9th day ashtami and navami, to the chanting of shlokas or vedic couplets. The lights of the pandal are switched off and 108 oil lamps are lit. The smell and the smoke from the dhuno would fill the air and the drummers would beat the drums with all their might while the priest performed the worship.

Dhunuchi nritya or ‘the dance with effervescent smoke’ is a traditional dance, which is performed in front of the idol of the Goddess Durga, to the sound of the drums. In the evenings, an elaborate worship is performed after which young men and women perform the dance before the Goddess.

On the last day Sindoor Khela, the emotional ritual of putting vermilion on the forehead of the Goddess by the married womenfolk and then among each other is celebrated. First, the married women greet the Goddess for one last time, accompanied by many rituals. They would worship, put sweets on the lips of the idol, wipe out eyes as one does to wipe off the tears when leaving a loving place. This event is called ‘Durga Baran’. The ritual of applying vermillion also takes place at some homes where Bijoya Dashami is celebrated with family members.

The Durga idols are then taken for immersion in specially designed and decorated lighted carts to different rivers in huge processions with lots of fanfare and merrymaking. Finally, the tearful immersion of these huge images on Dashami (the tenth or the last day of the festival) in the river Ganges. But as they say ‘Ashchey bochor abar hobey’ (Next year….. again).

Sweets are prepared at home, but today most make do with sweets brought from the market. Savouries like rasgulla are often made at home to be distributed to friends, relatives and well-wishers. Durga Puja is a festival, Bengalis celebrate without religious inhibitions. It is more of a socio- cultural celebration that tends to renew kinship with friends and relatives. Durga Puja may be about religion but it is much more than just worship.

The essence of Durga Puja, referred by a bengali as ‘Pujo’ , is the convergence of Bengal’s emotion, culture, the love of life, the warmth of being together, the joy of celebration, the pride in artistic expression and more importantly, the aura of the goddess. The highly charged atmosphere that almost beckons you to be a part of it, live it, feel it and be one with the feeling.