Durga Puja and the empowerment of women

The Hindus worship Goddess Durga from the 6th Shukla of Ashwin to th 9th Shukla. During this time, they also devoutly worship Goddess Saraswati, Goddess Lakshmi, omniscient Lord Ganesh against the ignorance and superstition, and Lord Kartik symbolizing heroism and staying on top of all, Lord Mahadev, the symbol of sacrifice and monasticism.

As a result, there is a combination of love, knowledge, richness, fulfilment, heroism and monasticism. The ride of the Goddess is the Brave Lion of the deity. The dead head of evil on the trident held by the Goddess. Goddess Sattvik, symbol of lion like strength. Goddess Durga is the manifestation of the supreme power of the world.

According to 'Goddess Bhagavat', 'MarkandeyaChandi' and 'Kalka Purana', it is known that in ancient times, the chief of the Asuras, Maheshasura, deported the Gods from heaven. He was a man of Brahma. Therefore, with the suggestion of Vishnu, the fiery combined power of Gods and Goddesses is seen as the most powerful force of DurgaDurga. All the Gods give their own weapons and sparks to this Goddess. With their combined power, Goddess Durga killed Mahishasura.

Goddess Durga lives in the Himalayas. So her name is Parvati. The Himalayas influence the climates of the seasons of the Indian subcontinent, haveIts direct and indirect effect on the life of animals and plants in the sub-continent. Himalayas are the source of the major rivers in this region. Crops are cultivated along the banks of these major rivers and their branches. The calm flow of the river fills the people of this sub-continent with peace and simplicity.

So they are not violent, warlike and cruel by nature, but humble like Polima who is like a river flowing like a plain, peaceful and generous. The traditional inhabitants of this sub-continent have never been sent to any aggressive expedition against other kingdoms. Rather they have welcomes and entertained the outsiders.

Mother Durga comes down from the Himalayas during the Bengali seas of Shorot. The Bengal Durga is like the dearest daughter of Bengal, who comes to her father's house for a few days from her in-laws. She comes gently like the Himalayan rivers as the most loved one, rather than the destroying and flaming form of the ultimate power.

With affection instead of fear, her arrival is celebrated with devotion and festivals, which has become an integral cultural characteristic of Bengal. It is a unique feature of the Durga Puja of the Bengalis, where a strong, arduous and stern Goddess is seen as a daughter, and as a mother.

Even though the essence of the deity is visible in her foot, the face of the Goddess is filled with eternal motherhood. Her upcoming festival is mixed with Night-flowering Jasmine and Kans grassin the blue-green sky of autumn. The main theme of the worship of Goddess Durga is filled with the fragrance of the flowers.

It is an amazing characteristic of Hinduism to relate feminism with motherhood. Apart from the Indian civilization in ancient times, all other civilizations of the world were created with a Goddess as a central figure. Wheneverthey started to think deeply about the creation and stability of the world, then have felt the presence of a mother-like feminine power.

This is because the nature seems to take care of all the creations on Earth like a mother cares and brings up her children.And so, the motherhood is believed to have been the first form of deity by the people. Every ancient human civilization in the world has worshiped Goddess women. Human civilization was developed in women's hands.

At first, the family was formed around a woman, which was matriarchal. Farming is introduced in the primitive society by the hands of women. In that agricultural society, the dignity and power of women was no less than that of men.

This image is still seen in many of the agro-based societies. Women had complete freedom in selecting her partner for making a family with, which is historically known as Swayambara. On the other hand, the consequences of disrespecting a woman are evident from Ramayana, Mahabharata.

Hinduism is the only religion in the world, where maximum importance has been given to women's welfare. Goddess Durga is a clear example of this. Durga Puja is the main festival of Kumari Puja, where every lady is envisioned as a mother and worshiped. This gives a clear message thata girl has the highest status in every house.

This is the only religion that establishes the role of a woman in establishing and maintaining peace and harmony, in the family, and even in the entire world. Every year Durga Puja reminds us that women are symbols of power, and not weaknesses.

Everyone bows down to this woman and visualize her as a mother. Such act of devotionhas a tremendous influence in the empowerment of women throughout the subcontinent. For thousands of years, this has played an important role in honouring of womenwith leadership and power in the civilizations. Today the number of women holding the highest of status and positions of honour in the society is highest in this subcontinent. In the history of any civilization there has been no evidence of honouring this vast number of women as in this subcontinent today.

And the trend of women leadership has been transmitted to even the neighbouring countries outside the Indian subcontinent. Today, in addition to Bangladesh, the different states of India, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Philippines, and Singapore women have taken the office as President, Prime Minister, Chief Minister, Opposition Leader, Speaker, Cabinet Member, Justice etc. Just like  Goddess Durga had once emerged to establish peace and welfare in a chaos filled Earth, brave women in this era have firmly stood against the misrule of the tyrants.

We have witnessed in this subcontinent, the brave sacrifice of Birakanya Pritlal against British adversity, and the leniency of Laksmi Bai, the daughter of Jhansi. We saw IlaMitra's protests and movements, and the glorious story of self-sacrifice. This rise of women's power reminds everyone that every woman is an image of Goddess Durga. Whenever peace is threatened in the society, they will rise with a fiery spirit. The tale of Goddess Durga's fury is not just a myth, but the story of triumph of women over the struggles in lives for the thousands of years of life, which embodies the inspiration for the future.

In the traditional civilization, the right to worship the Goddess and the right to practice religious rituals is acknowledged by men. This is the only religion wherewomen are asked to lead, and women's leadership is not recognized besides men's. We also know of the great women of the old times, like Maitreyi, Apala, Chandrabati, LilabatiKhona.

Khona is still recognized as the pioneer of Bengal's agriculture. In the present society of Bengalis, the farmers' farming practices involve the ideas laid down by Khona. The scientific researches in agriculture of the modern days have not added much to what Khona showed back in her days. The knowledge, philosophy and wisdom of these brilliant women have inspired women education in our sub-continent.

In addition to these things, women from all walks of life have the complete right and freedom to celebratethe Hindu festival. When women being chained with household responsibilities, restricted in moving freely, and are sold like commercial products in different parts of the world even today, Hinduism removes all the obstacles in the freedom of a woman. Women take part in all forms of worship without distraction till late night. In the Hindu society, women have access to the opportunities, and have freedom and dignity.

The Hindu society has delivered the message of generosity for all. People of all faiths can join in organizing traditional festivals. Festivals and events are not specific for a particular community here. This is why it can be assumed that this civilization is so ancient that when the customs of this civilization were created, it was probably unknown to the people about the existence of any other civilizations.

Since there was no presence of contemporary civilization, there was no existence of separate religions and opinions, so these festivals were not organized for any special religion. There is no written word against any other religion in any religious book of this society. The generosity continues since the ancient times.

This is undoubtedly a unique feature of the Hindu society. All the people of our country have unlimited access to their ceremony. People of other religions do not go to Mandapa for worship, but with a view to socialize and to participate in the festival. It has been said that 'Dhormo jar jar, utshobshobar', which means, the festival is for every citizen regardless of the faith.


The writer is General Secretary of Bangladesh Women's Unity Council and Organizing Secretary of Hindu Buddhist Christian Unity Council of Bangladesh                       

 ---Priya Saha