Durga Puja Essay: The Significance of the Festival

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., 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’.

Essay on Durga Puja - Short Essay 

Durga Puja is the biggest festival of the Hindus. This festival denotes the celebration of the victory of Mother Goddess Durga over the demon Mahishasura. This festival represents ‘Shakti’, and also signifies the win of good over evil. In this festival, friends and families come together to celebrate the ceremony of pride, cultural values, and customs. 

The festival is observed by fasting for 10 days, while in the last four days - Saptami, Ashtami, Navami, and Vijaya Dashami. The puja is celebrated with much sparkle and enjoyment. This puja is celebrated all over India, especially in West Bengal. Durga Puja is also celebrated internationally. 

In Durga Puja, every community comes together to celebrate the win of good over the evil. Pandals are lightened up with different coloured lights and decorations. Durag Puja is majorly celebrated in Kolkata. 

During this time, the streets of Kolkata are flooded with people, people hopping from one pandal to another. They wear new dresses, meet with families and friends, eat different types of sweets and dishes, dance to the beats of the ‘dhol’, and worship Goddess Durga with full devotion. Laughter, joy, sparkle in the eyes are seen in these celebrations. This is a complete pleasure to see the whole vibe around. 

Thus, Durga Puja is indeed one of the biggest festivals in India which is even recognized by UNESCO. This festival brings family and friends together, schools and colleges remain closed in Bengal to commemorate the festival here. Being in Bengal in this time of Durga Puja is an absolute pleasure, where you can see people celebrating and honouring the win of good over evil. 

Conclusion

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 inseparable 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.