Durga Festival
About Durga Festival
Durga festival, also known as Durga puja, Durgotsav, and Shardotsav, is one of the widely celebrated Indian festivals in the months between September-October depending upon the aspects of the Hindu calendar.
It is a celebration to mark Goddess Durga’s victory over the evil demonic buffalo Mahisasura, who in mythology, was believed to have wreaked havoc on the gods and their servants, and thus, Maa Durga ended his evil spree. To commemorate that victory, the Durga festival is a special chain of days celebrating the victory of good over evil.
The festival begins with Mahalaya, where the spirits of the ancestors are honored a fortnight before Devi paksha—which is the phase when the festival is on. Then there comes Sashti, Maha saptami, Maha ashtami, Nabami and finally, Vijayadashmi, which marks the last day of the festival.
Durga Festival is celebrated in high spirits in all parts of the country, especially in Bengal, followed by Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat and Maharashtra among other Indian states. While some people choose to fast all of the days of the festival, some do it on selected days. People adorn new clothing, prepare a variety of food items and also participate in a number of cultural and religious activities during this festival.
While the subsequent celebrations of Navarathri witnesses Goddess Durga with nine hands, Durga Festival celebrated in Bengal sees the goddess with 10 hands.
In Gujarat, the festival sees a nine-day long of Navarathri, wherein Goddess Durga, also referred to as Navadurga, is worshipped and people dress up in colorful costumes, and play Dandiya and Garba—the traditional dance forms of the state of Gujarat. On the other hand, in the state of Bengal, the festival sees a number of rituals with the final day of the celebration ending with “sindoor-khela” wherein married women apply sindoor or vermilion on each others’ faces and bid goodbye to Goddess Durga, decking her with vermilion and other accessories.
The state of Bengal finishes the celebrations with the worshipping of Goddess Lakshmi—daughter of Goddess Durga, around 15 days after Vijayadashami. In India, the Durga festival is one of the grandest festivals celebrated in high spirits, along with other prominent festivals like Diwali and Holi.