As one of the most enthusiastic festivals of Hindu culture, Durga Puja has a rich sacral meaning. It is the biggest festival of Bengalis as well as Indians, which is celebrated every year, to pay homage to Goddess Durga, which signifies the victory of devils over evils. Other than being religious, Durga Puja is an effective tool of reminding the strength, unity and cultural backgrounds of Bengal. When people gather in merrymaking dances and songs, people feel the blessings of praying, painting, and togetherness. Welcome to the shop as we share with you the historical background and brightness of the stunning event.
Table of Content:
- Durga Puja Festival
- Importance of Durga Puja
- Significance of Durga Puja
- When Durga Puja Celebrated
- About Durga Puja
- Why Durga Puja is Celebrated
- Durga Puja Significance
Durga Puja Festival:
The breeze of autumn is charged with this enthusiasm as Crores of people in India and in the World are eager to celebrate one of the most popular festivals of the year – Durga Puja festival. Being a colorful feast which has roots in cultural and religious beliefs, this is the time when people unite to worship the goddess power and symbolically triumph of light over darkness.
Then, when the festival is around the corner, roads are adorned with electricity, beautiful and vibrant buntings, not to mention the roar of dhak. Everything smells of incense and flowers and there is happiness as well as faith on the face of people. However, that is still not enough to explain why this festival is so fond of millions and why it occupies such an important place in their hearts?
Importance of Durga Puja:
It is however important to understand that Durga Puja is not just restricted to being a religious festival. This festival is also good to provoke people’s consciousness and show them that everybody has a power to fight against negativity and become successful. It is therefore a period where everyone regardless of his or her status in the society comes together in celebration of togetherness, bravery and the innate nature of humanity.
During these festive days, people come together in a family circle and friends and the unity of the communities is evident. Although its origin is associated with the process of spiritual cleaning it is essential to note that Durga Puja helps open the society and prevent the extinction of cultures. It is that time when children are taught by their parents and seniors the culture and customs which have been practiced time immemorial.
Significance of Durga Puja:
Essentially, it is associated with understanding of great importance that is rooted in the religious belief system of the Hindus. The festival is Celebrated to mark the victory of Goddess Durga over Mahishasura which stands for victory of good over evil. This great battle which took nine nights and ten days symbolizes the battle of the soul and is evil that exists within each of us.
Thus, it is easy to realize why Durga Puja’s importance does not remain limited to these mythological legends. It is symbolic of modern warfare, of the struggle that one undergoes internally and externally in one’s life to stand up for what is right and fight against the oppressors and within themselves. This is the reason why the devotees can be encouraged to fight their problem facing it with all the strength which was given to them by Goddess Durga as she is known as a victorious Goddess.
When Durga Puja Celebrated:
Want to know when Durga Puja celebrated? Believed to take place in the Hindu month of Ashwin, this great carnival usually comes in September or October of the Gregorian calendar. The dates of the festivity also are different each year since it follows the lunar calendar.
The main festival is celebrated for more than ten days with the final five days being the most auspicious. Today is called Shashthi, Saptami, Ashtami, Navami and finally the last day is Vijaya Dashami or Dussehra. Every day has its own practices and values and culminates with the idol immersion on Vijaya Dashami which marks the goddess’ return to her astral palace.
About Durga Puja:
Regarding Durga Puja, one can only immerse and discover a lot! Sculptures of Goddess Durga, and her children are made by skilled artists, pandals filled with alien structures, built to house the idols are elegant to look at, touch, feel or hear; and so is the music.
Some of the activities that are usually performed during the festivities are daily pujas, cultural programmes including music, dance and drama as well as delicious traditional meals. Another interesting factor that might be worth discussing regards the openness to Others that Durga Puja entails. It is among the world’s most colorful religious events, which allows people of any religion to take part in the festive events making it one of the greatest festivities of joy and unity.
Why Durga Puja is Celebrated:
Do you ever question why there’s so much enthusiasm while celebrating Durga Puja? The answer of where this festival fits in can be found in the fact that it is steeped in cultural and spiritual meanings. Sure, there is a god being worshiped but it’s about fertility, it’s about the good, it is the spirit of oneness, the strength of togetherness, the ability to move on despite what life has thrown at you.
Durga Puja, which is celebrated, also has its history. People of the Indian subcontinent, especially in Bengal, celebrate this day as the starting of the harvest season. This is much like the Thanksgiving of the farmer whereby the farmers have to dance to celebrate in order to be blessed by the divine mother for the coming year of farming.
In addition, Durga Puja is an occasion that stresses upon the women and men of the society to respect and protect the women of the society. The goddess is portrayed, nurturing but powerful, nice but relentless against the wrong – this depicts the fact that femininity is not weak.
Durga Puja Significance:
What is more to it is the fact that Durga Puja implication is not confined to religion alone. Is a celebration of life or more precisely of creation, preservation and what is more important – the destruction of the surrounding world. As it was presented in the festival, life is a pointless struggle between good and evil, but one must fight the battle and have faith in the fact that good definitely overcomes evil.
It is also important to review Durga Puja importance as an important cultural exchange meeting point. Here one can see sculpture in idols prepared for the pandal, painting in the preparation of the pandal, music and dance in the cultural programmes and culinary art in preparing foods. It is alive and kicking, a living example of a part of the culture of today’s India.
Before we end this wonderful tour for this beautiful festival let us look at the hidden message behind this festival. Thus, Durga Puja is not only a religious festival but a festival of life, symbol of togetherness and depiction of strength residing in one’s soul.
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