Durga Puja - the ceremonial worship of the mother goddess, is one of the most

important festivals of India. Apart from being a religious festival for the Hindus, it is
also an occasion for reunion and rejuvenation, and a celebration of traditional
culture and customs. While the rituals entails ten days of fast, feast and worship,
the last four days - Saptami, Ashtami, Navami and Dashami - are celebrated with
much gaiety and grandeur in India and abroad, especially in Bengal, where the tenarmed goddess riding the lion is worshipped with great passion and devotion.
Durga Puja Mythology: Rama's 'Akal Bodhan'

Durga Puja is celebrated every year in the Hindu month of Ashwin (SeptemberOctober) and commemorates Prince Rama's invocation of the goddess before going
to war with the demon king Ravana.
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Durga Puja
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This autumnal ritual was different from the conventional Durga Puja, which is
usually celebrated in the springtime. So, this Puja is also known as 'akal-bodhan' or
out-of-season ('akal') worship ('bodhan'). Thus goes the story of Lord Rama, who
first worshipped the 'Mahishasura Mardini' or the slayer of the buffalo-demon, by
offering 108 blue lotuses and lighting 108 lamps, at this time of the year.
The First Durga Puja in Bengal

The first grand worship of Goddess Durga in recorded history is said to have been
celebrated in the late 1500s. Folklores say the landlords or zamindar of Dinajpur and
Malda initiated the first Durga Puja in Bengal.

According to another source, Raja Kangshanarayan of Taherpur or Bhabananda

Mazumdar of Nadiya organized the first Sharadiya or Autumn Durga Puja in Bengal
in c 1606.
The 'Baro-Yaari' Puja and Beginning of Mass Celebration

The origin of the community puja can be credited to the twelve friends of Guptipara
in Hoogly, West Bengal, who collaborated and collected contributions from local
residents to conduct the first community puja called the 'baro-yaari' puja or the
'twelve-pal' puja in 1790.
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The baro-yaari puja was brought to Kolkata in 1832 by Raja Harinath of

Cossimbazar, who performed the Durga Puja at his ancestral home in Murshidabad
from 1824 to 1831, notes Somendra Chandra Nandy in 'Durga Puja: A Rational
Approach' published in The Statesman Festival, 1991.

Origin of 'Sarbajanin Durga Puja' or Community Celebration

"The baro-yaari puja gave way to the sarbajanin or community puja in 1910, when
the Sanatan Dharmotsahini Sabha organized the first truly community puja in
Baghbazar in Kolkata with full public contribution, public control and public
participation. Now the dominant mode of Bengali Durga Puja is the 'public' version,"
write M.

D. Muthukumaraswamy and Molly Kaushal in Folklore, Public Sphere, and Civil

Society. The institution of the community Durga Puja in the 18th and the 19th
century Bengal contributed vigorously to the development of Hindu Bengali culture.
British Involvement in Durga Puja

The research paper further indicates that "high level British officials regularly attend
Durga Pujas organized by influential Bengalis and British soldiers actually
participate in the pujas, have prasad, and even salute the deity, but 'the most
amazing act of worship was performed by the East India Company itself: in 1765 it
offered a thanksgiving Puja, no doubt as a politic act to appease its Hindu subjects,
on obtaining the Diwani of Bengal'. (Sukanta Chaudhuri, ed. Calcutta: the Living
City, Vol. 1: The Past) And it is reported that even the Company auditor-general John
Chips organized Durga Puja at his Birbhum office. In fact, the full official
participation of the British in the Durga Puja continued till 1840, when a law was
promulgated by the government banning such participation."
Durga Puja Comes to Delhi

In 1911, with the shifting of the capital of British India to Delhi, many Bengalis
migrated to the city to work in government offices. The first Durga Puja in Delhi was
held in c. 1910, when it was performed by ritually consecrating the 'mangal kalash,'
symbolizing the deity. This Durga Puja, which celebrates its centennial in 2009, is
also known as the Kashmere Gate Durga Puja currently organized by the Delhi
Durga Puja Samiti in the lawns of Bengali Senior Secondary School, Alipur Road,
Delhi.
Evolution of the 'Pratima' and the 'Pandal'

The traditional icon of the goddess worshiped during the Durga Puja is in line with
the iconography delineated in the scriptures. In Durga, the Gods bestowed their
powers to co-create a beautiful goddess with ten arms, each carrying their most
lethal weapon. The tableau of Durga also features her four children - Kartikeya,
Ganesha, Saraswati and Lakshmi. Traditional clay image of Durga or pratima made
of clay with all five gods and goddesses under one structure is known as 'ek-chala'
('ek' = one, 'chala' = cover).

There are two kinds of embellishments that are used on clay - sholar saaj and daker
saaj. In the former, the pratima is traditionally decorated with the white core of the
shola reed which grows within marshlands. As the devotees grew wealthier, beaten
silver (rangta) was used. The silver used to be imported from Germany and was
delivered by post (dak). Hence the name daker saaj.

The huge temporary canopies - held by a framework of bamboo poles and draped
with colorful fabric - that house the icons are called 'pandals'. Modern pandals are
innovative, artistic and decorative at the same time, offering a visual spectacle for
the numerous visitors who go 'pandal-hopping' during the four days of Durga Puja.
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10 Days with the Mother Goddess!

Navaratri, Durga Puja & Dusshera
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Navaratri
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Subhamoy Das
Hinduism Expert

Every year during the lunar month of Ashwin or Kartik (September-October), Hindus
observe ten days of ceremonies, rituals, fasts and feasts in honor of the supreme
mother goddess. It begins with the fast of Navaratri, and ends with the festivities
of Dusshera and Vijayadashami.
Goddess Durga
This festival is devoted solely to the Mother Goddess known variously as Durga,
Bhavani, Amba, Chandika, Gauri, Parvati, Mahishasuramardini and her other
manifestations.
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Navaratri
Goddess Puja

The name Durga means inaccessible, and she is the personification of the active
side of the divine shakti energy of Lord Shiva. In fact, she represents the furious
powers of all the male gods, and is the ferocious protector of the righteous, and
destroyer of the evil. Durga is usually portrayed as riding a lion, and carrying
weapons in her many arms.
A Universal Festival
All Hindus celebrate this festival at the same time in different ways in different parts
of India as well as around the world.

In the northern part of the country, the first nine days of this festival, called
Navaratri, is commonly observed as a time for rigorous fast, followed by
celebrations on the tenth day.

In western India, throughout the nine days, both men and women participate in a
special kind of dance around an object of worship. In the south, Dusshera or the
tenth day is celebrated with a lot of fanfare. In the east, people go crazy over Durga
Puja, from the seventh till the tenth day of this annual festival.

Although, the universal nature of the festival is often found to transcend regional
influences and local culture, the Garba Dance of Gujarat, Ramlila of Varanasi,
Dusshera of Mysore, and Durga Puja of Bengal need special mention.
Durga Puja

In eastern India, especially in Bengal, the Durga Puja is the principal festival during
Navaratri. It is celebrated with gaiety and devotion through public ceremonies of
Sarbojanin Puja or community worship. Huge decorative temporary structures
called pandals are constructed to house these grand prayer services, followed by
mass feeding, and cultural functions. The earthen icons of Goddess Durga,
accompanied by those of Lakshmi, Saraswati, Ganesha
and Kartikya, are taken out on the tenth day in a triumphal procession to the nearby
river, where they are ceremonially immersed. Bengali ladies give an emotioncharged send-off to Durga amidst ululations and drumbeats. This marks the end of
the goddess brief visit to the earth. As Durga leaves for Mount Kailash, the abode of
her husband Shiva, its time for Bijoya or Vijayadashami, when people visit each
others homes, hug each other and exchange sweets.
The Garba & Dandia Dance
People in western India, especially in Gujarat, spend the nine nights of Navaratri
(nava = nine; ratri = night) in song, dance and merriment. Garba is a graceful form
of dance, wherein women dressed in exquisitely embroidered choli, ghagra and
bandhani dupattas, dance gracefully in circles around a pot containing a lamp. The
word Garba or Garbha means womb, and in this context the lamp in the pot,
symbolically represent life within a womb. Besides the Garba is the Dandia dance,
in which men and women participate in pairs with small, decorated bamboo sticks
called dandias in their hands. At the end of these dandias are tied tiny bells called
ghungroos that make a jingling sound when the sticks hit one another. The dance
has a complex rhythm. The dancers begin with a slow tempo, and go into frenzied
movements, in such a manner that each person in a circle not only performs a solo
dance with his own sticks, but also strikes his partners dandias in style!
Dusshera & Ramlila
Dusshera, as the name suggests occurs on the tenth day following the Navratri. It
is a festival to celebrate the triumph of good over evil, and marks the defeat and
death of the demon king Ravana in the epic Ramayana. Huge effigies of Ravana are
burnt amidst the bangs and booms of firecrackers.

In northern India, especially in Varanasi, Dusshera overlaps with Ramlila or Rama

Drama traditional plays in which scenes from the epic saga of the mythical RamaRavana strife are enacted by professional troupes.

The Dusshera celebration of Mysore in southern India is a veritable extravaganza!

Chamundi, a form of Durga, is the family deity of the Maharaja of Mysore. Its a

wonderful scene to watch the grand procession of elephants, horses and courtiers
wending a circuitous way to the hilltop temple of Goddess Chamundi!
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Hinduism

How to Do Puja in the Tantric Way

Step of the Tantric Puja Hindu Ritual
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Kali_Visharjan - Getty Images

The devotees of Goddess Kali dance around the idol before immersing it in the river
as part of the final 'visarjana' ritual. Getty Images

Subhamoy Das
Hinduism Expert

Puja means ritual worship of a deity through a series of steps. It is part of the Hindu
traditional rites or samskaras. Traditionally, Hindus follow the Vedic steps of
performing a puja. However, there is also a Tantric method of doing puja which is
generally devoted to the cult of Shakti or the Divine Mother Goddess. Puja or
ritualistic worship of Hindu deities is a very important part of Tantra-Sadhana or
Tantric worship.
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Read more about Tantrism.

12 Steps of the Tantric Puja Ritual

Here are the various steps of worship according to the tantric tradition:

Since external cleanliness is conducive to internal purity, the first thing a

worshiper should do before starting puja is to take a bath and wear washed clothes.
It may be a good custom to keep two sets of clothes to be worn by turns just for
ritual worship.
Then clean the puja room and the surrounding area thoroughly.
After properly arranging all the vessels and materials needed for the puja, the
worshiper should sit on the puja-seat, which should be used only for the purpose of
puja, in such a way that he either faces the deity or keeps the deity to his left.
Generally, one should face East or North. Facing South is forbidden. [See also: How
to set up a puja room]

The whole rite of puja, or for that matter, any religious or ritualistic act should
begin with acamana or ceremonial sipping of water with certain mantras.
This is followed by sankalpa or religious resolve. Apart from the details of that
particular day according to the Hindu calendar, followed in the tradition of the
worshipers family, the sankalpa-mantra also contains some other statements such
as the destruction of ones sins, acquisition of religious merit and some other
particulars connected with the mode of worship.

Then come some purification processes like asanasuddhi or ritual sanctification of

the seat; bhutapasarana or driving away the evil spirits; pushpasuddhi or ritual
cleansing of flowers, bilva (wood apple leaves), and tulsi (holy basil leaves); and
agniprakarachinta or erecting a wall of fire through imagination and so on.
The next steps are pranayama or breath-control to calm the nerves, concentrate
and bring in peace; and bhutasuddhi or creating a spiritual body in place of the
physical one.
These steps are followed by pranapratistha or filling the spiritual body with the
presence of the deity; nyasas or ritual purification of limbs; and mudras or postures
of fingers and hands.

Next is dhyana or meditation on the deity in ones heart and transferring the
same into the image or symbol.
Upacharas or modes of direct service. These upacharas can be 5 or 10 or 16.
Sometimes they are raised to 64 or even 108. Normally, between 5 and 10 are
common for daily worship and 16 for special worship. 64 and 108 upacharas are
performed in temples on very special occasions. These upacharas are ceremonially
offered with appropriate mantras to the deity invoked into the image or symbol. The
ten upacharas are: 1. Padya, water for washing the feet; 2. Arghya, water for
washing the hands; 3. Acamaniya, water for rinsing the mouth; 4. Snaniya , giving a
bath by pouring water over the image or the symbol with Vedic mantras; 5. Gandha,
applying fresh sandal paste; 6. Pushpa, offering of flowers, bilva and tulasi leaves; 7.
Dhupa, lighting incense sticks and showing it to the deity; 8. Deepa, offering a
lighted oil lamp; 9. Naivedya, food offering and drinking water; and 10.
Punaracamaniya, giving water for rinsing the mouth at the end. [See also: Steps of
Puja in the Vedic Tradition]
The next step is pushpanjali or offering of a handful of flowers which is laid at the
feet of the deity, indicating the conclusion of the whole ritual.
Where the puja is done to the deity in a temporarily invoked image as in the
worship of clay icons of Ganesha or Durga, udvasana or visarjana also has to be
done. It is the ceremonial withdrawal of the deity from the image, back into ones
own heart, after which the image or the symbol, like a flower, can be disposed of.

Note: The above method is as prescribed by Swami Harshananda of Ramakrishna

Mission, Bangalore.
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...
Hindu Gods & Goddesses
Hindu Goddesses: Durga, Kali, Lakshmi, Saraswati, et al

Lakshmi: Goddess of Wealth & Beauty!

Discover How the Goddess Lakshmi Brings Good Luck and Wealth
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A painting of Lakshmi showing the Goddess showering gold coins. (c)
ExoticIndia.com
Subhamoy Das
Hinduism Expert

Goddess Lakshmi means Good Luck to Hindus. The word 'Lakshmi' is derived from
the Sanskrit word "Laksya", meaning 'aim' or 'goal', and she is the goddess of
wealth and prosperity, both material and spiritual.

Lakshmi is the household goddess of most Hindu families, and a favorite of women.
Although she is worshiped daily, the festive month of October is Lakshmi's special
month. Lakshmi Puja is celebrated on the full moon night of Kojagari Purnima.

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The Lakshmi Form

Lakshmi is depicted as a beautiful woman of golden complexion, with four hands,

sitting or standing on a full-bloomed lotus and holding a lotus bud, which stands for
beauty, purity and fertility. Her four hands represent the four ends of human life:
dharma or righteousness, "kama" or desires, "artha" or wealth, and "moksha" or
liberation from the cycle of birth and death.

Cascades of gold coins are seen flowing from her hands, suggesting that those who
worship her gain wealth. She always wears gold embroidered red clothes. Red
symbolizes activity and the golden lining indicates prosperity.

Lakshmi is the active energy of Vishnu, and also appears as Lakshmi-Narayan Lakshmi accompanying Vishnu.

Two elephants are often shown standing next to the goddess and spraying water.
This denotes that ceaseless effort, in accordance with one's dharma and governed
by wisdom and purity, leads to both material and spiritual prosperity.

Explore More: Ashtalakshmi: The 8 Forms of Lakshmi

A Mother Goddess

Worship of a mother goddess has been a part of Indian tradition since its earliest
times.

Lakshmi is one of the mother goddesses and is addressed as "mata" (mother)

instead of just "devi" (goddess).

As a female counterpart of Lord Vishnu, Mata Lakshmi is also called 'Shri', the
female energy of the Supreme Being. She is the goddess of prosperity, wealth,
purity, generosity, and the embodiment of beauty, grace and charm.

Listen / Download MP3: Lakshmi Aarti - The Hymn of Goddess Lakshmi

A Domestic Deity

The importance attached to the presence of Lakshmi in every household makes her
an essentially domestic deity. Householders worship Lakshmi for the well being and
prosperity of the family.

Businessmen and women also regard her equally and offer her daily prayers.

On the full moon night following Dusshera or Durga Puja, Hindus worship Lakshmi
ceremonially at home, pray for her blessings, and invite neighbors to attend the
puja. It is believed that on this full moon night the goddess herself visits the homes
and replenishes the inhabitants with wealth. A special worship is also offered to
Lakshmi on the auspicious Diwali night.
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Symbolism in Hindu Rituals & Worship

What Do Vedic Rituals & Puja Offerings Symbolize?
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Devotee nun soothsayer, telling fortunes at Preah Khan Temple, Angkor, Cambodia Cultura Travel/Gary Latham
Cultura Travel/Gary Latham
Subhamoy Das
Hinduism Expert
Vedic rituals, like the 'Yagna' and 'Puja', as said Shri Aurobindo, are "attempts to
fulfill the purpose of creation and elevate the status of man to that of a godhead or
a cosmic man". Puja is essentially a ritual suggestive of symbolic offering of our
lives and activities to God.
Symbolic Significance of Puja Items
Every object associated with the ritual of Puja or worship is symbolically significant.
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The statue or image of the deity, which is called 'Vigraha' (Sanskrit: 'vi'+ 'graha')
means something that is devoid of the ill effects of the planets or 'grahas'. The
flower that we offer to the deity stands for the good that has blossomed in us. The
fruits offered symbolize our detachment, self-sacrifice and surrender, and the
incense we burn collectively stands for the desires we have for various things in life.
The lamp we light represents the light in us, that is the soul, which we offer to the
Absolute. The vermilion or red powder stands for our emotions.
The Lotus
The holiest of flowers for Hindus, the beautiful lotus is symbolic of the true soul of
an individual. It represents the being, which lives in turbid waters yet rises up and
blossoms to the point of enlightenment. Mythologically speaking, lotus is also a
symbol of creation, since Brahma, the creator came forth from the lotus that blooms
from the navel of Vishnu. It is also famous as the symbol of Bharatiya Janata Party
(BJP) - the Hindu Right-wing political party of India, the familiar lotus position in
meditation and yoga, and as the national flower of India and Bangladesh.
The Purnakumbha
An earthen pot or pitcher - called 'Purnakumbha' - full of water, and with fresh
mango leaves and a coconut atop it, is generally placed as the chief deity or by the
side of the deity before starting a Puja.
Purnakumbha literally means a 'full pitcher' (Sanskrit: 'purna' = full, 'kumbha' =
pot). The pot symbolizes mother earth, the water life-giver, the leaves life and the
coconut divine consciousness. Commonly used during almost all religious rites, ans
also called 'kalasha,' the pitcher also stands for goddess Lakshmi.
Fruits & Leaves
The water in the Purnakumbha and the coconut have been objects of worship since
the Vedic age. The coconut (Sanskrit: Sriphala = God's fruit) alone is also used to
symbolize 'God'. While worshipping any deity, a coconut is almost always offered
along with flowers and incense sticks. Other natural objects that symbolize divinity
are the betel leaf, the areca-nut or betel-nut, banyan leaf and the leaf of 'bael' or
bilva tree.
Naivedya or Prasad
'Prasad' is the food that is offered to God in a typical Hindu ritual worship or Puja. It
is our ignorance ('avidya') which we offer to the deity in a Puja. The food
symbolically stands for our ignorant consciousness, which we place before god for
spiritual enlightenment. After he suffuses it with knowledge and light and breathes a
new life into our bodies, it makes us divine. When we share the prasad with others,
we share the knowledge we thus gained with fellow beings.