Durga puja has been celebrated across the country for years. Today we will try to do a flashback of how Durga Puja has changed over the years.

Time of Slumber

Initially Durga Puja was not done during October as it was the time for the Gods to sleep. However, Lord Rama’s wife Sita was kidnapped by the evil king Ravan. Ravan was a big devotee of Lord Shiva and killing him was not easy. Lord Rama decided that before he attacks Lanka he will do the puja of goddess Durga and ask for her blessings. This why he woke up Durga from her sleep, in the month of October to seek her blessings before the battle.

Previously at New Year

Previously Durga puja was done during January as that was the time when she had actually killed the demon mahisasura and ensured that the Gods could get back to the heavens. This is why it is called okal bodhon (raising the god in the time of her sleep).

It was lord Rama who had offered 108 lotus flowers and 108 lamps to the goddess to please her and ensure that she does not get angry at him for waking her up in the middle of her sleep. This tradition is still followed and the Bengalis offer 108 lotus flowers and lamps to the goddess even today.

The Goddess was pleased with the worship of Lord Rama and she had blessed him with power that helped him to destroy the mighty king of Lanka Ravan. After this there was no mention of Durga Puja at this time. After many years in late 1500’s the Durga puja started in West Bengal.

A Complex Puja

Durga Puja is not simple. It goes on for five long days. It has a lot of rituals to be followed. It is not possible to do Durga Puja at the house of a common man. No wonder it was started by the Zamindars of that time. The zamindars of Malda and Dinajpur thought of doing this puja.

They wanted to do this puja to seek the blessing of the goddess and it would also give a good opportunity for the people of the region to interact and celebrate. In 1606 the Durga puja became more prominent when it was started by Raja Kangshanarayan of Taherpur. Since then there was no looking back. It is not sure why they selected October (okal bodhon done by Rama) and not January for the Durga Puja.

Initially only for the affluent

In the beginning the Durga Puja was celebrated only by the rich kings and the Zamindars. It became an occasion to show how wealthy each king or Zamindar was. The people of the region would also participate in the puja. Free food and clothes were distributed among the poor. It was a great occasion for the common man to interact with the kings and the whole atmosphere would become festive. Music and dance performances also became a part of this Durga Puja. This is how the puja was celebrated till the beginning of 1800.

Transformation to Community based celebrations

In 1812 the concept of community Durga puja or the Baro yaari puja as we know of today started. In this concept money was collected from the people living in a community and this money was used for the puja. 12 friends living in the Hoogly district of Kolkata decided that they would collect money and do the puja.

The residents also agreed and everyone contributed for the puja. In 1832 the community puja also started in Kolkata. Raja Harinath shifted from Murshidabad to Kolkata. In his ancestral house he used to perform the Durga Puja so when he shifted to Kolkata he wanted to continue the tradition. He gathered the people living in his neighbourhood and they all collected money to do the Durga Puja. This was a big success and since then many others around Kolkata started to do the Durga Puja in the similar manner.

After this stage the Durga Puja moved to the sarbajanin Durga Puja that was open to all. In the initial stage it was arranged by the king or the zamindar at their own house and the people were allowed to come and visit the puja during the aarti and get bhog. In the Baro yaari stage it was open only to a few people of the community who had made contribution and to their family members.

The others could just see the aarti and enjoy the bhog. Both these pujas had a very limited reach. In the sarbajanin Durga Puja anyone who wanted to could participate in the puja and this is how the puja is celebrated even today across the country. This form of the puja started in 1910. The first puja of this type was performed by the sanatan Dharmotsahini sabha in Baghbazar. It was done with the contribution of the public alone. It was a good platform to encourage the Bengali culture.

The Britishers Celebrated too

In the 1700 and 1800 Britishers were common in India. They would actively participate in these Durga Pujas. Kolkata was the head office of East India Company and as a result they would be actively participating and enjoying the traditions. In 1765 John Chips who was the company auditor general also arranged for a Durga Puja in the Birbhum office. This was an attempt to get the support of the Hindus.

After the freedom movement started in India such participations were banned completely. In 1840 a law was formally made about banning such participations as the animosity against the Britishers had risen to a new level.

In 1911 Durga puja was first celebrated in Delhi by the Bengalis who had shifted to Delhi for work purpose. Slowly the Durga Puja started in many parts of the country. These pujas are arranged by the Bengalis who are now settled in the different parts of the country and cannot always go to Kolkata to participate in the puja. However, the fact remains that even today the Durga Puja of Bengal has a charm of its own that cannot be created in any part of the country.

Today many Bengalis have even settled in the different parts of the world like America, Europe, UK and the list just goes on. Each country where the Bengalis have settled they have made their own community and they ensure that Durga Puja is celebrated. It has become a symbol of Bengal now. Whenever there is a mention of Bengal Durga puja is what comes to the mind of the people first.

The Actual Process is nearly same unchanged

The Durga idol has not changed much since the year it started. The Goddess has ten hands and in each hand she holds a weapon. We have explained the significance of each of these weapons in our previous article. The goddess Durga is not worshipped alone. She is worshipped along with her sons Ganesh and Kartik as well as her two daughters Lakshmi and Saraswati.

An image of Lord Shiva is also kept near the goddess. It is believed that Goddess Durga comes to her mother’s house along with her children during this time and Lord Shiva is in Kailash all alone. Traditionally the idol was ek chala meaning all the four idols (Goddess Durga and her four children) were joined with each other. With time this tradition has changed. The idols that we see today are very huge and all these four statues are separate.

The Shola

Shola is a white colour reed that grows in marshlands around West Bengal was used for making the ornaments of the Goddess. This was easily available and not very expensive. It is still a very popular cottage industry in West Bengal and even today it is used for decoration during the Durga Puja along with other new methods of decorating. After shola beaten silver also called rangta was used for a while for the decoration of the idol. Rangta was definitely expensive and was used only by the wealthy families. This silver was imported from Germany. This would be delivered by post also called (dak) this is why this decoration was called daker saaj.

Traditionally the Goddess was kept in the house of the person doing the puja. A stage was built for the Goddess. Today huge pandals are made with bamboo and cloth. These pandals are decorated very well. Each pandal has a unique theme. In Kolkata many people go pandal hopping to see the best pandals and this adds to the festivities. Even competitions are arranged and awards are given to encourage people to come up with unique ideas every year.

This is how the Durga Puja has evolved across the years and is what it is today. The tradition is indeed very interesting and we hope that our readers will have a great Durga Puja this year as well as a very prosperous Navratri.