Hii ! everyone , today’s post is about Durga Puja . So , now what is Durga puja .
Durga Puja is one of the most important festival celebrated by Hindus . ( which is also super fun ) . It is traditionally held for 10 days around September – October marking the beginning of Autumn . It is particularly celebrated in Bengal ,Assam , and other eastern states . The festival symbolizes the victory of Goddess Durga over ( the demon king ) Mahishasura which glorifies the victory of goodness over evil (goodness always wins ) . People wear new clothes and goes pandal hopping to worship Goddess Durga . ( Pandal hoping is really fun , seeing Durga in different styles. Enjoy below some pictures of the pandals while I went pandal hopping ) . All the 4 days we offer ” bhog ” to the Goddess and her family . This is basically a full course meal comprising of khichdi / pulao , vegetable fritters , mixed vegetable / Aloo dum(a potato delicacy) / paneer gravy , mixed pickle , sweets . After offering it to the goddess , the same is distributed among the devotees as ” prasadam “. In many pujas , this BHOG also includes non – vegetarian items like meat on ” navami ” – 9th night . On the tenth day ( as in the last day ) Dashami the Goddess is immersed in water ( bishorjon ) .
The commencement of Durga puja starts with the onset on Debipokkho which is marked by Mahalaya.- A true blue bengali will definitely listen to the musical that is aired by the bengali radio channel ‘Akashbani‘ rendered by Birendrokrishna Bhadra and his team. The nostalgia in his voice is a favourite among all bengalees and sets the tone for the Durga puja festivities.
We celebrate 5 days of the durga puja :
A very important ritual of Durga puja which is close to heart of all bengalees and no one wants to miss is Pushpanjali. Every body fasts till they offer Pushpanjali to the goddess on all these special days. Pushpanjali means offering flowers to Gods and Goddesses. Pushpanjali word is made of a combination of two words, Pushpam and Anjali. In Sanskrit, Pushpam means flower and Anjali means offering with folded hands.
Amazing photos of Goddess Durga in different forms ( when I went pandal hopping ) ;
Some photos :
After the goddess is immersed, everybody becomes sad because the festivities, fun and frolick is over and we start the countdown for the next year’s puja. and we chant- ‘Bolo bolo Durga ma ki jai ‘ and also ” Aschey bochor abar hobey” meaning festivities will again happen next year We just finished the festivities last Friday and are feeling really sad. Now over the next couple next weeks bengalees will visit friends and relatives house to take the blessing of elders and exchange good wishes , love and warmth for each other. This is another ritual and very much a part of Durga puja celebrations and we call it Bijoya. During this time every bengali household is surely stocked with special delicacies and sweets and savories, which is made specially for the guests like Nimki, Ghugni, Bodey, Gaja and assorted sweets.
So we are now waiting eagerly for the next year’s pujo which starts early October next year .
soo, till then # Dugga Dugga
Hope you liked today’s post . I loved documenting it all for you . byeeeeeeeeeeeeee