Durga Puja 2022 | Celebration | Significance | Legend

How is Durga Puja celebrated in India?

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Durga Puja is one of the major religious festivals of India. Durga Puja is celebrated all over India, but it is celebrated mainly in West Bengal with great joy. Durga Puja starts on the day of "Mahalaya". There is an official holiday is declared from Mahalaya day in West Bengal. Aarti (offering lights) is done in every Pooja Pandal and Mandap around India in the morning and evening till the "Vijaydashmi" (the day of Visharjan). 

There is a crowd that can be seen in every Pooja pandal and Pooja Mandap in the morning and basically in the evening because the ladies go there for lighting Diyas to invoke Maa Durga.

Idols of Maa Durga are brought with traditional musical instruments (Dholak, Shank, Kasar) and with great enthusiasm on the sixth day. Fairs are organized everywhere, people do a lot of shopping for dresses, jewelry, cosmetic items, shoes, and also many more things for these specific days.

On the seventh day (Saptami) the main pooja starts. The crowd starts to increase gradually in the pooja Pandals. Children go with their parents and family members to visit Pandal and the idol of Maa Durga. Because in Durga Puja, large, beautiful, and well-decorated idols of Maa Durga are placed in Pandas. People wear new clothes, and shoes and go to visit pandals and fairs. In this way, the three days of Durga Puja pass. Then on the 10th day or Vijaydashmi comes. It is the day of sending Maa Durga to her in-laws' house and to her husband Lord Shiv. Therefore, the idols are immersed in water. There is a sadness that can be seen on the face of every person. In this way, Durga Puja is celebrated in India with a lot of feelings and emotions.

The stgnificance 

Durga Puja is not just a festival for Indians. People celebrate this festival with their all feelings and emotions. For the Indians, the Statue of Maa Durga is not just a clay statue but also a mother as well as a daughter. People feel that their mother returned after 1 year or their daughter come after 1 year to meet them. People share their pain, grief, love, sorrows & emotions in front of the idol of Maa Durga.

Moreover, this festival is also important on another side. This festival becomes a source of income also. Because such kind of crowd of people can't be seen at other events. There is a large gathering of people that can be seen in public places, on roads, and near Pooja pandals. Every kind of Businessman and salesman gets a good profit in their business whether they are a small shopkeeper or a big Industrialist. Thus this festival is not only important from the point of view of feelings and emotions but also from the point of view of earning money. 

This festival brings a lot of happiness to all kinds of people whether rich or poor because rich people spend their money and poor people earn money during the four days of the festival.

Durga Puja is a festival of joy. People forget their pain, concern, and sorrow and got indulged in the festival.

The Legend 

The Legend of this festival is more exciting and Adventures as well. According to the Hindu scripture, Maa Durga had been invoked and transformed into a powerful lady from a common lady by all the Gods to destroy the wicked.

When the demon King Mahishasur started to bother all the Gods and they became scared and unsecured because Mahishasur was more powerful as he had a boon that he can be killed by a lady only. So all gods decided along with the Tridev the three major gods (Brahma, Vishnu, and Mahesh) that Goddess Parvati the wife of Lord Shiv will be empowered to destroy the demon King Mahishasur. 

Therefore, all the Gods gave their powerful weapons and their own power to Parvati. In this way, she became more and more powerful and she got a new name as well "Durga". She became a powerful goddess with 10 hands. Now she became able with all sides to kill the devil, and eventually, on the day of Mahalaya, she successfully killed Mahishasur and again got a new name "Mahishasurmardini".

Apart from this, there are many devils who were killed by Devi Durga.

Read the article to know more about it. 

Durga Puja 2022 | Date and Schedule | Significance | Legend