Five Days of Durga Puja

There is a wise saying in Bengal that here there are 13 sacred festivals in 12 months. The adage goes like this 'Baro Mase Tero Parvana'. Actually it is so. Bengal is always bubbling with different kinds of festivities without discrimination of caste, creed , and social status.

The grand social festival Durga puja is celebrated for five days, but the planning, programming and calculations go round the year. With the end of a puja starts the planning of the next puja. The Bengalis always wait for the five days when they would be overwhelmed with endless joy. Durga puja in Bengal is never celebrated as a religious festival it has a deep rooted socio-cultural background since time immemorial.

With the Mahalaya the festive occasion starts but actually from the Sasthi or the sixth day of the Tithi the puja begins. There is Bodhana or the invocation of the Eternal Mother Devi Durga.With solemn pledge everyone prays to the goddess to come to his house with grace and offer name, prosperity, glory and treasure. The donning of new dresses starts on the very day.

On the Mahasaptami the mother is worshipped with heart felt devotion. The devotees offer flower offerings at her lotus feet. Children's joy knows no bound. Wearing new dresses they fly hither and thither just like butterflies. The elders too are not spared. They go on after their own sweet will.

Mahaastami is a very auspicious day. On that day it is called that the Demon Mahisasur was killed by Devi Durga. All the Bengalis observe the day either with fasting or taking diet for just once.

On Nabami the sadness prevails all around as the mother's sojourn is about to end. Mother would have to go back to her own abode leaving behind her distressed sons and daughters. This thought gets the better of the Bengalis and they begin to writhe in pain.

On Dashami the joy, the tempo of sobriety diminishes. Mother is ready to depart. The idols are immersed in the rivers or tanks. All bid good bye to mother with tearful eyes. The yearly spell of fun comes to an end. Now all have to wait for a long year when the mother would come back again to fill the earth with endless glee.