Durga Puja as the name symbolizes is the festival celebrated all across India over a period of 6 days. Hindus especially from the eastern state of Bengal offer prayers to Goddess Durga.  In Sanskrit the word Durga means “she who is incomprehensible or difficult to reach.” Goddess Durga is a form of “Shakti” – which is mother of the Universe, she represents the infinite power of the universe and is a symbol of a female dynamism.  She is also called by many other names, such as Parvati, Ambika, and Kali. Her august name, Simhavahini, “She who stands astride the king of beasts”.

Goddess Durga looks mesmerizing with her gorgeous dress in royal red cloth and several ornaments decorating her personage. Her hair is dressed up in a crown (karandamukuta) which then flows out in long luxuriant tresses that are darkly luminous and soothing to the eye. The various tools reflect the eminent supremacy that helps in controlling the universe and obey her will.

Durga Puja celebrations are grand and majestic pandals are set-up across most parts of the country to celebrate this festival in all its grandeur. Following the Hindu Solar calendar Durga Puja schedule falls on the first 9days of the month of Ashwin, which comes on during the month of late September or mid-October. The time schedules of Durga Puja and its religious performances are based on the lunar month. This full moon phase is called the ‘Devi Paksha’ and Durga Puja celebrations start from the fifth day of the phase known as ‘Sasthi’. The festival continues for five days and ends on the day of ‘Dashami’ which is the tenth day of the phase.

After Dashami takes place the Lakshmi Puja.

Following Dashami on the fourth day, which is known as the chaturdasi, Lakshmi Puja is celebrated. This Lakshmi Puja is commonly known in Bengal as Kojagari Lakshmi Puja.

Lakshmi Puja is celebrated on the full moon night and this night is considered to be very auspicious. Thus in all the Bengali households this puja is observed.

Durga Puja Schedule 2010

13th October 2010 —- Sasthi

14th October 2010 —- Saptami

15th October 2010 —- Mahashtami

16th October 2010 —- Navami

17th October 2010 —- Vijaya Dasami

Following the Durga Puja schedule certain offerings are made on the respective days at the particular Tithi when the Puja takes place. Fruits, flowers, clothes, sweets, sindur, alta and other items of a girl’s use are offered to the Goddess. On the day of Saptami, Asthami and Navami bhog are offered to Devi which is later on distributed among the devotees as Prasad. Along with the bhog other items like betel leaves and nuts, sweets are also offered. The mantras during the puja along with the beat of the Dhak make the festival more joyous and enthusiastic.

This is the most important time of the year in Bengal. The Bengali community comes together to celebrate and socialize during these six days.  They indulge in celebrating life with new clothes, parties, visit puja pandals, enjoy the days with dance and music.  The Durga Puja festival is an extremely social and theatrical event. Drama, dance, and cultural performances are widely held across cities, with lavish stalls of food and streets full of goodies for children. I get nostalgic remembering the time I dressed up like a deity myself adorning the best pair of ethinic outfits my parents bought for the festive season.  Holding hands of my younger brother, I went to these majestic stalls and saw the dance and lavish prayer service offered to the magnificent Goddess Durga.  The strong scent of the essence and the brilliance of the lights and the breath-taking beauty of Goddess Durga just transports you to a magical world.  As the festive time becons again, I am getting ready to experience the magic of the festivity and nostalgia, yet again.

Posted by Chaitali Mukherjee

Shree Ganeshaya Namaha!

One of the most popular and cutest God, if I may say so is our Lord Ganesha.  He is the god of wisdom and prosperity. As per Hindu religious belief, before undertaking any auspicious work the blessings of this Ganesha are necessary.  He is invoked before undertaking any important work and as per popular belief once his blessings are seeked the work get’s accomplished satisfactorily.  Ganesha is the son of Shiva and Parvati, brother of Kartikeya – the general of the gods, Lakshmi – the goddess of wealth and Saraswati – the goddess of learning.

Ganesh Chaturthi is celebrated with great devotion all over India. People bring home beautifully created idols of Lord Ganesha and celebrate the festival by worshipping the Lord over a period of 5, 7 or 11 days depending on one’s family tradition and commitment. One the last day of the worship the idol is taken out in a colorful and musical procession with pomp and show to be immersed in flowing waters or beach. In Maharashtra, this festival is celebrated with special fervor.  He is the beloved deity of all but especially of Marathis, who celebrate the festival in full spirit.

This year Ganesh Chaturthi was truly special as Id was also on the same day.  Many celebrated the festival praying and alongside wishing their Muslim friends “Id Mubarak” and vice versa for most muslims. In Mumbai the celebrations are especially grand. Several large life-size Ganesha effigies are installed in different mandals across the city. Not only different localities but co-operative housing societies in each area too place the edifice of Lord Ganesha within their premises and worship for prosperity and well being. The effigies are installed in each mandal with great fervor, pomp and show. People carry the effigy amidst the foot tapping rhythmic beating of drums, splashing dry color and celebrating every moment with unmatched intensity!

Though I am miles away from the festivities of Mumbai, but the live coverage by almost all major TV channels bring home the spirit of Ganesha Chaturthi right into our drawing rooms.  I miss being a part of the prayers and the scented puja rituals and food offerings placed in front of the God.  My heart sings – Jai Ganesh Jai Ganesh Deva!!!!

posted by Pooja

There are many tales of Lord Ganesha and each one has a special meaning and significance.  Most Hindu families had grand parents telling tales about the elephant god – Ganesha. My childhood was no different.  I have fond memories of my grand father telling me sweet tales of my favourite Lord Ganesha each night as all my cousins cuddled up at night in our beds watching the stars and hearing these tales. Here are some tales:

Regained Life as Elephant God

According to Hindu mythology, Goddess Parvati created Ganesha out of the sandalwood dough that she used for her bath and breathed life into him. Letting him stand guard at the gate of her bath, she went off. When her husband, Shiva returned, the child who had never seen him earlier, stopped him. Shiva severed the head of the child and entered the house. Parvati, on learning that her son was dead, was distraught and asked Shiva to revive him.  Shiva went to the jungles and cut off the head of an elephant and fixed it on Ganesha’s body. The tale is an excellent example of how Ganesha laid his life serving his mother’s command.

Race around the Universe:

One day the Gods decided to choose their leaders and a race was to be held between the two brothers – Kartikeya and Ganesh. It was decided that who took three rounds of the earth first would be made the leader. Kartikeya climbed on to his vehicle – Peacock and started off. Ganesh sat on his vehicle – rat and swiftly moved.  Realising the test was not easy, Ganesha started off after paying obeisance to his parents and quickly went around them three times and thus completed the test before Kartikeya. When he was questioned by the Gods, he said – :my parents are my universe and going around them, is more than going round the earth”. With this intelligent reply and his gesture he won over the hearts of all Gods and they declared him the leader – now referred as Ganapati.

Significance of Ganesha’s belly, snake and mouse

As per another famous tale, once Parvati cooked twenty one types of delicious food and sweet porridge for Ganesh on his birthday. Ganesha ate so much of this delicious meal that even his big round belly could not contain all of it.  He sat on his mouse and started on his night rounds. On seeing a huge snake, his mouse stumbled.  Ganesha too the snake and adjusted it around his belly.  Suddenly, he started to hear laughter from the sky.  He looked up to find the moon mocking him. Ganesha got furious at the moon and after breaking one of his tusks, hurled it at the moon.  On seeing this, Parvati cursed the moon that whoever would look at the moon on the day of Ganesh Chaturthi will be accused of wrong doings. There is a symbolic connections between the mouse, snake , Ganesha’s belly and its relationship to moon.  The entire cosmos is known to be the belly of Ganesha, the seven realms above, seven realms below and the seven oceans are believed to be inside Ganesha’s belly held together by cosmic energy or kundalini that is the huge snake that is tied around his waist. The mouse symbolizes ego. Ganesha uses him as a vehicle, exemplifies the need to control one’s ego.  One who has  controlled the ego is said to possess Ganesha consciousness or God-consciousness.

As I share these interesting tales of Ganesha, I am sure the readers find the significance and brilliance of the elephant God.  I pay obeisance to my God and pray he will destroys evil and clears all obstacles in your life.

Posted by – Milim Arolkar

The Kumbh Mela or the Bathing Festival of Hindus is one of the major Hindu gathering or festive event.  I started hearing about the Kumbh Mela as a kid from my mother who was a reasonably spiritual person.  Every few years I heard family members and relatives talk at length about this gathering and I could sense at their enthusiasm that this was a big event celebrated periodically by Hindus.

Later I realized the importance and the origin of attending this gathering that takes place in four places:

1. Allahabad (Uttar Pradesh) at the confluence of three holy rivers – Ganga (Ganges), Yamuna and Saraswati
2. Haridwar (Uttar Pradesh) where the river Ganga enters the plains from Himalayas
3. Ujjain ( Madhya Pradesh), on the banks of Shipra river, and
4. Nasik (Maharashtra) on the banks of Godavari river

The Purna Kumbh (complete Kumbh) takes place at four places – Allahabad, Haridwar, Ujjain and Nashik once in twelve years, while the Ardh Kumbh Mela is held every six years at Haridwar and Allahabad.  It is estimated that in 2007 around 17 million Hindu devotees took part in the Ardh Kumbh Mela at Allahabad. Large arrangements are made for foreign and Indian tourists. Pilgrims from across the world attend this gathering to take a holy dip in the River Ganga.

The Maha Kumbh Mela or Great Kumbh Mela is celebrated after 12 Purna Kumbh Melas which is after every 144 years. The last Maha Kumbh was celebrated in 2001 at Allahabad which was attended by 60 million people, making it the largest gathering in the world.

As I gathered these details and statistics around the Hindu’s most auspicious festival, I begin to feel the enormous spirituality that exists in our country. People from all walks of life and from various nook and corner of our country attend this festival.  Consider this , The Maha Kumbh Mela  is celebrated after 12 Purna Kumbh Melas which is after every 144 years. Some of us may not be born to witness this altogether.  And I realize if it was such a missed opportunity if we didn’t take a holy dip in the Ganges in 2001 during the Maha Kumbh. The sheer significance of that event just bowls me over. According to the Vedas (ancient religious text of the Hindus) it is believed that a person who takes a bath during the Kumbh Mela period is freed from the birth-death cycle and achieves salvation.  The importance of this gathering just overwhelms me.

For those who missed, here is another opportunity not to be missed! The 2010 Kumbh is currently on at Haridwar till April 28, 2010. It is a holy city and is said to be blessed by the three Hindu Gods or Trinity – Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva. The river Ganga flows through the heart of the city.  This is the place where Ganga enters the plains from Himalayas.

Haridwar is also known for being home to a large number of temples. It is among the seven sacred cities of India and is also considered to be one of the Shaktipeeths. The city is considered to be the gateway to the abode of Gods, as it provides the entry point to the Char Dham (the four main centers of pilgrimage) in Uttarakhand, namely Badrinath, Kedarnath, Gangotri, and Yamunotri.

As I reflect in awe on the auspicious gathering “The Kumbh”, the faith of people right from the rural to the urban Indians just seems mind blowing. This Indian traditional bathing festival of Hindus is fast gaining traction amongst foreign tourists and spiritual minded. As the famous quote goes – “Faith can move mountains!”   It definitely does move a mountain full of people from all walks of life to converge into a small town for the sake of supreme spirituality.

I don’t know how others feel but personally I do enjoy being in the holy town of Haridwar. The cool breeze, clear sky, sunshine and the cold water of the Ganges, just energizes me and brings immense peace.  Did I say – its Peace most are seeking! At least I am!  It surely flows in the water of holy Ganga. And we all finally get peace once we are allowed to flow into it after our last rights as observed. Well its still time for my ultimate peaceful flow till than I will continue grabbing my share of peace through these occasional visits to Haridwar.

Har Har Gange!!!

Contributed by Roshani Tangri

For Pilgrimsbay India