Durga Pooja

 DURGA POOJA


Durga Pooja is a Hindu festival celebration of the Mother Goddess and the victory of the warrior Goddess Durga over the demon Mahisasura. The festival represents female power as ‘Shakti’ in the Universe. It is a festival of Good over Evil. Durga Pooja is one of the greatest festivals of India. In addition to being a festival for the Hindus, it is also time for a reunion of family and friends, and a ceremony of cultural values and customs.






Durga Pooja






The significance of Durga Pooja

While the ceremonies bring observance of fast and devotion for ten days, the last four days of the festival namely Saptami, Ashtami, Navami, and Vijaya-Dashami are celebrated with much sparkle and magnificence in India, especially in Bengal and overseas.The Durga Pooja celebrations differ based on the place, customs, and beliefs. Things differ to the extent that somewhere the festival is on for five days, somewhere it is for seven and somewhere it is for complete ten days. Joviality begins with ‘Shashti’ – sixth day and ends on the ‘VijayaDashmi’ – the tenth day.


Background of Durga Pooja

Goddess Durga was the daughter of Himalaya and Menka. She later became Sati to get married to Lord Shiva. It is believed that the festival of Durga pooja started since the time Lord Rama worshipped the goddess to get a grant of powers from her to kill Ravana.

Some communities, especially in Bengal the festival is celebrated by decorating a ‘pandal’ in the close regions. Some people even worship the goddess at home by making all the arrangements. On the last day, they also go for immersing the statue of the goddess into the holy river the Ganges.We celebrate Durga Pooja to honor the victory of good over evil or light over darkness. Some believe another story behind this festival is that on this day the goddess Durga defeated the demon Mahisasura. She was called upon by the all three Lords – Shiva, Brahma, and Vishnu to eradicate the demon and save the world from his cruelty. The battle went on for ten days and finally, on the tenth day, Goddess Durga eliminated the demon. We celebrate the tenth day as Dussehra or Vijayadashami.

All people celebrate and enjoy this festival irrespective of their castes and financial status. Durga Pooja is an enormously communal and theatrical celebration. Dance and cultural performances are an essential part of it. Delicious traditional food is also an enormous part of the festival. The street of Kolkata flourishes with food stalls and shops, where several locals and foreigners enjoy mouth-watering foodstuff including sweets. To celebrate Durga Pooja, all workplaces, educational institutions, and business places remain closed in West Bengal. Besides Kolkata, Durga Pooja is also celebrated in other places like Patna, Guwahati, Mumbai, Jamshedpur, Bhubaneswar, and so on. Many non-residential Bengali cultural establishments organize Durga Pooja in several places in the UK, USA, Australia, France, and other countries. Thus, the festival teaches us that good always wins over the evil and so we should always follow the right path.











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