Durga Puja दुर्गा पूजा
Goddess Durga · Partial fasting
Five-day Bengali celebration of Goddess Durga's slaying of Mahishasura, peaking on Maha Ashtami of Sharada Navaratri. Artisans of Kumartuli sculpt clay murtis of ten-armed Durga flanked by Lakshmi, Saraswati, Ganesha, and Kartikeya through the year. Sarbojanin (community) pandals across Kolkata transform neighbourhoods into open-air art galleries; Bonedi Bari (aristocratic household) pujas preserve 300-year-old family rites.
Rituals (vidhi)
- 1.Mahalaya invocation chanting Mahishasura Mardini stotra at dawn
- 2.Bodhon (awakening of the goddess) on Shashthi
- 3.Sandhi Puja at the junction of Ashtami-Navami (108 lamps + lotuses)
- 4.Kumari Puja — worship of a pre-pubescent girl as living Devi
- 5.Sindoor Khela and visarjan procession on Vijayadashami
Significance
Celebrates the annual visit of Durga to her maternal home (Bengal) with her children before returning to Kailash. UNESCO inscribed Kolkata Durga Puja on the Representative List of Intangible Cultural Heritage in 2021. Spiritually marks the triumph of dharma over adharmic ego — the buffalo demon being the unbridled lower nature.
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