Durga Puja gets UNESCO Heritage Tag

Recently Durga Puja is now imprint on the UNESCO Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.

Durga Puja is more than the periodically observed navratra in the subcontinent.  A joyous autumn harvest festival.  Spiritually, it marks the battle of Devi Durga with the king of asuras, Lord Mahishasura. Devi Durga is dashabhujadhari (ten-armed), the weapons she holds in each gifted to her by the devas responsible for her srishti (creation). 

Her stance is decidedly ferocious, as she is mounted on an equally ferocious lion. She has brought the arrogant Mahishasura to his knees: the spear-end of her trishool (trident) pierces the demon's body and draws blood, resulting in his vadh (killing). The central figure is flanked by Ganesha-Lakshmi to her right and Sarasvati-Kartik to her left.  Above the crown of Ma Durga, at the highest point of the aureole, is placed an image of her Lord Shiva.

In general, the worship of Durga Puja is a celebration of the quintessential victory of devotion over arrogance, of divine love over worldly ego, of dharm over adharm.  It has great socio-cultural significance in the Eastern Delta region and now the prominence has been spreading everywhere.

Below are the dates when Durga Puja is celebrated in 2021:

Name of the Day	Day	Date
Mahalaya	Wednesday	6 October 2021
Maha Panchami	Sunday	10 October 2021
Maha Sashti	Monday	11 October 2021
Maha Saptami	Tuesday	12 October 2021
Maha Ashtami	Wednesday	13 October 2021
Maha Navami	Thursday	14 October 2021
Vijaya Dashami	Friday	15 October 2021

Apart from West Bengal, this annual Hindu festival has been celebrated with great enthusiasm and zeal in the states of Assam, Tripura, Odisha, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, Punjab, Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Karnataka, Maharashtra, and Himachal Pradesh.  Even Durga puja is celebrated commonly by Bangladesh's Hindu community. 

In Nepal, the festivities are celebrated as Dashain. Beyond South Asia, the Durga puja is celebrated in the United States of America and in Hong Kong by the Bengali diaspora. Celebrations are also organized in Europe. The importance of Durga Puja as a form of living heritage.

Though the Authority has allowed Durga Puja celebrations, yet only with strict adherence to the COVID-19 guidelines issued by the government in this regard.

It is said that Devi Durga [an incarnation of Parvati] is the daughter of Bengal; having been married to Lord Shiva, she pays this annual visit to her maiden home with her four children -- Ganesha, Lakshmi, Sarasvati, and Kartika.  During her annual visit, Ma Durga’s stay is commemorated with an abundance of ritual and art and feasting, which comes to an end in five days' time. Then she in her image of Mahishasuramardini is immersed into the sacred Ganga, and back to her home in Kailash Parvat, which she shares with her husband.

It has been signified the first sign that the Devi Durga is making preparations to travel to her girlhood home is when the scent of shiuli [Asian jasmines] seeps into the air one morning.

No matter how early the work begins on these magnificent devotional pieces, artisans leave the painting of the pratima's [idol] eyes for the last. It is done at sunrise on the day of the mahalaya and is said to infuse the idol with life [prana prathista].  

The mahalaya is a relatively recent phenomenon in Bengal. It translates from the Sanskrit to 'great lyric', a wildly popular radio programme that is annually broadcast at dawn on an amavasya [no-moon hour].  It comprises of the late Birendra Krishna Bhadra's iconic Chandipath [chanting of scriptural verses from Durga Saptashati], followed by devotional folk music celebrating the beauty and strength of Devi Durga. It is said that the day of the mahalaya is when she had taken birth amongst the greatest Devas of the Hindu pantheon.

Durga puja appears as a healthy, lively tradition in India.  During Durga Puja, one can see the streets are thronged with pandal-hoppers no matter the time of day or night, with darshanarthis queueing up at the most popular pandal-pujas. Cultural programmes - folk dances and drama and music, you name it - are hosted at the pandal each evening.

Many Indian cities are deeply transformed: the celebrations are not performed in temples, but in temporary ritual sites [pujalaya] sheltered within lightweight marquees built with bamboo and cloth [pandal].  Urban areas are transfigured by the presence of the pandals, the round-the-clock rituals including prayers, music and dance, and the festive mood that pervades every corner.  No doubt, it is one of the largest and most spectacular celebrations.

Ashtami, called mahashtami ['maha' in Sanskrit means 'great'], is the most important day of the festival, with the choicest sarees and dhotis reserved for the day's anjali and pandal-hopping.  The ashtami anjali [with a fistful of these flowers pressed in the namaskaram mudra, they repeat mantras after the priest and offer them at the feet of the Pratima] is considered the most auspicious.

Durga puja is not a religious festival alone, having gained increasing ground as a touristic event drawing vast numbers of visitors from near and far.

For a few hours at dawn and at dusk every day of the puja, the earthy sound of dhaak [folk drums the size of a full-grown man] and kashor [folk gong of the handheld variety] fill the air and the mystical dance of the dhunuchi [goblet of baked earth, within which is a slow-burning mass of coconut husk and camphor] figure ethereal ambience.

On Dashami the next day, the baran [acceptance] ritual is taking place, which is of great importance in the Indian patriarchal tradition: shortly before her daughter's departure to her husband's home.  Women, with tears in their eyes, caress the pratima's face and touch homemade shondesh [sweets made from condensed milk] to her lips, knowing full well that she will soon be gone from amidst them for a whole year.

Now the visarjan has come, is the final throes of festive exuberance when Ma Durga is immersed into river holy Ganga.  The music of the dhaak and kashor gradually fade into the inky tropical night and it is time, Goddess’s descent to the human world, to say goodbye -- 'here's to next year's!