Durga Puja
Durga Puja, held in September–October,
is the biggest and most important festival
of West Bengal. It marks the victory
of ten-armed goddess Durga over the
buffalo demon Mahishashur and signifies
the victory of good over evil. The festival
commences on Mahalaya, a week be-
fore the actual Puja celebrations begin
on Sashthi and continue through Sapta-
mi, Ashtami, Navami and Bijaya Dashami,
when the festival comes to an end. Pan-
dals are set up and idols of goddess Dur-
ga and her four children - Lakshmi, Saras-
wati, Kartik, Ganesh are worshipped and
displayed for five days across the state,
especially in Kolkata. Some 2000 pandals
are erected throughout Kolkata. Idols of
the goddess are brought in mostly from
Kumartuli, the potters’ district. Pujas are
also conducted in sizeable number of
family households and housing societies.
Elaborate rituals are performed by priests
amid sound of drums (dhaak), conch shell
(shaankh) and bells, and many devotees
join in the prayers. Although the root of
Durga Puja is essentially religious, the
festival has slowly changed into more of
a social carnival than a religious festival,
where people from other religious or
ethnic backgrounds freely participate
in the festivity. It has become Kolkata’s
biggest public spectacle, glamorous art
event and consumerist carnival. The city
is decked up with lighting decorations.
Loudspeakers play popular songs as well
as recitation of mantras by priests. Shops,
restaurants and eateries stay open all
night. Fairs are set up in numerous parks
and public spaces. The roads become
overcrowded with hundreds of thousands
of devotees, revellers and pandal-hop-
pers visiting the pandals on Puja days.
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