Bangalis Durga Pujo--1

For a Bengali, presence of Maa Durga, is as natural as breath. Hold your breath & you will know how important it is, same way, when the Divine Mother's puja festivities get over, a sudden void envelops a Bengali, & they spend the rest of the year just waiting for Her, & preparing for Her next arrival from the very next day after Dusserra. Originally the puja used to be during spring time, called Basanti puja. It was Sri Ramchandra who worshipped Maa Durga for her Blessings before his war with Ravan during this autumn season. 

Devtas had sole right to perfom Durga Puja,& it was Raja Surat who worshipped her during the month of Sharat Ritu. Raja Surat had lost his kingdom & power, to his enemy & was banished away into the forest, dejected & defeated. He came across Rishi Meddha, who advised him to perform Durga puja, following all the rituals and with total faith & devotion to The Mother. Raja did as he was advised & soon he again fought back, this time defeating his enemies. Since then this Sharat  Ritu Navratri became popular all over.

Previously only rich nobles, kings & zamindars could perform the puja as it involved lots of preparations & there could be no compromise on the ingredients & rituals for the pujas. As economy was essentially agrarian, common people could not afford to put in so much of effort. It was these rich nobles, kings & zamindars, who organized the whole festivities, while the rest of the society participated. 

On Janamashtami or Jagannath Rath Yatra, im not sure which one, the first frame called 'kathamo' is assembled on which the whole structure of the idol shall stand. Locally available materials, rice straw, bamboo cane, are used to make the skeleton of the idols. Next it is covered with soil from the Ganges as the clay has tightening properties.

Over to part --2