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DURGA PU
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Durga is one of the most revered and respected, even feared,
goddesses of India. Though she is popular everywhere in the
UJA
country, under different names and forms, but nowhere else is Durga
as commanding as in West Bengal. Each autumn, the entire state
takes on a new look to celebrate the 10-day Durga Pujas. The festival
is the event on the annual calendar of every denizen of Kolkata as well
as we try to find out in this photofeature. Text and photos by Shashi
Sahai.
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Every locality worth its salt puts up a pandal (tent)
with its own idol of Durga. Thousands of pandals
come up all over Kolkata, each trying to outdo the
other in novelty, aesthetics as well as spirituality.
Bose Pukur’s Sitala Mandir Puja famous for its
innovation and new themes each year, this year’s
theme was Patal Durga.
The drum or ‘dhak’ plays an important role in Durga
Puja. The drum is played almost non-stop from the
beginning of the Pujas till the Durga statues are
immersed in the river at the close of the festivities.
Singhi Park Durga Puja Committee puts on a fine
display of goddesses dressed with with great eye for
detail of costuming. Thousands of devotees begin to
queue from early morning to get a glimpse of the
goddess.
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The best time for the devotees is of course
during the Aarti or Prayers.
Devotees at the pandal on the evening of
ashtami or eighth day of Puja. Also known as
Ekaitan puja. The crowds begin to increase as
the Pujas come to their conclusion.
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The aarti is perhaps the best time to see the Pujas and get a
feel of the festival and its religious fervour. The ambience
inside the Pandals is something to experience first hand. As
the priest recites the shlokas, sweet smelling smoke fills up
the Pandal and the beatings of drums and cymbals reaches
a crescendo.
Female devotees with vermillion smeared on faces and hair
on the banks of the Hooghly.
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The Pujas are not only for the devouts or the
priests. Children, too, look forward to the Pujas
for that means school holidays, lots of outings
with the parents to various well decorated
Pandals and of course shopping for goodies
and new clothes. The Pujas shopping compares
favourably with the Christmas shopping in the
west.
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Shopping is not limited to clothes, household items and
sweets. It is also the period for women of all ages and strata
of the society to deck themselves up, trying out everything
that the market can throw at them, including the instant
block designs to decorate the hands, at the Mohammad Ali
Park.
But it is not only women who wear a new look. Each
Pandal also tries a new look for each festival and
sometimes the ideas reflect the trends and fads in the
society as this Pandal a la Harry Potter in the Salt Lake City
shows.
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Even Kolkata’s streets get their own share of
makeovers, especially since the entire city is
decked up, with entire streets lit up through
colourful electric relief as is seen on the
Pandal gate at Singhi Park.
The inside view at the Seethla Mandir Pandal,
with a throng of worshippers, who seem
oblivious of the time of the day or night.
A lot of art and effort goes into the making of
a Pandal. Each Pandal is an artist’s and a
photographer’s delight as this detail of the
Seethla Mandir Pandal shows.
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After a 10-day festivity and devotional fervour, devotees
turn out in large numbers to sat good bye for their favourite
Goddess.On the 10th and the final day of the festival, long
lines of trucks, bedecked with flowers, carry the Durga to
the Hooghly river where a tearful and watery farewell is
given
Outside the Babu Ghat, the Durga idols laden in trucks on
the way to the final part of the puja, the Visarjan or
immersion in water.The devotees handle the idols with
great care during the immersion. Some large idols can
prove a bit of a challenge even for over a dozen devotees.
As Durga returns to her heavenly abode, the devotees say a
final goodbye. But only till the next Puja, a year later.
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