Essay on Durga Puja for Students in English
The festive season of India is earmarked by the worshipping and celebration of Goddess Durga. It generally occurs in the month of September-October. The entire nation becomes more colourful and celebrates the fact of good’s win over evil.
Goddess Durga is considered to be the physical form of ‘Shakti’ or ‘Universal Energy’. She was created by the Hindu Gods to annihilate the notorious demon ‘Mahisasura’. The people of India wait for a year to welcome Goddess Durga and the most fascinating time of ten days. During this time of the year, people of all ages join their hands to celebrate the victory of Maa Durga.
The significance of this celebration is so high that it has been nominated as the UNESCO World’s Heritage List for the year 2020. Durga Puja is considered as an intangible heritage that needs to be on the map so that the entire world can find its significance.
Colourful pandals and sparkling lighting arrangements make every nook and corner of the cities and suburbs glow. From the start of Mahalaya, the day when Maa Durga was created by all the gods. Every god donated his part of the power and gifted devastating weapons to make her stand against the tyranny of Mahisasur. She has 10 hands with different things in every one of them. After ten days, the auspicious Vijaya Dashami arrives when the joviality ends, making everyone sad.
Maa Durga has different reincarnations. She was the daughter of the mighty Himalaya and Menka, the prime ‘apsara’ of Indralok or Heaven. She later became the wife of Lord Shiva. She was then reincarnated as ‘Maa Durga’ to kill the notorious demon. It was Lord Rama who started the ritual of Durga Puja to earmark his victory over Ravana in the Satya Yuga. He pleased Maa Durga and wanted her to bless him with powers.
The different communities in West Bengal celebrate Durga Puja as the prime festival of the year. In many big historical families, this puja is considered as the social glue when all the members accumulate in their ancestral houses. The puja includes many rituals and tributes that make it really hard for someone to do it alone. As per the old traditions, the rituals continue for 5 days from ‘Shashti’ or the 6th day from Mahalaya till ‘Vijaya Dashami’. Many believe that the rituals are designed and fabricated in such a way that every family member has to come and lend his hand to complete it and harmony is maintained.
Durga Puja is also celebrated when Maa Durga returns to her mother’s home. Every celebration needs an idol of this goddess that comprises ten hands and her sons and daughters. Mahalaya is celebrated by the idol makers by drawing eyes on the idols. This is called ‘Chokkhu Daan’. A banana plant is established on ‘Saptami’ beside Lord Ganesha as his wife. On this day, every idol gets life as the rituals of ‘Pran Pratishthan’ are performed.
Various types of rituals are then performed continuously for the next 4 days. Folk dances, aarti rituals, dhunuchi naach, etc are performed by artists or locals. The special drums of Bengal roar in every pandal continuously and we all feel the chill of this puja through our spines. The Dhunuchi Naach is performed where dancers hold a clay pot containing burning dried coconut skin, incense, and camphor. People from all financial states come to the same place to enjoy the aura of Maa Durga’s visit to her place. These five days are the happiest days for every Bengali.
Celebrations Outside India
The durga puja is not a festival that is only bound to the country of India, the festival has its presence all over the world. The Hindu community living in Bangladesh celebrates the durga puja whole heartedly. Many Bengali muslims also take part in the festival. The famous Dhakeshwari Temple situated in Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh, attracts a huge number of devotees and visitors on the days of Durga puja. In Nepal, the festival of durga puja is celebrated in the name of Dashain.
Beyond the Indian Subcontinent, Durga puja is also organised in the united states of america by the Bengali community living there. Bengali diaspora is spread all across the world and wherever they go they try to organise the festival of Durga Puja. Whether it will be in Hong Kong, Canada, even Japan and also in several parts of Europe. Bengali Hindu communities both from Bangladesh and West Bengal, India are behind the organisation of Durga puja around the globe.
The Greater Toronto Area, in Canada, has a huge community of Bengali Hindus. In the city Toronto different Bengali cultural groups such as Bangladesh Canada Hindu Cultural Society (B.C.C.H.S), Bongo Poribar Sociocultural Association etc, who book a lot of venues for the celebration of this festival and the city also got a separate temple for the goddess Durga by the name of ‘Toronto Durgabari’.
Conclusions
Durga pooja is an enormous and communal celebration, where people celebrate and enjoy the festival of Durga puja to their full extent without the care for their caste and financial status. Traditional folk dance and existing cultural performances are an in-sepreable part of this festival. The streets of Kolkata are filled to the brim with the devotees of Maa Durga, there are also many food stalls and shops. Not only Kolkata, or India or even the whole Indian sub-continent, this festival is celebrated all around the world. The festival tries to teach the devotees that good always wins over evil and so they should always follow the right path.
1. Why was Maa Durga Created?
Mahisasur got extremely powerful after he received a boon from Lord Brahma that no man or god will be able to kill him. Feeling invincible, he waged war against the entire clan of gods. He conquered Indralok and proceeded further. Every god was distressed and scared. It is when Maa Durga was created by the gods of gods with their indomitable power. She was neither a man or a god hence, she can kill the demon for good. The buffalo demon was not an easy opponent. The battle lasted for ten days and she finally killed the demon and freed the world from evil.
2. Why is Durga Puja a Heritage of India?
Durga Puja is a huge ritual that every man in India feels thrilled to celebrate. Every Indian, especially Bengalis, waits for a year. He waits for the puja time to arrive. Irrespective of his financial status, he finds ample happiness to celebrate this puja with his family members. It has become a celebration of all ages and genders. This puja earmarks how common people can enjoy the defeat of evil by the almighty Maa Durga. All of us accumulate in the same place forgetting our differences to worship Maa Durga. This is why Durga Puja is so important for the culture and heritage of India.
Durga Puja is not only the heritage of India, but of the world. Durga puja of India has also received the UNESCO world heritage tag.
3. When do the Rituals of Durga Puja Start?
It all starts on the day of Mahalaya. It is the first day of Durga Puja when the idol draws the eyes of Maa Durga and her sons and daughters on the idol. She is accompanied by her sons Ganesh and Kartik and her daughters, Lakshmi and Saraswati. ‘Pran Pratishthan’ is done on the 7th day or ‘Saptami’. These different rituals are done across ten days and end on the day of Vijaya Dashami. Durga puja for the year 2022, will be held between the dates of 1 October and 5 October 2022. Starting on the day of Saturday (1 oct.) and will end Wednesday (5 oct.).
4. Did the durga puja also celebrated outside of the india?
The durga puja is not reserved for the country of India or Indian sub continent but is celebrated all across the globe. There is a huge celebration of this festival “Durga puja” in Bangladesh by the Hindu community living in bangladesh, not only Hindus but many Bengali Muslims also participate in the festival. The Dhakeshwari Temple, located in Bangladesh attracts a lot of devotees and visitors on the days of Durga puja. Dashain is the name given to this festival by the nepali community. Durga puja is also organised in the united states of america, Canada, Hong Kong, various parts of europe and even Japan. And hence is not bound to the Indian subcontinent or even just the Hindus.
5. What type of rituals or which rituals are performed in the Festival of Durga puja?
The rituals of the festivals of Durga puja start on the day of Mahalaya, on this day the devotees request the goddess “Durga” to come to the planet earth. On the same day, the devotees create the eye on the statue of the goddess “Durga”. The ceremony is known as the “Chokkhu Daan”. After the creation and establishment of the statue of the goddess durga in the needed place, the devotees perform many rituals on the statue as they consider that the idol carries the divine presence of the goddess. These rituals are also known as ‘Pran Pratisthan’ in many places of India. One of such rituals is to make a bride out of a banana plant and name it Kola Bou (banana bride). Aarti is done after evening for all the days of durga puja and after the puja traditional dance is performed in front of the idol of the goddess.
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