Durga Puja Festival
Is performed during the nine days of Navratri. Community pujas in Bengal
are organised in every locality. Families visit each other to share feasts.
On Bijoya day, the idols are taken in elaborate processions for immersion
in the river on the sea.
The main ritual of Durga Puja spans a period of four days. However, in case
of traditional and household pujas, the festivities last till ten days.
Debi-Pakkha is the name given to the fortnight from the new moon till the
next full moon. This is the most propitious time for performing holy rites.
The ritual of drawing the eyes on the image of the goddess is called chakkhu-daan.
Symbolising the process of infusing the image with the power of vision,
this is done on Mahalaya, the day of the new moon.
The main puja starts from Shasthi, which is the sixth day after the new
moon. On Saptami, the image of the goddess is infused with life through
a process called Bodhon. Early in the morning, the pran of the Devi is put
inside the image after it is brought from a nearby river through the medium
of a banana plant, called the Kola Bou.
The Kola Bou, bathed and draped in a new yellow saree, resembles a newly
wed bride. Ashtami is universally accepted as the culminating point of the
four day celebrations. It was on this day that Durga had killed Mahishasura.
The ritual of Sandhipuja marks Sandhikkhan, the juncture between Ashtami
and Nabami.
The main attraction of Nabami is the Maha-Arati held in the evening. On
Dashami, the image is immersed in a river, and people bid a sorrowful farewell
to the Mother Goddess, and the wait begins for yet another year.
Bijoya is a special ritual whereby peace and good relations are reaffirmed.
Families exchange sweets and people embrace each other, vowing brotherhood.
Bijoya continues till the next new moon, when Kali Puja is held.
