Durga Puja 2022

 

Every year during the month of Sarat, which in English termed as autumn, Durga Puja is celebrated amidst the spectre of communal harmony and bonding.Throughout the year citizens are involved in their respective disciplines. In between life of citizens become complex and utterly perplexed in such a manner, that humanity around us land up into utter quandary. This is no doubt shocking which needs to be erased from the threshold of societies. It is through the celebration of Durga Puja, human beings derive solace of the blessings of the Goddess. There is a feeling generated in the mind of human beings, that Ma Durga will always bless us for our success and prosperity in life. That means in the upcoming days of our life, we overcome all obstacles and stand upright along with vibrancy on our stance. We always feel thatMa Durga is part and parcel of our life so that apart from all obstacles in life, we also thwart out all remorse and sorrow in our life.Durga Puja, as we are well aware of, is a festival of the Bengalis, but as of now it has acquired its flavour as an international festival. Whenever we celebrate Durga Puja every year, we find that there lies the participation from people from all religions, languages and diverse walks of life. This indicates that Ma Durga always bless us for our everlasting peace and prosperity in life. Merely writing about Durga Puja will not at all quench our thirst properly, rather it is my humble task to introspect about how through the celebrations of Durga Puja, human beings overcome all relevant obstacles and deterrents in our life. We always believe that properly participating in Durga Puja, our life during the coming year will become happy and prosperous. Also we expect all of us should have smiles in them. Thus in the subsequent paragraph, this writer from Kolkata, India is aiming to introspect Durga Puja celebrations from multifarious aspects in India, Bangladesh along with rest of the globe.

There are multifarious ways by which we can celebrate Durga Puja every year. Among all the ways, some of the key ones are stated as follow:

Our dressing up and other upkeep should be well knit and elegant.

We should buy books in both mother language Bengali, English and various Puja Sankhyas.

If we don't want to stay in our city, then we may move out not only to other parts of the country as well as to various other overseas destinations of the globe.

Our mind and heart should bear smiles throughout our life.

We should pay importance to consumerism.

In some parts of India it is celebrated as 'Garba' where in some it is celebrated as 'Navaratri'.

In Bangladesh, celebration takes place in traditional Bengali pattern with saris and other dress materials worn by female whereas male worn shirts, pantaloons, T shirts along with Dhotis and Punjabis.

In Kolkata, the number of Durga Pujas held is around 2600 to 2700. In comparison to Kolkata figures, total number of community Pujas in West Bengal is to the tune of 37,000 to 38,000. The key traditional household Durga Pujas in Kolkata are Sabarna Roy Chowdhury Atchala Durga Puja, Behala Jagat Ram Mukherjee Durga, Behala Roy family Durga Puja and Bhukailash Rajbari.

In West Bengal, in districts like Burdwan, Hooghly, Bankura, East Midnapur, West Midnapur, Siliguri, Darjeeling, Jalpaiguri etc. observe Durga Puja is observed by traditional and cultured families of the district. They observe relevant rituals pertaining to the observance.

If anybody writes about Durga Puja, then it would be unethical if no touch is given about the historical background about Durga Puja. Durga Puja has a long history, but in this shortest possible time, let me state briefly about the history of this Puja. It was in the late 1500s, Durga Puja been celebrated in a grand manner. It is from Folklore studies we find that landlords and zamindars took the preliminary initiative to begin Durga Puja in the then Bengal. Also from another source, I find that Durga Puja began in Bengal by Raja Kangshanarayan or Bhabananda Majumdar of Nadia district organised the first Sharadiya Durga Puja or Autumn Festival in the year circa 1606.

As per community Puja is concerned, we find that it began in Guptipara, in Hooghly district of present West Bengal. The brain behind staging the Puja at Guptipara, goes to twelve friends of the village Guptipara. They all joined in a team and collected subscriptions from the villagers of the above to begin the first community Durga Puja in the year 1790. The bigger household Puja was brought to Kolkata in the year 1832 by Raja Harinath of Cossimbazar, who performed Durga Puja at his ancestral Puja at his home for the first time from the years 1824 to 1831. The big household Puja gave birth to community Puja in the year 1910. The British rulers who ruled India for around 200 years contributed a lot towards popularisation of Durga Puja. The ruling British were a regular participation till 1840. It is afterwards, due to promulgation of a law forced the ruling British from participating in Durga Puja. In the year 1911, when the capital of undivided India was transferred to Delhi, from then onwards Durga Puja celebrations began in Delhi. This is still continuing with gusto in both Old Delhi and New Delhi. Apart from Indian capital city, New Delhi, Durga Puja is celebrated in other cities of India, such as Mumbai, Pune, Hyderabad, Chennai, Bangalore, Patna, Ranchi, Jamshedpur, Cuttack, Bhubaneswar etc. various other Indian cities.

Celebration of Durga Puja is quite significant. Through this festival we celebrate the victory over evil forces. The way present social and political scenarios are leading to, it is our firm belief that Ma Durga will always bless us for everlasting peace and prosperity. That is why a week before the beginning of Durga Puja, Mahalaya is celebrated which indicates that humanity around us should forget all sorrows of previous years, thereby should march ahead in the upcoming days of our life with smiles and mirth. Also in the month of Sarat (autumn), harvest should be happy and eventful and farmers economic situation during the coming one year be happy and tension free. Ma Durga is also regarded as an incarnation in human welfare and empowerment. The moment we pay our homage to Goddess Durga, then we get a feel that our life will be calm and serene during the coming one year.

Durga Puja celebration in Bangladesh bears traditional resemblance of the celebration of the then East Bengal and later on East Pakistan. As East Pakistan became Peoples Republic of Bangladesh, hence the euphoria of the celebration always remain at its peak. There are in all 30,000 Durga Pujas celebrated all over Bangladesh. Most interesting part to be noticed is that this year in Dhaka, the number of Pujas likely to be held is around 15,000. This is no doubt remarkable. The celebration will also bind the people of Hindu and Muslim religions under one banner. In the Pujas of Bangladesh, we find that notable multinational organisations they set up stalls so that publicity of their brands are known to the public.

Goddess Durga always symbolize positive energy in human life. This positive energy is utilised against any unwarranted and unethical forces which has the tendency to disrupt communal harmony and fraternity in today's scenario. This unwarranted circumstances is always responsible for dismantling of our life's process.   In today's scenario, it I deeply relevant in India and Bangladesh. Goddess Durga also symbolises her role as an embodiment of women's empowerment in life. This is applicable to devotees of India and Bangladesh.

Summing up the above discourses, one point will always surmise my mind that the celebration of Durga Puja will always act as the yardstick of communal and social harmony. We pray that Goddess Durga always bless us for wellbeing and prosperity in life. Merely worshipping at the pedestal of Goddess Durga will not suffice our sufferings from our side we try our level best to be honest and transparent in life. Our sincerest efforts in development of self in different professional and academic disciplines should be the main criteria, then only we usher in success and prosperity upon self.  As per figures given, even if there is any error, I remain apologetic to my online readers of both nations.


Sujayendra Das
Senior writer, Kolkata
India