When we talk about bongs, we can seldom miss talking
about maacher-jhol or rosogolla or taant-sarees or Durga Puja.
Eventhough you don’t meet your friends and relatives
for the rest of the year; Durga Puja being the main festival of bengalis, makes
sure that all bongs are together during this time. The preparation of the grand event begins months
before the festival but from the day of Mahalaya – the celebration begins.
Mahalaya is the day of invocation or invitation to the mother goddess to
descend on earth. It is also the day of remembrance where people offer “tarpan”
in memory of their ancestors.
And then begins Navratri - the worship of goddess Durga for ten days. From
sixth day of Navratri, starts the actual carnival and it continues till Dussera
– the day when Maa Durga killed the demon Mahishasur that is the victory of
good over the evil.
The stage is set with idols of Durga, Laxmi,
Saraswati, Karthik and Ganesh and Lord Shiva; pandits perform puja all day
long; huge pandals are set with crowd of hundreds of people who come for
performing puja and then have the famous khichudi
bhog; the evenings turn musical where singers sing the rabindra sangeet and
other folk songs; various food stalls are set to satisfy the hunger pangs of
people who get tired of talking and meeting the people; everyone is dressed in
new clothes especially women clad in
traditional sarees of dhakai jamdani, baluchari, kathastitch, toshor, bomkai…;
in short one and all is seen enjoying the festival with never ending zeal.
There is delight of arrival of goddess on earth and gloom
when she leaves the earth after immersion. This signifies that each of us goes
through a cycle that starts with birth and ends with death; each of us has a
different part to play when we are on earth; one who comes has to go and that
is the law of nature and that has to be followed by everyone. And then with new
hopes and new wishes, we wait for another year for the arrival of goddess and
then another festive season begins.
May
Goddess Durga shower her blessings on all of you!!! May all your wishes come
true!!! Wish you
all SHUBHO MAHALAYA
