Friday, September 26, 2014

Bangalis Durga Pujo--2

For a Bengali, Navratri is not just about worshipping The Divine Mother, but also the special occasion of the daughter coming home to visit her parents along with her children. This makes the festival even more special, from preparing the house to receive the daughter, with making her favorite goodies to eat, buying new clothes & gifts, & joy filling the hearts of every family member waiting to shower their love for their dearest daughter Uma or Parvati. Yes to every Bengali, a girl is always their Uma, so much that most parents & family members refer to their girls as Ma, following their given pet name, as in Oishee Ma & so on. Even daughters-in-law are called Bou-Ma. Women are looked upon as the embodiment of Uma, therefore she is the daughter Uma, or daughter-in-law Uma, or wife who is the Uma of her parents. Every woman, girl, mother, aunt etc is somebody's Uma. Therefore in a Bengali household the woman is the center of all activities. It is this honouring of the woman power in our lives that is Durga puja. 

Traditionally the idol makers make the idols in the Naat Mandir of the house where the puja is held. When the festival took a sarvajanik turn, puja committes ordered their idols from the idol makers at Kumartuli, a suburb in Kolkata. Clay from the Ganges is used, but an important thing to mention here is that, to this clay, soil from the house of a prostitute too is mixed to make the idol. Mother Divine belongs to all, & to her there is no distinction between her children. Also this signifies that the divine mother resides in all beings, in all women, even a prostitute. Puja spirit actually takes over from Mahalaya Amavasya, the last day of the Tarpan Paksha, when ancestors are remembered & honoured, with offerings of til (seseme seeds) & water. Food liked by the departed souls are cooked & given away to brahmins & the poor. With the Shradh Tarpan paksha over, puja preparations begin in full swing. It is believed that on this day, Maa Durga starts her journey from Kailas along with her children, Laxmi, Saraswati, Ganesh & Kartik, & also with their respective Vahans , to her parents home. They choose a horse, elephant, boat, or palki, to travel. Every year it is a different mode of transport, to & fro. Predictions are made accordingly as to the kind of situation she arrives to, depending on the mode of transport. For example, if She arrives on a boat, that year is a year of excessive floods all over, & if She leaves on an elephant, the following year would bring in prosperity to the land. Similarly a palki symbolizes earthquakes, while horse brings in various kinds of turmoil & strife in the land.

The festivities start off with the early morning Chandi paath broadcast by All India radio, Kolkata, with chantings & hymns, in praise of The Divine Mother, her glory, stories about her various avatars, & how each time she vanquished the demons to save her children. Since the first broadcast, this Mahalaya broadcast has become a tradition for every household, to wake up at 5am & listen with total devotion to the invocation. Today television channels have joined in with skits & dance ballets about the same theme. The whole atmosphere takes a sudden turn, there is a slight nip in the air, with the smell of shiuli, dopati (balsam),genda flowers, & the dew shining on the grass, the deep blue sky & the pristine while clouds sailing against it, all of a sudden the birds start to sing a different melody, as if giving the signal of Maa arriving soon.Traditional folk songs about Menaka pleading to her husband Himalay to bring their daughter home, how much she laments about her daughters state, being married to a sanyasi, songs about how Maa Durga explains to her mother how happy she is in her husbands home, fill the air. As puja draws to a close, the songs become sadder, with Maneka declaring that she would force Shiva to stay here so that her daughter Gauri too can continue to stay on forever.

On Shashti, the sixth day of Navaratri she is said to reach her parents village, but she rests under a bel (wood apple) tree on the outskirts. Belief goes, that her husband, Shiva & She are in seperable, therefore he too comes with her but stops under the bel tree outside the village, while Uma or Parvati, goes ahead to spend the next four days with her parents. Shiva knows that if he accompanies his wife, the attention of everybody will get diverted towards him, & since he has granted her just few days of leave, he lets her have all the care & attention from her parents, while he waits for her. Bel is Shiva's favorite, therefore he sits under it meditating till Parvati is ready to leave. The puja begins with the Bodhan, Amantran & Adhibas where Parvati  is welcomed home, and is settled & made comfortable. Therefore the first worship begins under the bel tree.  

Over to Part--3

2 comments:

  1. Yes, the Mother is seen in every female as goes the story of Lord Ganesha beating a cat and then seeing the same welts on his mother Parvati's arms. This way of respect shown to females of all castes, professions and classes equates these women and tells the society that whatever a woman is, the mother in her is always there, thereby reminding all that women SHOULD BE respected and given equal status. It is true that Bengal is the only place where the Mother is brought home like the daughter returning home with her children for a short festive holiday. It is also evident that Bengalis not only look upon women with more of an equal footing in society and Bengali women are usually more liberated compared to most other women in Indian society. The mother culture in Bengal is what makes the society more forward thinking as the woman when educated and able brings forward a successful family and in turn contributes to a better more forward society.

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  2. This is why I'm proud to be born a Bengali :)

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