Bolo Bolo Durga Maai Ki.... Joy!!!

Durga Pujo is a multi day annual celebration of Hindu Goddess Durga, and is one of the grandest festivals in INDIA. As mentioned, it is a multi day celebration which varies from 6 days in some parts of the country to 10 days in other parts of the country. And in most of the northern parts of the country, the festival is celebrated as Navratri. Keeping these variations aside, the last 5 days of the festival are the most important, starting from Maha Soshti, and is followed by Maha Saptami, Maha Ashtami, Maha Navami, and Vijay Dashami. 

The Pujo is celebrated in the month of Ashvin, which falls on the dates between September and October. The cold weather doesn't matter to the devotees as their warmth in the air is radiated because of their devotion and love. 

Durga Pujo honors the victory of Durga Maa over Mahishasura, a demon who got his wish of not being able to get defeated by any man or God on Earth, from God Brahma. Scriptures and texts indicate that Mahishasura was going to start an all out war against the Gods, breaking the trust of Brahma. And it set forward the creation of power herself, Durga, by the unison of powers of the Tridev, it was upon Durga Maa to slay Mahishasura and protect earth. She brought the battle against the demon on Maha Saptami, the 7th day of Navratri and slayed him, when he transformed into a buffalo, by the final day of Vijay Dashami. 

In light of that, Durga Maa came to be known as Mahishasura Mardini (the Killer of Mahishasura). The last scene of Durga Maa slaying Mahishasura with her power is depicted in many idols worshiped in Durga Pujo. 

Kumartuli is a neighborhood in North Kolkata which is rich in culture of idol making and is situated on the banks of the Hooghly river. The idol making here seems like an orchestra, and the potters being the key performers do a very disciplined job. The main components used for making the Durga Maa idol include bamboo, straws, husk and Puniya Mati. The Puniya Mati is a mix of mud from the banks of the holy river Ganga, cow dung, cow urine, and mud from a brothel, also called 'Nishiddho Pallis' or forbidden territories. The age-old ritual of using mud from brothels has many interpretations. It is said that when a man enters a forbidden territory to sin, he leaves his virtues at the doorstep. Thus, this mud is said to be pure and virtuous. Another perspective to this is that Vaishyas (prostitutes) are a part of Navkanyas, the nine classes, and should be respected. Thus, the soil from their doorstep is a gesture of respecting them.

Kolkata has a reputation for exquisite and gorgeous pujo pandals constructed temporarily for housing idols of Maa Durga and her 4 children. In recent times, pujo pandals have perpetuated attractive installations to attract devotees. The trend of pandal hopping is one where people indulge in going to different pandals of Durga Maa to see and enjoy pandal architecture. People come in groups to the pandals in the evening for being a part of a wide variety of cultural programs including live drama, musical shows by prominent artists. 

Women and young girls do the 'dhunuchi' dance while the traditional 'dhak', which is an energetic drum beat to honor Maa Durga, is played. 

The 10th day is celebrated as Vijaya Doshomi, when Maa Durga along with her children Ganesh, Kartikeya, Lakshmi and Saraswati are taken out from their pandals and homes, and are set on the route of procession and are then immersed in a river or a lake in a ritual called 'visarjan'. And before the visarjan, women participate in 'sindoor khela', where they apply sindoor on other women and on Durga Maa, preparing her for her departure.

In the evening, people greet each other 'Shubho Bijoya' and the young seek the blessings of the elders.