# Winds touch me # Rabindranath Tagore and Depression

USE MUSK & SANITIZER DURING FESTIVAL

Durga Puja is a grand festival of Bengal . But it’s now not only for Bengalees, but also for all Indian. Somewhere of India Navrattri is celebrated just before Durgapuja.

I spent two years in Rajasthan, Kota . There Bengalees took initiative for celebrating the Durga Puja. We perticipated there along with my family in the cultural programs. Lunch and dinner are arranged there . In Evening, after Aarati, starts cultural programs.

In Bengal , this festival is super duper. From rich to poor all are busy to enjoy the fest. Devi Pakkha starts from Mahalaya.

MAHALAYA : DEBI PAKKHA

Before Mahalaya, cleaning every room is must. Home is our Temple, so it’s must to be cleaned each and every corner of the house. Purchasing new dresses in the market is one of the attractive and compulsive matter to the household.

One of my Quora friends asked me why atheist of Bengal don’t allow Goddess Durga as the Puja of Bengal and Bengalees . Here’s in details :

¶ In fact , it’s very difficult to answer when and from where this festival first started. From pre – historical period to modern times we get a history of evolution of Goddes Durga.

At present the Mother Durga along with her family members are being celebrated in the Puja Mandap and some individual houses. But I have doubt that it was not erstwhile as today celebrated. People with his imagination made this form of idols of goddess in course of time.

IMAGINATION & THE FORMS OF DURGA

In addition , meditation and love both were active to form such deities. The more our imagination will be active, the more the evolution of form of Goddess Durga will be continued .

When This Puja was Started! After a rigorous study, I am sure that this puja culture was being started in the ancient Vedic era, and after many many evolutions, it’s found in modern gorgeous forms.

First, our ancient society introduced Nature worship. As a deity, Varun came first, then Mitra and finally Mother Earth. In Veda, Pritthidevi is called by the name ” Aditi”. During the Mahenjadaro civilization, people celebrated ” Earth – goddess”.

Professor Hopkins ( E. W. Hopkins) identified Aditi as Durga. ( ” Where Aditi is identified with Durga ) . Aditi or Earth again is identified in Veda as the mother of Surya.

Durga and Shiva both are Vedic deties according to Scholar Weber and Muir , but Max Mueller didn’t agree with them. He told them non – Vedic deties. Both were non – Aryan deities according to Max Mueller.

Kirat, Shabar, Pulind – all these people generally worshipped them. Max Mueller told that the Durga deity was considered as a Vedic aristocratic deity like Rattri, Kali, Rodoshi, Niriti in Brahmana Samhita.

But Indian and some other Western scholars didn’t agree with this opinion. So, we can consider the two most important deities as Vedic deities. Rudra or Shiva through Vedic, but Vishnu was a major deity. His influence was much to Vedic society. ( Hopkins).

Sir George Grierson wisely remarks that these Shudras are the branches of the Aryans. Hence, both the deities are of Vedic order. These people lived in various places in Aaryavarta. But socially sometimes these people were abandoned, but ultimately it has been changed, the scenario has been changed in course of time.

Shiva and Durga are the deities of Aryans. Though Shiva was deprived and regarded as inferior. As an instance, Shiva was not invited during the holy Yongya ritual by Dukkha. Prajapati Dokkha arranged the Ashwamedh Yoggya ritual on the bank of river Ganga. This gratis still existed in Hardwar.

Being not invited by his father- in – law Shiva angrily disrupted the ritual by creating Vairav Virvhadra and Parbati Mahakali. This tale, I think, all of us came to know from childhood. Almost all Hindus know this myth. Mahakali or Vadrakali is none other than the goddess Durga.

It’s pronounced during sacrifice any Naibeddya ( the fruits and sweets) before deties Durga – ” Om Dakkhayoggya Binashinoi Mahaghoraoi *** Bhaddrakalloi Om Hrim Durgaoi Namah.

¶¶ Both the deities are to be considered as Vedic in Mahabharata, Ramayana and in Puranas. In Ramayana Shiva is called as Shankara . And He is Rudra in Vedic literature. In Taitoriyo Aarannyok we see Durga, Mahadev , Kartick , Ganesha and Nandi.

It’s distinctly pronounced in Taitario Aarannoyk (10/1/7) : Kattyaonoi Vidmahe Konnya Kumaring Dhimohi . Tanno Durging Prochodayat. It’s a Gayatri mantra.

In Upanishad , the name of Durga is to be found. In Rik Veda Goddess Durga was considered as the flame – form goddess. In his book ” Classical Dictionary of Hindu Mythology , Mr. Dawson reffered some names of Durga et el Uma, Gauri , Parvati, Chandi , Chamunda , Kali , Kapalini , Bhawani , Vijaya . Hopkins also wrote some other names like Shailosuta, Parvati, Ruddrani, Girija, Shailyarajputtri, Girirajputtri , Girisha and so on.

¶¶ However, Uma and Aamma are the same in Indian society. Amma is Ma in Bengali. Amma is used in almost all provinces of India. Ma Durga is a universal mother. She is our worshiper.

As described by Thomas Inman: Ammah or Ummah, ‘Mother’ is the same. All those forms of Uma ( Amm, the great mother – goddess) go back to the primitive and universal cult of the mother goddess in popular mythology appears as Kalama and Ilamma, which is as descriptive or as kin.

¶¶ Durga is familiar in various names and relationship. In Aarannoyk she is called ‘ Vairachani’ who was daughter of Surya or Agni ( 10/1/7) . Kattyani and Kannyakumari are also her name.

ORIGIN AND DEVELOPMENT OF DURGA : JECBI

Professor Jecbi wrote: Ambika is called Rudra’s sister in the Vajasaneya , but in Taittiyiya Aranyaka she has already become the spouse of Rudra , just as in the latter time. …. We find an invocation of Durga Devi , who is there Vairochini , daughter of the Sun or 🔥 Fire and in x.1.7 among verses addressed to Agni we meet with two more names of Durga ( here called Durgi )viz Katyayani , Kanyakumari .( Encyclopedia of Religion and Ethics, Vol. v, page – 212 )

GAURI : ANOTHER NAME OF DURGA

¶¶ Some scholars said that Debi Durga is called by the name Gauri . She is the wife of Varun in some Puran . Her another name is Ambika. Hopkins identified this Mother as Bhadrakali , Mahakali, Maheswari and Sree Durga.

Shiva was called Gaur as he used to play with Parvati and Bhutas . Durga was the wife of Gaur , so is called as Gauri . It’s obeyed by the several scholars.

¶¶ Sten Konow , an Indologist distinctly said : ” we can, in Kali and Kali’s worship, find some traces which point to the existence of an old, not only Aryan , but Indo – European goddess, whose worship is continued in an unbroken line in the Durgapuja of the present day .”

Some scholars remarked that Ashwamedh Yoggya is converted into today’s Durgapuja . Some foreign scholars also noticed the similarity between Durga and Greek goddess Demeter Chloe . He wrote : The Saradiya – Puja or the autumnal worship of Durga is analogous to the service of the Greek goddess of Demeter Chloe that took place on the sixth of Thargelian .

Swami Sankarananda remarked that Ashwamedh Yoggya is the today’s Durgapuja or Basanti Durgothsab. In Autumn this Durgapuja was initiated and arranged by Sree Ramachandra. And still it’s continuing with its latest version.

Change is the another name of time. King Surath worshipped Durga in the spring many years before Ramachandra . The autumnal Durgapuja actually had started after a long periods, may it be thousand of thousands years after the Basanti Durgothsab .

That time Agrahayan was the first month of the year when Sun was placed in Chitra Nakskhattra in between Kannya and Tula Rashi. But at the time of Ramachandra Surya was placed in Rebati Nakkhattra.

Therefore, Basanti Durgothsab started many many years ago as Autumnal Durgapuja. But it’s now the most major puja of Hindus. Basanti Durgothsab took place in some places or homes in Bengal, but the Autumnal Durgapuja festival or Sharadia Durgothsab is the grand festival of the Hindus throughout the world.

Why it is commenced in Autumn ?

Vidyabhusan Amulyacharan discussed about the time of worshipping Durga Puja – why it’s commenced in the Autumn he scholarly said that Durgapuja is the holy Sharodotsab . From Vedic periods it has been consistently continuing in various forms.

In the Vedic era ” Esh ” is meant to Ashwin ( a Bengali month ) and ” Uj” means Kartick ( After Ashwin comes Kartik). According to Vedic sage, Ashwin and Kartick both the months are Sharat season. This season is the ideal time for worshipping. Ambika is another name of the goddess Durga. Ambika means Ashwin.

The worship of the Autumn season is ultimately the worshipping of Durgapuja. So this season is the best time for the worshipping of Durgapuja. So we can conclude that worshipping Surya puja is gradual turns into Durgapuja in course of huge time, even changed its Rupa(Forms) and Rasa ( innate significance) and took a modern gorgeous shape – it’s true.