iJilRODUCTLOM

Introduction

The Durga Puja is by far the most important Hindu festival in

West Bengal. This festival has become extremely popular. Tor an

average Bengali Hindu, it has very much become an integral part

of his life the Puja being the occasion for family re unions,

giving and receiving gifts, wearing new clothes, going out on

holidays and for rejoicing and rnerry making. Not only from the

social but also from the economic point of view is this festival

important. The popularity of this festival is not confined to

West Bengal only the Puja is gradually becoming popular among

Hindus in other parts of Northern India and even abroad.- Outside

Bengal, the Puja serves as the main if not the sole link between

Bengali families who unite in performing the worship of Mother

Durga with all the pomp and eclat that their combined resources

permit.

According to Hindu mythology, when the world was an easy prey to

millions of asuras or (demon killers), Parvati, wife of Shiva,

and Mother of the world, descended in the forms of avatars on

nine occasions to fight the demons and vanquish them. Of all the

avatars of Parvati, the most important was her mariifestation as

Durga Mahishasurrnardhinl. In the traditional image, Durga is

depicted as killing a demon with her ten hands armed with weapons

of various types, riding on a lion.

The origin of the Durga Puja festival is buried deep in the

obscurity of tradition and myth. Scholars hold divergent views on

the subject. To some scholars, the Durga Puja is linked with

savarotsava a festival of revelry of the primitive savaras and

kiratas others have discovered In It the relic of an ancient

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autumn festival which came to be centred around gods and

goddesses and assumed a religious significance. But the most

common controversy regarding the origin of the Durga Puja is

between the Indian and the Curopean scholars. The Indian

scholars trace its origin back to the Pig Veda,, in which occurs a

mantra (Devi Sukta), describing the emergence of the mother-

goddess arid the form in which she appeared. further more, by

referring to the names of Urna, Arnbika, Katyayini, Ksnyakurnari of

the later Vedic litreature, they try to show that the Devi Puja

has corne down to us from the Pig Vedic times. But the Curopean

scholars hold a different opinion. They go further back and

obsers'e Devi Puia to be the practice of a pre Aryan civilization.

They say that the Devi of the Mahabharata and the Pur arias Is a

syncretic deity I.e. an amalgamation of several independent

goddesses. These goddesses were originally worshipped by the non

Aryans and in course of time they were merged into one great

goddess, the spouse of Shiva.

et u: ;ee if there is any mention of Durga in the Vedas ths

oldest scripture of the Hindus. It is more or less definite that

none of the Vedic Samhitas make any special mention of Durga. In

the Pig Veda there is a Durga Stava. In the Vajasaneyi Sarnhita ol

the Yajur Veda there is a passage in which Ambika, a synonym of

Durga, is mentioned as the sister of Rudra. Apart from this,

DurgaJs name Is not mentioned In any other Sarnhita. In none of

the Brahmanas Is her name mentioned. In the later Vedic

litreature, the Upanishads, one does not come across the name of

Durga, only in the Kena Upanishsd she is referred to as Urns

I laimavati and in the hundaka Upanishad as Kali Karali. Apart from

this, there is no other mention of Durga or her other

manifestations in the Vedas.

In the Durga Gayatri as given In the Taithiriya Aranyaka, DurgI

has been accepted as the feminine form of the masculine word

Durga. Here one meets with two more names of Durga vi.z. Katyayini

and kanyakumari.

Turning to the Dpicsj one does not find any mention of Durga in

Valmiki9s Rarnayana, but she is mentioned in the Mahabharata. In

two hymns of the Mahabharata, the Bhisma Parba and the Vi rat

Parba, the Devi is first revealed in her true character. In the

Bhisma Parba of the Mahabharata, on advice of Sri Krishna, Arjun

prayed to Durga for her blessings to win victory. Prom this it is

evident that at the time the hymn had been composed, Durga had

come to be worshipped by the commoners as a symbol of Sakti. In

the Bhisma Parba, Durga is addressed as SIddha Senarii (commander

in chief of the Siddhas), the noble, the dweller on Mandara,

Kumari(maiden), Kali (balck or time as destroyer), Kapali (wearer

of skulls), Bhadrakali, Mahlkali, Chandi (angry), Tarini

(deliveress), Karali (frightful), Vijaya (victory), Jaya “younger

sister of the chief of cowherds9, (Krisna), eldest born m the

family of the cowherd, Nanda, delighting always in Mahisa’s

blood, Kauslki, Urna. Sakarnbhari, “destroyer of Kaitabha9,

Vedasruti, she “who dwellest continually near Jambu, mountain

precipices and sepulchres9, “the great sleep of embodied beings9,

“mother of Skanda9, “dweller in wilderness9, Svaha, Svadha,

Sarasvati, Savitri, “mother of the Vedas and the Vedanta9,

Mahadevi, Jambhani, Mohini, Maya, Hr I, Sri and Sandhya. In the

Vi rat Parba of the Mahabharata she is addressed by Yudhisthira as

“born in the womb of Yasoda9, “the favourite of Narayana9, “who

rose to the sky when thrown on a piece of stone”, “holding sword

and shield”, 'four armed”, 'four faced”, 'consort of Narayana”,

"She" who destroyed the demon Mahisa to save the three worlds,

'who perpetual abode is in the Vindhyas”, 'the best of the hills”

and 'who Is fond of spirituous liquour, flesh and sacrificial

victims”.

The worship of Durga was further developed in the time of the

llarivarnsa and the Puranas. In a hymn of the goddess given in the

llarlvamsa, It Is said of her "you are worshipped by the Savaras,

Barbaras (savages) and Pulindas

Durga Puja (as a worship of Durga) can however be traced to the

Puranas only. In the Brahmavaivarta Purana, Durqa is said to have

been firstly worshipped by Krishna, secondly by Brahma, thirdly

by Pudra, and fourthlv by Mahendra. She was next worshipped by

the leading Munis, Sidhas, Gods, Manu and by man. Then she was

worshipped by Prince Suratha. The last performance took place

when Suratha was the lord of the whole world. It is In the

Devlmahatrnya portion of the Markandeya Purana that Durga appears

to be the centre of the great Sakti cult. The subject of the Devi

rnahatmya Is the victory of Durga over several Asuras Mahisa,

Sumbha, NIsumbha and their armies of demons.

It is however in another branch of Sanskrit litreature, the

Tantras, that the worship of Durga is assigned great importance.

In the later Tantras and the Tantrie Puranas, Durga Is described

as a manifestation of Sakti or energy and in this Incarnation she

destroyed th^ Buffalo Demon.

It Is to Ramchandra to whom is attributed the worship of Durga

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for the first time during the season of autumn Durga Puja

having been originally celebrated in spring. Although, this is

not mentioned in Valmiki’s Ramayana, it is mentioned in several

of the Puranas the Devi Bhagvat, the Kalika and the

Brihannasdikeshwar. Purana and in Kirthivasa"s Bengali version

of the Ramayana. According to Valmiki, Ramchandra worshipped the

Sun God at the instance of sage Agastaya, before his last

encounter with the demon king Ravanna. But the Puranas and

Kirttivas tell a different story. They say that in order to

acquire extraordinary energy to kill Ravanna, Ramchandra

worshipped Durga in the month of Ashwin an untimely s s o, s o r j s

this being the time when the Gods were supposed to sleep,

preferably undisturbed by devotees. It is because of this that

Saradiya Durga Puja is called “Akal Bodhan*.

Prom the various stone sculptures and terracota figurines found,

it seems that the worship of Durga in various forms was prevalent

from a very early period. Dr. Bratlndra Nath Mukherjee says that

Durga alone, without children, was worshipped In Mahishamardhini

form from a very early age, probably from the Saka (40 B.C, 79

A.D.), Pahlava (about the middle of the first century A.D.), and

the Kusharia period (15 A. D. to 3rd century A.D.). The

Mahishamardhini image found in Nagar in Rajasthan is the oldest

of the kind so far. In this sculpture the Goddess is two handed

In one hand she is holding a trident and in the other hand the

tail of a buffalo. Besides this, two more Mahishamardhini

sculptures assigned to the middle of the first century A.D. have

been found at Mathura.

Representation of Hindu deities in Indian sculpture becomes

noticeable only from the Gupta period;, which commenced early in

the fourth century A.D. Examples from the Gupta age establish

that the cult of Durga was already developed- From Bhita, near

Allahabad, a Mahisharnardhini sculpture belonging to this period

has been found- Here the Goddess is two handed, the demon in the

shape of a buffalo facing left standing in front of her, her left

hand twisting as it were the neck of the demon while in her right

hand she weilds a weapon.

Two more Mahishamardhini sculptures of a slightly different date

assigned to the later Gupta period have been found in Bhita and

Mathura- In both, the Devi is four handed- Contemporary to these

sculptures, two more Mahishamardhini sculptures in which .the

Goddess is four handed have been found at the caves of Badami in

West India. In the Blkanear Museum in Rajasthan, has been

preserved a Mahishamardhini sculpture built towards the end of

the Gupta period. From these examples, it becomes evident that

during the Gupta age the worship of Durga in MahlshmardhlriI form

had become popular.

Several sculptures of Mahishamardhini Durga have been found of

the post Gupta age. The most important artistic representation o1

Durga is to be found in a splended relief at Mahaballipuram near

Madras. In It she is shown engaged in a fight with the demon

Mahisa. These sculptures have been assigned to the seventh or

eighth century A.D. The sculpture of Aihole belonging to the

eight century A.D. also confirms that by the eighth century A.D

the cult of Durga was fully established.

The Durga Puja and the kali Puja were the most important of the
IJlTRjDDUCTLOri

religious festivals introduced in Bengal during the pre British

period. As a form of Chandi, Durga had been worshipped from a

very early time in Bengal, but this form of her worship was not

very widespread. It was Raia Kansan a rayan of Taherpur, who first-

started the present form of Saradiya Durgotsav in 1500. But it

was from the time of Raja Krishnachandra Roy of Nadia who iived

In the eighteenth century that the Durga Puja becflyne widespread

and popular.

A change in the pattern of the Pujas become evident with the

establishment of British rule in Bengal. Hitherto, it were the

Kings and the Zamindars who had been celebrating the Pujas. The

British rule created opportunities which made a new class of

people immensely rich. It were they who now started celebrating

the Pujas. The principle aim of these people being to appease

their English masters, these people spent huge amounts of money

in celebrating the Puja, in entertainments, food and drinks. They

did not care how the actual rituals and ceremonies were

performed.

The new interpretation given to the worship of Durga by

intellectuals like Ban kirnchandra Chatterjee, Vi'/ekananda,

Aurobindo Ghosh and Bipin Chandra Pal, gave a new meaning to the

Durga Puja festival at the turn of the present century. The

nationalist Interpretation given by them to the Durga Puja

festival made the festival immensely popular amongst the freedom

fighters.

Individual family Pujas were replaced by Sarbajanm Pujas in

Bengal, in the twenties of the present century with the fast

deteriorating economic condition of Bengal, particularly, after

World war I. Barowari Pujas had been celebrated in Bengal since

the last decade of th @ eighteenth century. But their nurnbe P We3 S

few. Moreover, only a certain section of the peop 1 e could

participate in it. Sarbajanin Pujas opened the door for

participation by all classes of people, irrespective of caste or

creed -

The Ourga Puja of today is more a social festival than a

religious one. The phenomenal growth of Sarbajanin Pujas every

year, does not signify to the growth of religious feelings

amongst the Bengalis this being the result of the growth of

competition between one 'palli* (neighbourhood) and another. What

with the increasing growth of rivalry between the Sarbajanin Puja

managers for the best of pandal decoration, the best of artistic

image, the best of illuminations in order to draw the largest

crowd, very little attention or money is spent in the actual

conduct of the rituals. But, on the other hand, the social

importance of the festival is fast growing. More or less shorn of

its religious element, this festival has been accepted by the

Bengalis as an enduring fact of social life. On the three days of

the Puja, an average Bengali forgets all his problems and

anxieties and gives himself up to joy and merry making.

The Durga Puja of today makes a important contribution to the

economy of West Bengal. The f stival is the greatest market

booster it creates special demands for various kinds of

consumer and commodity goods, Shops selling saris, garments,

cosmeties, perfumes, jewellery, are crowded with customers for

many days ahead of the Pujas. Makeshift stalls appear like

mushrooms on the pavements. The Government assists the

■shopkeepers before the Pujas by relaxing restrictions from hours

of business, thereby enabling the shopkeepers to keep open their

shops and stores for longer periods and even on Sundays. The

Puias are also a time for many to earn a maior part of their

annual income claymodellers, tailors, dressmakers, electricians,

artisans, priests, owners of temporary eating stalls. Puis

numbers, childrenannuals are published in large numbers during

this period because of their high demand. Puias are also a time

for strikes strikes for more bonus, of creating artificial

scarcity of essential commodities and hence raising their prices.

Thus, from a religious festival, the Durga Puja through the years

have undergone a lot of transformation and has become the most

important regional festival of the Dengali Hindus.

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S&CKGROUNO

Backg round

The Durga Puja and the Kali Puja were the most important of the

Hindu religious festivals introduced in Bengal during the pre

British period. (Durga in the form of Chandi had been worshipped

from a very early time in Bengal but this form of her worship was

not very widespread). from the litreature of Bengal of this

period one gets ample references to the Durga Puja. Jimutvahana,

who lived in the thirteenth century, has written about the Durga

Puja in his “Kalviveka* grantha. Sulapani who lived sometime

during the late fourteenth century wrote of the Durga Puja in

: Du rqotsavviv$ 'Durgotsavpravoqvivel-sa!,. and 'B^s^rit.lv.ive.ka1’

who lived in the rniddl e of the si;-cteenth century

;poke of the Durga Pu j a in three of his treatises

;Durgotsavtatwa" , ‘:Durgapu^atatwai, „ and Krityatatwa:

Prom the twelvth century onwards Tantric beliefs and practices

were gaining influence in Bengal and the worship of Durga and

Kali became the most important features of Hinduism in Bengal.

The reason for their acceptance was their intimate connection

with the Tantric form of worship. There might be another reason

why the worship of Durga became popular during the pre British

period. Bengal from the thirteenth century onwards went through a

period of political instablity due to repeated Muslim invasions.

The Bengali Hindus therfore, probably sought to derive from Durga

a symbol of Sakti, the power and strength to fight their

enemies. The Bengali Mangala Kavvas written during this period

emphasized this Sakti aspect of Durga only. In the “Chandimangal*

of Hukundram written approximately in 1509 A.D., the beasts of

the forests complain to the Goddess Chandi that they are in

terror of Kalaketu the hunter, and beseech her help. Under the

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•guise of their speeches arid that of Charidi the political

conditions of Bengal are described-

According to historian Durga Chandra Sanyal, it was Raja

Kansanarayan of Taherpur, who first started the present form of

Saradiya Durgotsav in 1580, on the advice of his chief pandit,

Ramesh Shastri- Kansanarayan was the son of Udaynarayan Roy the

Zanriindar of Taherpur, and was the most famous of the Roy family

of Tafierpur. lie started his career as a faujdar in the court of

Sulaiman Karrani who was tho then Nawab of Bengal, Bihar and

Orissa- Sulaiman Karrani reigned over Bengal between 1565 15 72-

According to folklore, Kansanarayan started the Durga Puja

festival as a sort of repentance for the downfall of the Nawabs

of Bengal for which he thought he himself was responsible-

Tradition says that in order to save Bengal from the destructive

invasions of Kalapahar II he aligned himself with Akbarj This

alliance proved costly as it ultimately led to the loss of the

Independence of Bengal- Henceforth Bengal was subjected to

liaughal sovereign I ty - Regretting what he had done, Kansanarayan,

summoning his chief pandit Ramesh Shastri informed him that he

wanted to do a hahavaoa- to atone for his sin- After considering

this proposal Ramesh Shastri replied that there were four

traditional types of Mahavacia Biswa.i i t- Raj asuva - A.syajri®iil'is„ and

QLQTMLdha.- The first two could only be performed by Qnperors and

the last two could not be performed m the Hali,__ Yuga- Another

kind of Hahayaga suitable for the age, could be performed and

that was Durgotsava. This Puja could be pe rformed in any acf-s

(Treta, Da.par;, Satya and Kali) by cx 11 — In the Tr eta ageP

Rarnchandra had wor shipprsd Durga in order to acquire

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BAUIGROUND

extraordinary energy to kill Ravanna. In the Satya„Yuga, Prince

Suratha had performed this Puja. Having had lost his kingdom in

the hands of his opponents and being deprived of all his wordly

possession Prince Suratha with a broken heart retired to the

jungle- Here he met a hermit who inspired him to worship Durga.

Thus was the origin of the first SsraJiya Durga Puja in Bengal in

1500- The rules of the Puja were laid down by Ramesh Shastri.

The pomp and splendour with which this festival was celebrated by

Kansanarayan greatly increased his popularity- It was in

competition with him that the Raja of Bhaduria, Jagatnarayan,

celebrated the Basanti Durgotsav- Their examples were followed by

the other Hindu Rajas and Zamindars.

It was 3 however 3 from the time of Maharaja Krishna Chandra Roy

(1710 02) of Nadia 3 that the Durga Puja became widespread and

popular- Having assured the peace and security of his domain by

paying a handsome tribute to the then Nswabs of Bengal Alivardi

and Oiraj ud dowla, Krishnachandra started the celebration of the

Durga Puja on a lavish scale. It was said any man of means who

did not perform the Durga Puja was personally called by the

Maharaja himself and was instructed to perform the Puja.

!-'r ishnachandras s example was followed by the Rajas of Nat ore arid

Bu rdwan-

Durga was at first worshipped alone in tha Mahisamardhini form

as an embodiment of Sakti only. But in course of time she came to

be worshipped as a mother in company with her two sons. Kartick

and Ganesh 3 and her two daughters Lakshmi and Saraswati. It Is

however difficult to say exactly when this form of worship

exactly started In Bengal- As the rituals connected with the

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BACKGROUND

Fujas were elaborate and expensive,, it was mainly the Hindu

Rajas and the feudal lords who could afford to perform the Pujas„

The performance of the Pujas then meant a mixture of devotion and

merry making. The rituals of the Puja were conducted piously

and great care was taken so that every part of the ritual was

performed strictly according to shastric rites and injunctions-

However an essential feature of the Durga Puja of those times*

was the festivities associated with it-The Rajas, who performed

the Pujas, spent huge sums of money on this occasion. For

example, Kansanaryan spent eight and a half lakhs of rupees,

Jagatnarayan spent nine lakhs of rupees on the occasion of the

Durga Puja this at a time when prices of goods were quite

cheap- It is said men and women of all communities, irrespective

of caste, class or creed joined in the Puja celebrations.

Jimutvahana in his “Kalviveka* have mentioned of the festivities

associated with Durga Puja- That festivities were an essential

part of the Durga Puja have been mentioned in their treatises 'by

subsequent writers like Srinatha Acharya Chudamani, Bachaspati

Mishra, Sulapani, and Raghunandan. From these texts it is evident

that more or less on all the days of the Puja, sports and other

amusements like music and songs were provided. Special

arrangements for festivities were made at the time of a rati.- On

the Bijoya Dasami day, the festivities would cross all limits of

decency- On that day the festivities included a kind of revelry

called savarotsava in which people dressed themselves as savaras

covering their bodies with leaves and plants for a bout of song

and dance. It was believed if on that day obscence words were not

said, obscene songs not sung and objectionable dances not

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perfomed then the Devi would be dissatisfied> This practice wa

also prevalent amongst the different primitive cults of the worl

in those timec-

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