Celebrate Durga Puja, Durgotsab, Durga Pooja Festival

By

Durga Puja, also known as Durgotsab is an auspicious occasion which is prominently celebrated in the Indian state of West Bengal or Bengal. In the nine days long celebrations of Durga Puja festival, Goddess Durga, one of the most revered Goddess for the Hindus, is worshiped in
different forms like as goddess of valor, wisdom and wealth. Although the festival of Durga Puja is celebrated mainly in the state of West Bengal but the festive spirit and joy is omnipresent throughout India and the other states of India like Manipur, Orissa, Assam, Bihar, Delhi, Maharashtra and Jharkhand also enjoy the jubilance of Durga Puja with great enthusiasm and devotion.

Apart from being a festival, Durga Pooja has become a social-cultural event that celebrates the cheerfulness of life, the vibrant culture, the set rituals and traditions. During the celebrations of Durga Puja, huge puja pandals are erected in which idols of Goddess Durga along with Goddess Saraswati and Lord Ganesha are placed and worshiped. Lots of dancing, singing devotional songs in praise of Goddess Durga, preparation of special festive dishes are also an integral part of
Durga Puja celebrations.

Different Names of Durga Puja Festival
Durga Puja festival is known and celebrated with different names in in various parts of India like: in Bengal, Durga Pooja is also known as Akalbodhan (untimely awakening of Durga), Durgotsab (festival of Durga), Maayer Pujo (worship of the Mother). Durga Puja festival is also called Navratri Puja in Gujarat, Maharashtra, Delhi. It is celebrated as Kullu Dussehra in Kullu Valley, Himachal Pradesh.

When is Durga Pooja
Durga Pooja is celebrated twice a year, once in the month of Chaitra (April-May) and then in Ashwin (September-October). On both occasions nine different forms of Goddess Durga is worshipped threfore called Durga Navratri (nine nights). According to the Hindu Calendar Durga
Pooja festival starts on the first day and ends on tenth day of bright half (Shukla Paksha) of Ashwin month.

In year 2008 Durga Puja festival will be celebrated from 30th September-09th October.

Celebrations of Durga Puja Festival
Durga pooja is celebrated extensively all over India but West Bengal, Assam, Jharkhand, Orissa, Bihar are the states where beautiful idols of the Mother Goddess are worshipped in elaborate pandals, durga temples for nine days, and on the tenth day, these are carried out in
procession for visarjan (immersion) in a river or pond.

The festivities start with the first day called Mahalaya. It is also the day of the beginning of the countdown to the Durga Puja. The face of the goddess remains covered until the bodhon (unveiling) ritual is performed on Sasthi - the sixth day of the moon. Fast is observed on
this day by women for the well being of their families.

The Goddess is worshipped as a kumari or young girl, and reveals herself in her true form Mahasaptami (the seventh day of the moon). On Mahastami (eighth day) and Mahanavami (ninth day) the celebrations reach a fever pitch. New shining clothes, smiling faces, dancing
devotees, chantings of Mantras, spectacular display of lights and the rhythmic beat of dhak (drums) adds excitement to the festive occasion. On Vijay Dashami (tenth day) the idol of Durga is immersed in water after performing customary rituals. The ten-armed goddess dazzles the
devotees with her splendour and appearance of fiery valour during her short stay every year.

Significance of Durga Pooja Festival
Durga is an incarnation of power the resides in every element of this universe. The literary meaning of 'Durga' is 'difficult to approach'. Being Durga, Goddess Durga is the embodiment of intelligence, power, wealth, beauty and mercy that is creator, preserver and destroyer of
this universe.

During Durga Puja festival, nine different forms of Goddess Durga is worshipped. The whole image of ten-headed and multi-armed mother goddess riding on a Lion is shown destroying buffalo-demon Mahishasura. This image signifies the victory of Good over Evil and also tells to invoke divinity by controlling the senses to get diverted to bad habits.

Durga Pooja festival is a celebration of life and its traditional and valuable culture.

Legends of Durga Puja
According to a Puranic legend attached to this day, demon Mahishasur vanquished the gods and their king, Indra, who approached the Holy Trinity, Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva. They in turn sought the help of the divine mother Durga who, equipped with lethal weapons, riding a
ferocious lion, in all her awesome majesty, killed Mahishasur. This day, thus, also celebrates the magnificence and omnipotence of Goddess Durga.

The festival of Durga Pooja has its link with Pandavas. According to the great Indian epic the Mahabharat, the Pandavas had to spend 12 years wandering in the forest and one year in camouflaged form. The Pandavas spent their last year in the court of Virat. On the end of
one year Pandavas regained their arms from the shammi tree and declared their true identification. It was the day of Vijay Dashmi. Since that day the exchange of Shami leaves has become the symbol glory and triumph.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

OSCAR Nominations 2009, Oscar 2009 - Complete List

By
Oscar nominations 2009 - Find below the complete list of Oscar nominations 2009 BEST PICTURE “ The Curious Case of Benjamin Button ” (Paramount and Warner Bros.), A Kennedy/Marshall Production, Kathleen Kennedy, Frank Marshall and Ceán Chaffin, Producers “ Frost/Nixon ” (Universal), A Universal Pictures, Imagine Entertainment and Working Title Production,Brian Grazer, Ron Howard and Eric Fellner, Producers “ Milk ” (Focus Features), A Groundswell and Jinks/Cohen Company Production, Dan Jinks and Bruce Cohen, Producers “ The Reader ” (The Weinstein Company), A Mirage Enterprises and Neunte Babelsberg Film GmbH Production, Nominees to be determined “ Slumdog Millionaire ” (Fox Searchlight), A Celador Films Production,Christian Colson, Producer BEST ACTOR Richard Jenkins in “The Visitor” (Overture Films) Frank Langella in “Frost/Nixon” (Universal) Sean Penn in “Milk” (Focus Features) Brad Pitt in “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” (Paramount and Warner Bros.
Read more

The customer Employee Balance (The MBA Approach)

By
Image
The digital era has been more about revolution. It has transformed the way we do business. In recent years, manual processes are being transformed into automated operations to provide improved services to our clients. Every decision is based on robust data and insights, which support day-to-day business activities. Alongside, we cannot ignore the manual manpower utilized in the organization. Let's check why customer and employee balance is integral for every company: The customer experiences Few software giants like Microsoft, IBM, etc., have transformed themselves as being customer experience providers. It helps the brands to undergo a transformation that meets the rising demand of the new era. Customers are the key to business. Therefore, whatever is demanded, should be offered to them in a way or the other. However, rather than keeping the customer experience at the pivot state, organizations need to understand the balance between employee, customer, and management , while impl
Read more

The most hated on Internet

By
Image
The most hated…. the most hated Internet words, the most hated content, the most hated people…. Hey! It sounds interesting na? Then have a look at the list below. The most hated Internet words According to a poll by British pollsters of YouGov , The ten most hated words on the Internet — based on a poll of 2,091 adults — reports the following words. folksonomy (I am in doubt on the popularity of this word, so a big question ..how can it be the most hated? ;-) Check it out here if you don't know the meaning like me! :) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Folksonomy ) blogosphere (Funny to me!) blog (Then what the hell I am doing now!!!) netiquette blook webinar vlog social networking(Really?) cookie wiki (Oh my GOD!) The most hated men on Internet Michael Crook is a "griefer", someone who causes grief to others through harassment. In recent years, his websites have provoked unbridled rage throughout the Internet. His website is "
Read more