Hindu Festival: Durga Puja

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This weekend I am celebrating the biggest Hindu festival in North East India – also known as the Durga Puja. This 10 day festival (which in England we only celebrate for 3 days because most people are only free on Friday night, Saturday and Sunday) marks the victory of the goddess Durga over the buffalo demon king.

 In Hindu mythology, the origin of Durga was because of a need to vanquish a demon, which all other Gods could not defeat. So, they (Brahma the creator, Vishnu the preserver and Shiva the destroyer) combined their energies to create this supreme feminine being. Legend has it she went to war and slayed the demon- since then she has been a symbol of the triumph of good over evil. 
                                   

Over the festival days, this ten armed goddess is worshipped in many different forms including fire ceremonies, prayers and cultural performances. I have actually danced quite a few times at this event, but let’s talk about that another time…

Traditionally, on the last day of the Puja,the idol is taken to a river and immersed to symbolise the departure of Durga back home to her husband Shiva in the Himalayas. 
We never do that though as we re-use the idol every year, so we can’t exactly put it in the river...

  Also on the last day, married women offer red powder to the Goddess and throw it on each other as well; almost like what you see happens during the Holi festival. It looks really fun, but obviously I haven’t done it yet!

So there you have a brief snapshot of some of the things I have and will experience this weekend. I could go into much more detail of what happens on each day, but frankly that would take time which I would rather spend actually celebrating. So far it has been a weekend of colour, music and culture and I'm excited to see what today and tomorrow will bring!

Have a lovely weekend ☺

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