The topic of Durga Puja makes a Bengali very happy.
Here are some interesting facts about Durga Puja in Bengal…:)
1. Famous Durga Pujas of Bengal
Bhabananda Mazumdar, a landlord from the district of Nadiya organized the first autumnal Durga Puja of Bengal in 1606. The first Durga Puja of Kolkata was organised by king Nabakrishna Deb Bahadur in October of 1757. Durga Pujas were organised by landlords and kings in their houses. It was a custom for them to organize Durga puja every year as a part of their family heritage.
2. Durga Puja in community
Only in 1790, the concept of community Durga Puja issued forth. The forerunners of this concept were a group of twelve men from the district of Hoogly. They allied together, collected contributions from local people and arranged the first ever community Durga Puja. Their combined effort was called Baroyari Puja by people during that time in Bengal. "Baro" mean twelve and "yari" means collaboration. The custom of community Durga is being held by groups of folks in Bengal from then onwards.
3. Making of Maa Uma
It all starts from making a bamboo frame for the structure of the goddess, then the structure is made by binding straw, and clay is applied to the straw structure to give it a definite shape. Along with the structure of the goddess standing on her lion and piercing the chest of demon Mahishasur, the structures of her two forms- Lakshmi and Saraswati, her two sons- Kartik and Ganesh and her two companions- Jaya and Vijaya are also made. The clay structures are allowed to dry out for some days. The second layer of clay is applied to the structures, and after drying them out for the second time, the structures the painted and decorated. The entire process takes about one month.
4. Chokkhudaan of Chamunda
The climax of idol making is Chokkhudaan, offering the eye of the goddess- "Chokkhu" means eye and "daan" means to offer something. A final touch is added by the sculptor, when he paints three eyes of the goddess. This generally occurs on the eve of Mahalaya, and in complete darkness.
5. Akal bodhon of Ambika
"Akal" means not in time, "bodhon" means to invoke the goddess. Durga Puja was once a vernal festival. However, this timeless festival falls during the time of autumn. There is a story behind this fact. Ravana had a boon from goddess Parvati that no man could kill him in battle, so long as the goddess denies that man the permission to kill Ravana. Owing to the course of destiny, Lord Rama was destined to be the cause of Ravana's death. Although Lord Rama had defeated Ravana during the middle of the war, yet he was unable to kill Ravana due to goddess Parvati's boon. When Lord Rama came to know of this boon, he decided to worship the goddess to seek her blessing in winning the war, once and for all, by killing Ravana. It was autumn during that time, and Lord Rama decided to perform Durga Puja. When Lord Rama was worshipping the goddess with his full devotion, the goddess herself hid one blue lotus from the 108 blue lotuses which was meant for her worship, in order to test Lord Rama's devotion. When Lord Rama realised that one blue lotus was missing, he decided to pluck out one of his own eyes, which resembled like blue lotuses. As he was about to do that, goddess Parvati appeared before him in her Durga form. She stopped him from plucking out his eye. Extremely pleased at Lord Rama's devotion, goddess Parvati promised to lift her protection from Ravana. The rest is history and we all know it. The story of Akal bodhon is perhaps the most interesting story related to Durga Puja. The bodhon ceremony, in order to invoke goddess Durga, generally occurs in the evening of Panchami. The main Puja starts from the morning of Shashthi.
6. Vaahan of Vishweshwari
Maa Durga comes every year and brings peace and prosperity. From catkin flowers which decorate the fields to nyctanthes flowers which shed from trees during night, autumn welcomes her advent with a lot of auspicious signs. The divine mother comes every year on her Vaahan (vehicle). These vehicles, apart from her lion, may be elephant or horse. Goddess Durga has two other vehicles- boat and palanquin.
7. The day of Shashthi
The main festivities of Durga Puja commence from this day. On this day, in the morning, the ritualistic disclosing ceremony of the idol is performed. Sometimes instead of Panchami, the bodhon of the goddess is performed in the morning of Shashthi, based upon the tithi (lunar day). Then comes another ritual- Bilva nimantran. Goddess Durga is invoked in a bilva tree (Indian bael). It marks the commencement of Durga Puja. In the evening of Shashthi, another ritual, called Amontron and Adhibas occurs. "Amontron" means to invoke the goddess, and "Adhibas" means to declare the area of mandap (the place of worship) for the commencement of the Puja.
8. The day of Saptami
In the dawn of this day, the bilva tree is decorated with a single piece of cloth. The priests then takes the tree to the mandap for rituals to be performed with the tree. The main attraction of this day is Nabapatrika. In the morning of this day, nine different herbs are attached to a banana tree and the tree is decorated with clitoria flowers. Two baels are also attached together to the tree and the tree is covered in a silken saree- this leads to the formation of Nabapatrika (a tree made with nine different herbs). The nine herbs of Nabapatrika tree symbolises nine different aspects of goddess Durga on the tithi of Saptami- Brahmani, Kalika, Uma, Kartiki, Shivaa, Raktadantika, Shokrohita, Chamunda and Lakshmi. Goddess Durga in the form of Nabapatrika is worshipped on the tithi of Saptami.
9. The day of Ashtami
The idol of goddess Durga is worshipped, chanting mantras from the holy texts. The weapons of goddess Durga are also worshipped on this day. The devotees undergo fasts and give anjali (offerings as flower) in the morning. Rest of the day is filled with a lot of rituals of short intervals. On the day, goddess Kaushiki emerged from the sloughed off skin of goddess Parvati. Furthurmore, goddess Kali emerged from the eyebrows of goddess Kaushiki on the tithi of Ashtami.
10. Sandhi Puja
Most important ritual of Durga Puja. Sandhi is defined as the interval between Ashtami and Navami. The last 24 minutes of Ashtami tithi and the first 24 minutes of Navami tithi makes the tithi of Sandhi. Thus, the duration Sandhi tithi is 48 minutes, and this figure remains constant every year. It is advised to not look into the eyes of the goddess during these 48 minutes, when Sandhi puja occurs. Even the head priest doesn't look into her eyes during this time, but performs the puja. Sandhi is of great religious importance, as some blood-curdling events occurred during this tithi. Goddess Kali drunk the entire blood of Raktabija's body and thus brought an end to that demon on this tithi. It is also believed that goddess Durga fought a terrible war with Mahishasur's generals- Chiksur, Chamar, Biralakshya, Asilom, Durdhar, Durmukh and many others on this tithi. Goddess Durga single-handedly killed each one of them. Ultimately, Mahishasur himself met his supreme end at the hands of goddess Durga on the tithi of Sandhi.
11. The day of Navami
The recitation of mantras continues upto the day of Navami. Durga Saptashati, popularly known as Devi Mahatmya ("Glory of the Goddess") is recitated by one of the priests on this day. A special ritual, known as Hom Puja is performed collaboratively by the priests on the tithi of Navami. In the evening, a grand ritual is performed in the mandap.
12. The day of Vijayadashami
You should not at all be sad and brood over the events which occur on this day. The immersion of goddess Durga's idol might mark the end of Durga Puja- but the countdown of next year's Durga Puja only starts from this day itself!