Durga Puja is a major Hindu festival celebrated by the Hindus of the Indian subcontinent. The festival is also reverently observed in Nepal and Bangladesh by Indian Diaspora. The festival has both religious as well as cultural significance for Hindus.
Short and Long Paragraphs on Durga Puja
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Durga Puja is a festival celebrated by Hindus in India. It is celebrated with reverence to the Hindu goddess Durga. The festival is especially popular in the states of West Bengal, Bihar, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, and Chhattisgarh. The festival is observed in the Hindu calendar month of Ashwin which corresponds with the Gregorian calendar months of September-October.
Durga Puja is a nine-day festival with each day signifying one form of goddess Durga. Large pandals are erected at public places and idols of Goddess are placed and worshipped. Fares are also held in villages and cities near the pandals (stages).
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Durga puja is a festival celebrated revering the Hindu goddess Durga. Durga is also called Adi Shakti or the final/ultimate power. It is a nine-day festival celebrated in the months of September-October. The festival also commemorates the victory of Goddess Durga over the demon Mahishasura. In a way, the festival signifies the victory of good over evil.
Durga Puja is also a harvest festival commemorating goddess Durga as the creator of the universe and the provider of food. The Durga puja is a nine-day festival that concludes with the festival of Dussehra on the tenth day. Along with Durga, other deities like Lakshmi and Lord Ganesha are also worshipped on Durga Puja.
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Durga puja is a Hindu festival celebrating the power of Goddess Durga and her victory over the demon Mahishasura. It is one of the most popular festivals of India. The festival has religious as well as cultural significance. The festival of Durga puja is observed for a span of nine days.
Many devotees observe fast for complete nine days and perform veneration of the goddess. The last four days of the festival are of much importance. However, the duration of the festival differs from place to place. Some places it is celebrated for seven days, some places for nine while in the other places for complete ten days.
Large idols of Goddess are erected in large pandals for nine days. People visit and worship the goddess. On the tenth day, the idols are taken out for immersion in lakes, ponds, etc amid a procession.
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Durga puja is an ancient Hindu festival. There is a mythological legend behind it. Hindus believe that Goddess Durga was the daughter of Himalaya and Menka. Durga in her one of the incarnations later married Lord Shiva. The festival of Durga puja is believed to have started when Lord Rama worshipped the goddess for her blessings and power to kill Ravana.
Some people believe that it is on the day that Durga killed the demon Mahishasura. She was requested by the three gods – Brahma, Vishnu, and Mahesh to save the world from atrocities of Mahishasura. The fight lasted for 10 days and Mahishasura was killed on the last day. Therefore, we celebrate the 10th day as Vijayadashmi or Dussehra.
During the festival, the devotees worship the goddess in several different forms. Large pandals with the idols of the goddess are erected at several places. Daily aarti (veneration) is performed of the idols from the sixth to the ninth day. The pandals become a center of cultural and religious activities.
People of West Bengal perform a folk dance in front of the goddess, holding burning camphor in clay pots in their hands. It is performed amid the beating of drums. People belonging to all classes of society celebrate Durga puja irrespective of their social or financial status.
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Durga Puja is a big Hindu festival celebrated in the month of September-October. It is observed to commemorate the victory of good over evil. There are two mythological events linked to the festival. One is that the Hindus believe that after a nine-day long fight with the demon Mahishasura; goddess Durga successfully slays him on the tenth day.
Another story is that after obtaining the blessings of the goddess, Lord Rama killed Ravana; we celebrate this day as Dussehra or Vijayadashmi. The festival of Durga Puja signifies the place of women in the Hindu religion and their social value. The preparation of clay idols of the goddess to be kept in pandals is a ceremonial process undertaken on Durga Puja.
The festival is both observed as a private as well as a community event. People fast for nine days and a completely vegetarian diet is maintained by all in the family, for the entire ten days. Some even stay only on a diet of fruits and milk products for the entire festival. Shlokas and mantras of Goddess are recited in the houses as well as in the pandals. The atmosphere for the complete ten days becomes ascetic and devotional.
A ritual Bodhana is performed on the sixth day, to welcome the goddess. It is on this sixth day that the eyes of idols are open and the goddess is made available for worship. The eighth and ninth days are of larger significance, for these days the battle between Durga and Mahishasura was at its peak.
FAQs: Frequently Asked Questions
Ans. Durga puja is celebrated in the month of September and October.
Ans. Durga puja is also called Navratri.
Ans. Vijaya Dashami is celebrated just after Durga Puja.
Ans. Goddess Durga is worshipped during Durga Puja.