Its PUJA time !!
Welcome back, my dear readers !! I hope you've been having a great week so far. I also hope you've read my last post. Do comment your thoughts about it & if it was of any help at all, to you or anyone else you know.
So, this week the Festive season is upon us....
And, I've been "Pujo" shopping with my family. There's just something in the Air this time of the Year. The Sun seems brighter, the air feels crisper & a feeling of excitement runs through us all. Whether you're celebrating Durga Puja, Dussehra, Navratri or Dashain (like we Gorkhalis do), its a time to enjoy & let go for a few days. Closer to family and friends, the festival season seems to be more joyous than ever !!
Our Country, with its diversity comes together to celebrate various customs & rituals this season. From Dussehra celebrated in the North for Lord Ram with Ram-leela, Ravan Burning and Ramayana shows, to Garba & Dandiya in the West. And Durga Puja (or Pujo as called in Bengali), Vijaya Dashomi & Dashain in the East, to Mahanavami in the South, this festival is also known as Navratri wherein people go through fasting & worshiping different incarnations of the Goddess Durga on different days of the festival.
Durga Puja is perhaps, the most fervently celebrated in the state of West Bengal. People here hold a very special connection with the Goddess herself, although I'm sure everyone across the country feels the same way. Here the festival begins with Mahalaya, where people remember the advent of Goddess Durga. On the sixth day, or Shasthi, everyone welcomes the Goddess into pandals(temporary stage) & their homes, and the festivities begin. There's even Pandal competitions all over, with some built around a theme or similar to a landmark building & sculpture.
Around the Pandal, the atmosphere is very fair-like, or a mela as we all call it. Women joyously smear vermilion on each other, dance & worship the Goddess. There are stalls selling food, clothing, decor, jewelry, soft toys & much more. There are game stalls, where you can shoot balloons, ring toss & do many similar activities to win prizes (or lose money in most cases !!). There are rides like the Ferris wheel, Boat & Disco rides, Airplane-style rides, although their safety measures are quite questionable !! But everyone has a good time & hopefully no one gets gravely injured. PHEW !!
Toward the foothills of the Himalayas in West Bengal, lies the district of Darjeeling, which mainly has a Nepali-speaking populace. The people here speak this language, but are citizens of India, not Nepal (hence the demand for Gorkhaland !!). This is where I belong to & live, nestled in the base of the Himalayan Mountain Range.
Anyways, here we celebrate Dashain during the Puja. As around the country we shop & gift clothing items to our families, especially to our elders. Distant family members visit their elder's homes to seek their blessings, who in return, welcome them home & mark their foreheads with Tika made with a mix of curd, raw rice & some color, mostly red or pink.
No matter which part of our glorious Country you belong to, this season is celebrated with Joy & Hope, as Good wins over Evil in the festival. Shopping, Pandal Hopping & Delicious mouthwatering fare makes it even more a tempting time to celebrate.
There have been environment pollution problems, regarding the submerging of the Idols of the deities. A lot of practices have been put into place to make the festival more clean & Eco-friendly to minimize this issue. And hopefully, with the help of perceptive beings such as yourself, the problem of littering can also be kept to a bare minimum as well. Its not much of a festival to celebrate with all those food packets lying around the ground !!
So there you go. Enjoy being with your loved ones, shop a little, splurge a little & enjoy every moment of it. Also, stop taking unnecessary photos every five minute !! Like, STOP !! Instead, revel in the company of your family & friends, have a good time & then maybe click a few photographs to remember the good memories of the day passing you by. Not only will you cherish them, you will also be able to recollect them from your memory, instead of a photo, anytime. Time passes us by pretty fleetingly. Make sure you stop & Enjoy the Moment !!
So, this week the Festive season is upon us....
And, I've been "Pujo" shopping with my family. There's just something in the Air this time of the Year. The Sun seems brighter, the air feels crisper & a feeling of excitement runs through us all. Whether you're celebrating Durga Puja, Dussehra, Navratri or Dashain (like we Gorkhalis do), its a time to enjoy & let go for a few days. Closer to family and friends, the festival season seems to be more joyous than ever !!
Our Country, with its diversity comes together to celebrate various customs & rituals this season. From Dussehra celebrated in the North for Lord Ram with Ram-leela, Ravan Burning and Ramayana shows, to Garba & Dandiya in the West. And Durga Puja (or Pujo as called in Bengali), Vijaya Dashomi & Dashain in the East, to Mahanavami in the South, this festival is also known as Navratri wherein people go through fasting & worshiping different incarnations of the Goddess Durga on different days of the festival.
Durga Puja is perhaps, the most fervently celebrated in the state of West Bengal. People here hold a very special connection with the Goddess herself, although I'm sure everyone across the country feels the same way. Here the festival begins with Mahalaya, where people remember the advent of Goddess Durga. On the sixth day, or Shasthi, everyone welcomes the Goddess into pandals(temporary stage) & their homes, and the festivities begin. There's even Pandal competitions all over, with some built around a theme or similar to a landmark building & sculpture.
Around the Pandal, the atmosphere is very fair-like, or a mela as we all call it. Women joyously smear vermilion on each other, dance & worship the Goddess. There are stalls selling food, clothing, decor, jewelry, soft toys & much more. There are game stalls, where you can shoot balloons, ring toss & do many similar activities to win prizes (or lose money in most cases !!). There are rides like the Ferris wheel, Boat & Disco rides, Airplane-style rides, although their safety measures are quite questionable !! But everyone has a good time & hopefully no one gets gravely injured. PHEW !!
Toward the foothills of the Himalayas in West Bengal, lies the district of Darjeeling, which mainly has a Nepali-speaking populace. The people here speak this language, but are citizens of India, not Nepal (hence the demand for Gorkhaland !!). This is where I belong to & live, nestled in the base of the Himalayan Mountain Range.
Anyways, here we celebrate Dashain during the Puja. As around the country we shop & gift clothing items to our families, especially to our elders. Distant family members visit their elder's homes to seek their blessings, who in return, welcome them home & mark their foreheads with Tika made with a mix of curd, raw rice & some color, mostly red or pink.
No matter which part of our glorious Country you belong to, this season is celebrated with Joy & Hope, as Good wins over Evil in the festival. Shopping, Pandal Hopping & Delicious mouthwatering fare makes it even more a tempting time to celebrate.
There have been environment pollution problems, regarding the submerging of the Idols of the deities. A lot of practices have been put into place to make the festival more clean & Eco-friendly to minimize this issue. And hopefully, with the help of perceptive beings such as yourself, the problem of littering can also be kept to a bare minimum as well. Its not much of a festival to celebrate with all those food packets lying around the ground !!
So there you go. Enjoy being with your loved ones, shop a little, splurge a little & enjoy every moment of it. Also, stop taking unnecessary photos every five minute !! Like, STOP !! Instead, revel in the company of your family & friends, have a good time & then maybe click a few photographs to remember the good memories of the day passing you by. Not only will you cherish them, you will also be able to recollect them from your memory, instead of a photo, anytime. Time passes us by pretty fleetingly. Make sure you stop & Enjoy the Moment !!
Here's wishing you all & your families a Happy Durga Puja, Dussehra & Navratri 🙏🙏 Be Safe, Enjoy yourselves & have a Blast !!
P.S.- I won't be writing next week. But make sure to come back the week after that.
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