Durga Puja is celebrated every year as a way of worshipping Goddess Durga. The festival is celebrated and rejoiced from the sixth to the tenth day, in the Ashwin month of a bright lunar fortnight as per a calendar known as the Bikram Sambat calendar. The consecutive six days are popularly also known as Mahalaya, Shashthi, Maha Saptami, Maha Ashtami, Maha Navami, and also Vijayadashami. Though the celebrations take place with full zest and happiness in Kolkata, the grand pandals have become the new normal in other states too. If you’re wondering how to celebrate Durga Puja then you’ve come to the right place. Durga Puja celebrations unite people, spread love and joy, and teach goodness!
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How To Celebrate Durga Puja
Scroll down for Durga Puja celebration ideas!
On Mahalaya, a week before the festival starts, Goddess Durga is invited to come to Earth. In 2021, Mahalaya will fall on October 6. This auspicious ritual is called Chokkhu Daan.
Post that, a ritual is performed to bring in her holy presence on Saptami. This ritual is popularly known as Pran Pratisthan that involves dressing up a small banana plant called Kola Bou. It is bathed in a nearby river and is believed to carry the energy of the Goddess.
During the festival, holy prayers are offered and Goddess Durga is worshiped in the form of a virgin girl on Ashtami, and the ritual is called Kumari Puja.
After the Arti is performed on Ashtami, devotional Dhunuchki folk dance is performed in front of the Goddess to please her. This dance is done and performed to the rhythms of beating drums, holding an earthen pot filled with coconut husk and burning camphor.
This worship ends on Navami with a Maha Arti which symbolizes the end of significant prayers and rituals.
On the last day, Goddess Durga returns to her husband’s abode and statues are carried for immersion. Married women offer red vermillion to Goddess Durga and smear themselves with it.
Durga Puja Celebration Ideas
Every state calls for grand Durga Puja celebrations. So, without further ado, let’s see a few ideas on how Durga Puja is celebrated in different states!
Feeding- Uttar Pradesh, Bihar
Durga Puja is celebrated in the states of Bihar and UP by feeding little girls on the final day of worship. Apart from worshiping Goddesses in holy shrines, temples such as Ma Annapurna, Ma Mundeshwari and Kaura are popular destinations to visit.
Rites and Practices- West Bengal, Assam
There are many beautiful looking grand pandals that are set up in different themes every year in West Bengal that enshrine magnificent idols of Saraswati, Lakshmi, Kartikeya, Ganesha, Durga. A lot of scriptural injunctions are performed by priests for four days. The Goddess on Dashami is grandly bidden a farewell and Assam too follows similar practice! For the best and the most memorable experience, you can visit the Durga Puja of Kolkata and the temples you can visit are Kamakhaya Devi in Guwahati and Dakshineshwar Kali in Kolkata.
Gifting- Tamil Nadu
The Tamilians worship the three Holy Goddesses: Lakshmi, Saraswati, & Durga during the concluding three days of the Navratri. Followed by this, there is also a tradition of inviting relatives home and gifting them sweets and other gifts! Golu ritual is the most interesting feature of the Navratri celebration. Women and young girls place dolls on a wooden pavilion that have been passed from one generation to another!
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So this Durga Puja, let’s remember these amazing Durga Puja celebration ideas!
Featured Image: Instagram
