KOLKATA, Sep 28: Residents of West Bengal embraced the onset of Durga Puja with vibrant enthusiasm the onset of Durga Puja with vibrant enthusiasm on Sunday, as the festival’s first day, Shashthi, heralded the arrival of the Goddess in her myriad forms.
The city of Kolkata, is adorned with dazzling lights and resplendent pandals, reverberated with the rhythmic beats of dhaak and the fragrant waft of incense. Thousands of nattily dressed men, women and children, converged on the streets of the metropolis making rounds of different marquees, and gorging on sumptuous food offered by roadside vendors.
In Kolkata, there are around 2,700 community pujas and 5,000 family pujas. As in earlier years, the organisers have come up with innovative themes, trying to outdo their previous attempts. This year, the festivities acquire afded prestige as UNESCO has inscribed Durga Puja on its Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, affirming its profound cultural and spiritual significance.
Ritual observances, Kalparamvo (the beginning of the Pujas), Bodhan (the consecration of Ma Durga’s idol), Amantran (inviting the Goddess) and Adhivas (sanctifying the stay of the Goddess in the exact spot where the puja is being held), were performed with solemnity, glorifying the goddess’s presence across both community pandals and private households, marking the commencement of four days of veneration, artistic display and communal rejoicing.
Kolkata’s thematic pandals this year underscore the festival’s evolving dialogue with contemporary society. In north Kolkata, Tala Prattoy, their theme titled “A Seed Courtyard”, curated by Bhabatosh Sutar, this installation delves into themes of identity, time, and memory through symbolic live acts.
Meanwhile, in South Kolkata’s Dakshindari Youths’ Durga Puja, celebrating its 25th year, highlights the theme of ‘burning’ to represent the suffering and resilience of women. The pavilion, designed by Anirban Das, serves as a platform for acid attack survivors to voice their protest through performances. The event aims to awaken the fire within scars, symbolizing women’s strength against historical and modern-day oppression.
Bagbazar Sarbojanin, in central Kolkata, honors tradition with its classic idol design, reflecting the sabeki (old) style.
Sreebhumi Sporting Club in north-eastern Kolkata has already announced its theme for Durga Puja 2025 – this year, they are recreating the BAPS Swaminarayan Akshardham Temple in New Jersey. This pandal is expected to be one of the biggest draws among all Durga Puja pandals in Kolkata.
According to the Ramayana, before attacking Lanka in search of his wife Sita, Lord Rama had performed Durga Puja in autumn – a time when the gods sleep, according to the Hindu religious texts. So Lord Rama had to first wake up the Goddess prematurely, and as such the awakening in the autumnal festival is called “Akal (untimely) Bodhan” of the goddess.
However, mythology also states that the Puja celebrates the annual descent of Goddess Durga, the slayer of the demon Mahishashur, accompanied by her four children – Ganesh, Kartik, Lakshmi and Saraswati – on earth to visit her parents.
Mounted on a lion and armed with ten weapons, she resides among devotees for four days to vanquish evil before returning to Lord Shiva at Kailash on Dashami.
The festival will conclude on Thursday, when the idols would be immersed by teary eyed devotees in the rivers, lakes and ponds.
(UNI)
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