Cultural Significance of Durga Puja

Vishwa Hindu Parishad will now teach Bengalis Durga Puja. What the idol, what the pandal

should look like, how far away from the pandal

non-vegetarian food can be sold, whether the idol

can or cannot wear a saree, how artists will

represent Goddess Durga,

even whether there will be a carnival, when Devi Paksha will be inaugurated,

to decide all of this,

Vishwa Hindu Parishad has arrived. You might be mistaken. As much as Durga is Hindu,

she is far more Bengali. You probably do not know this. When in this land of Bengal

there was no religion called Hinduism, Sanatani thought had not yet entered,

since that very time,

the ten-armed Goddess is worshipped on the soil of Bengal. Non-Aryan tribals did that puja,

with sacrifices to the beat of dhak drums to appease this nature. After this occurred the Aryan

infiltration, and the Aryans borrowed this Devi Mahatmya into their Markandeya

in the Puranas. Then, in the ninth century, King Jagat Malla of Bishnupur

gave this deity a clay form. You probably don't know this history,

of how the zamindars made it an exclusive festival and celebrated it inside their homes. Then how

the common people started community pujas to make it their own,

and how since then, Durga Puja gradually became an emotion for every neighborhood,

every household, and every single Bengali. You probably

don't know this. In Bengal, Goddess Durga is not just a deity, Durga

is Durga on one hand and Uma on the other, a mother to some, a daughter to others. To Bengalis,

Goddess Durga is their own child. So please do not come

to teach Bengalis how they should follow various Hindustani decrees to celebrate

Durga Puja.

has to be done. For decades, Bengalis have celebrated Durga Puja in their own way. Bengali

artistry is reflected in Durga Puja. Bengalis have celebrated Durga Puja as the

biggest festival in the world. That is why, even today, Durga Puja

is considered UNESCO World Heritage. Because there is nothing more unique in the world.

You probably don't know this either.