Skip to content Skip to navigation

Invoking the goddess Durga

Durga puja is awaited with bated breath every year and the goddess is given a tearful farewell every year at the end of the puja, and this year won’t be any different either. Guwahati’s heart throbbed with festive fervour as devotees offered ‘anjali’ in their ‘para pandals’ Guwahatians pulsated with the puja spirit indulging in pandal hopping and invoking the goddess with hearts brimming with pious devotion. For once the markets had a forsaken look as the usual customers turned devotees attired in their festive best visited pandals instead of shops luring them with festive discounts.

Strangely Guwahati lacked the usual crowded streets during the puja days for traffic moved easily in the usually packed streets and by lanes except in particular areas where a few traffic snarls were spotted. However, a day later the devotees turned up in large numbers. The puja pandals dazzling with breath taking decorations and lightings drew huge number of people with the celebration of the auspicious mahaastami. The air reverbrated with the chanting of mantras and the beats of the dhak.

However, this year puja pandals though crammed with devotees also saw a huge deployment of security personnels as the pandals being sensitive spots and susceptible to terrorist attacks are under the police scanner. The disturbed times today has dampened the spirits of devotees making them extra cautious in their movements. Perhaps this is the reason behind the low turn out of people in the streets.

Traditionally, the five day puja celebrations begin with Mahalaya when one is able to perform any number of shradha ceremonies of one’s departed relatives. Then comes the Sandi Paath after which begins the rituals of puja. Legends hold that Lord Rama had offered puja to devi Durga in order to get her blessings in the killing of the evil called Ravana. Chronologically speaking Sashthi is the first day of puja when the goddess is put on a pedestal and the priests invite her to their midst which is followed by Saptami the second day when the proceedings begin by bathing the goddess. Maha Ashtami is a repeat of the previous day where sometimes animal sacrifices are offered to please the goddess, a primitive or rather pagan ritual that needs to be eradicated from our culture as it has no place in our developed society. However after navami finally the last day of puja is Vijaya Dashami when the devotees bid a tearful farewell to the goddess.

Guwahati alone boasts of more than 600 pujas, the oldest being Hari Sabha in Panbazar. Pandals in Beltola, Ganeshguri, Silpukhuri, Uzanbazar, Kumarpara etc witness the maximum rush and today laser shows in certain pandals are a huge crowd puller.

Come let us all invoke the goddess and ask her to grant us the beauty of soul, the taste of sweet success, give us name and fame and destroy the evil forces in us and show everyone the right direction.

“Rupang dehi, jayang dehi, jasho dehi dishu jehi ”

Photo: People throng on the occasion of Maha Navami during Durga puja celebrations in Sivasagar, Assam on 20-10-2007. Picture by Luit Chaliha.

Author info

Rituparna Goswami Pande's picture

Journalist, writer

Comments

jaay's picture

What a wonderful thought.

Pages

Add new comment

Random Stories

Life of beggars

2 Dec 2012 - 4:09am | editor
In ancient times the Hindu Society begging for mendicants and their students . The students were allowed to beg for their teacher. But they were never called beggars. They were received with highest...

Guwahati queer pride march on Feb 9

8 Feb 2014 - 8:21am | Bitopi Dutta
The recent Supreme Court verdict on Section 377 has outraged the entire country and also the international forum. Further dismissal and rejection by the SC on the plea for a review petition has...

CBI probe into serial blast, communal clash begin

20 Dec 2008 - 12:19am | editor
The Central Bureau of Investigation begins its probe into the October 30 serial blast in Assam along with the cases of communal violence in its Udalguri and Darrang districts in the first week of...

Sonowal talks Nagalim issue with Rajnath

13 Nov 2017 - 10:39pm | AT News
NEw DELHI: Amid an escalating protest over the Centre' preparedness for Nagalim settlement even by compromising territorial integrity with Assam, Arunachal Pradesh and Manipur, Sarbananda Sonowal...

Other Contents by Author

This women’s day I salute those unsung ‘heroes’ who have withstood the onslaught of fickle fate. No they are not faces in the crowd rather they are the crowd whose faces we don’t remember. They are those who are living in the periphery of life, battling everyday issues of home and hearth.I bow my head in reverence to the grit of Mausam’s mother who put aside her grief after losing her only son to Ewing’s Sarcoma in order to stand as a pillar of strength to her broken husband who unable to bear the tempest of misfortune had almost lost touch with reality. I like many others was a helpless bystander of the tale of woe that had fallen like a bolt from the blue on this poor family.  But...
If I had wings and were a birdWould travel the world and orbit the EarthOr had I been a butterfly Eclectic colors would be mineI would hover over trees, flutter over blooms, On a spiritual high, I would go into a swoonShould I be a fish and swim the seaPass through oceans or haunt a reefWith beautiful corals for companyThe heart would leap at Nature’s bountyHad I been a fir tree insteadMy leaves would flutter in snow headsThe flirty wind would kiss my soulThe icy breeze to lift me up, life would be on a rollWhat if I were the season – SpringOrchid blooms, newness to ring inNo, no let me be the sky, the endless blueFar from earth, to keep a watch on youBut then my mind looks to the...
I, KazirangaShedding tears of bloodMy children, the four leggedIn men no longer trust.God’s blessed beings are theyRoaming the wildsIn search of prey and hayOften trapped by wily menCaught unawaresBy a poaching handLeft to dieWith bleeding woundsWith their hornsCut by forest goonsNo where to runNo where to hideTheir haven encroached by thugsTheir skies taken over by two legged bugsFeigned protectionI don’t seekI, KazirangaWill continue to bleedIf there is no messiahLet my children not desireAny solace from cruel fateBut march towards extinction and Heaven’s gate.
The fact that we need to celebrate Women’s Day portends that all is not well in a women’s world. Or else why would we need to single out a day for millions of women who have equal rights and status in the world they inhabit. We don’t have a men’s day which is evidence enough that all is hunky dory with their race.The UN theme for International Women's Day 2013 is "A promise is a promise: Time for action to end violence against women," while International Women's Day 2013 has declared the year's theme as The Gender Agenda: Gaining Momentum. But then is it really gaining momentum?As we celebrate Women’s Day today a woman is probably being raped in our rape capital i.e. Delhi or any other...
Lately every morning we have been waking up to screaming headlines of animal killings in the newspapers. Rhinos being poached with their horns brutally severed and left to die,elephants electrocuted or hunted down, their bodies mutilated and left to bleed to death. Gory pictures of animal atrocities splashed in every newspaper, every channel. It really makes one ponder as to how low humans can stoop to gratify their covetous desire for money. Twisted minds are targetting the animal kingdom, mute creatures, innocent beings who do not care nor bother to know how our world has become a slave to money. The world Heritage site Kaziranga National park has seen 20 rhino killings this year and a...
All Hindus become epitomes of excitement to the run up to the festival of the auspicious Durga puja. Pandals coming up everywhere, idols being given finishing touches, revellers thronging the markets, discount offers, designer wear on sale and so on. Everyone is under the grip of puja fever and the associated excitement.But for once if we shift our focus away from ourselves and our frivolous acts and ponder over the plights of those innocent animals that would be sacrificed during the puja offerings, I am sure the smiles in our faces would be wiped off. At least the smiles would vanish from those faces who have a little compassion for the four legged. Imagine the little pigeons, a symbol...
From bedraggled beggars on the streets to the suit clad brokers on Wall Street – the ubiquitous cell phone is everywhere, in every pocket irrespective of the rich / poor status of its owners. It is no longer an item of luxury albeit it’s a must have today, a necessary evil. For technology comes with a price and the technology behind mobile phones is sure to make mankind pay a heavy price – the price of health and safety. The recent furore created in the media worldwide over the possible hazareds of mobile phone radiation has made us sit up and take note of the pros and cons of using the innocent looking mobile handset which had till date so surely and surreptitiously...
Man is an animal first and a social animal later. However, our ‘social’ status has failed to erase our animal instincts, which lies dormant in our basic dispositions. The urge to spread violence, the need to kill, and the thirst to quench our carnal desires are proof that there is still some animal in us. These urges raise their ugly heads in the form of homicides, rape and molestation incidents, and mob violence etc putting mankind to shame. The dangerous of all is our affinity towards the mob mentality that threatens to ensnare us at the slightest pretext and at the slightest of provocation. The term “mob mentality” is used to refer to unique behavioral...
The mellifluous tinkle of the Sarod permeated the atmosphere under a canopy of twinkling stars and a soft breeze that emanated from the somber Nilachal hill. Ustaad Amjad Ali Khan and his sons Amaan and Ayaan performed at the open amphitheatre in the Kamakhya temple premises striking a divine chord in all our hearts. The setting couldn’t have been more striking. The silhouette of the sanctuary at the backdrop and the stupendous performances of maestros were the perfect mode of the two day Kameshwari Music and Dance festival 2010. Dance and music have been an inherent part of temples in India since times immemorial. In order to appease the gods these art forms have always been...
“The Assam State Zoo encompassing over 130 hectares of land boasts of an astonishing collection of some rare and extinct species of wild animals settled comfortably in their natural habitat.” This is how a website describes the zoo in our city. However, the ‘stay’ of the animals there is far from ‘comfortable’. The captive animals in small enclosures with hardly room for free movement is a far cry from comfortable. The Assam state Zoo boasts of white tigers, one horned rhinos, Swamp tapirs and leopards to name a few. The zoo is also prosperous in the avian branch and plays host to rare species of birds. Sadly, the animals are caged for better viewing of...