kalabou...
Till 1998 I used to go to my ancestral home in a village for durgapuja, then we shifted to kolkata first temporarily then permanently and it stopped.
In our hearts durgapuja starts from janmashtami, when the first touch is given to the idol in our puja dalan (the place where deity is placed during puja).
The complete feeling starts to flood in with the first dhak (drum) beats of vishwakarma puja (it falls on 17th september, I believe its celebrated as per english date).. then the recitation by birendrakrishna bhadra on Mahalaya, and the magic is complete. The countdown used to start.
Shashti morning meant the gathering of relatives one by one in our burdwan home. By afternoon we were in our village home with every thing packed with us. A generator set with electrical appliances, a cook, cooking utensils, grocery.. every thing including our personal stuff.
In every old family which holds durgapuja perfectly durgapuja starts on shashti evening, with inviting the goddess in the deity (clay idol) .. it is called pranpratishtha (bringing in the soul). None of us could imagine missing it, it’s a magical journey and we could feel the Goddess gently descending inside the clay body. Deity becomes mother.
Shashti mainly passed away in settling ourselves with all the bag and baggages in the home already cleaned up after being deserted for almost an year. And in relishing the company of all the relatives that have been able to gather, and a short trip around the home.. in the village.
Mahasaptami:
There is a asana (a seat) outside my village home, where an ancestor of mine has meditated and finally he saw mother goddess Kali.
There is a popular belief in our village that she still protects our ancestral home from mischievous creatures after darkness..people have seen her more than once (I am not one of those blessed souls).
So the asana is called panchamundi’s asana because five heads (including a human) are buried there.
Before every holy occasion this place is worshipped, every morning during durgapuja the dhakis (drummers) play their drums there at 4 AM. That’s wake up call for those who want to go to puja dalan to either see the puja completely or do stuffs, like mine was stiching garlands.. a huge number of them are required every morning. Candidates for stiching were too little then and there was an additional headache.. we had to collect the flowers too.. in an alien place, where we come only for five days every year.
So I rarely missed the dhakis.. I used to get up within a few minutes and change to look for flowers.
Saptami morning meant taking kalabou (Ganesha’s wife) to the river and bathe her. After that she was wrapped in a red border white saree and brought back with the kalash filled with water. She was escorted by girls of the family who waited with two kamandalus ( a special kind of jug with a very narrow pouring part like kettles), they used to sprinkle water in front of the people carrying her.. it meant sanctifying the path of the goddess.
Then the puja started. I used to stay in the puja dalan as much as possible.. leaving only once before arati to take my bath and change for the pushpanjali. Arati is worshipping the god/goddesses with various articles.. which are required by any one every day. Pushpanjali is of course the offering of flowers.
After that we used to retire to the home with prasad.. nothing else for the day, the sandhya arati .. a very long affair was held at night.
The in between time was utilized chatting with each other. Or sight seeing. Well, my village is quite beautiful. Its situated on the bank of damodar and is green.. full of bamboo groves, gardens, ponds and fields of various vegetables, rice and other things.
Sitting beside the river for hours is enough joy. Especially if you are chatting with a huge group of cousins. The crystal clear water is flowing through the sand, split in narrow streams.. it’s a divine sight for nature lovers.
A formal visit to home is made for lunch and then we either slept or went off again to return at the dusk.
Then it was tea time, music and stories. Clustered in the same room relishing each other’s company till the sandhya arati started. Of course we had to change dresses half heartedly before that.
After atleast an hour of sandhya arati we used to return for another round of chatting and eating.. finally hitting the floor.. yes, no bed nothing.. only bed sheet, pillows and mosquito net. But sleep came like a fairy with magic wand. We used to wake up only because of one reason barking of dogs, who used to gather in flocks for the left overs.
Mahashtami
This is the third day of Durgapuja. The most important day to Bengalis who perform this puja seriously, in orthodox way. Special puja is held at the junction of mahashtami and mahanavami it is called sandhikshan-the meeting moment. Every family which has been holding this puja for atleast a century have their own special rituals for this sandhipuja- arati and pushpanjali at sandhikshan; ours is offering 108 lotus and light up a tray with 108 pradeeps.
I have never missed the pushpanjali of sandhikshan, it means staying put without even a drop of water till the pushpanjali, the latest pushpanjali I remember was at two in the morning.
We had to bloom those lotus buds petal by petal very carefully before sandhikshan. That was a great get together of the entire family in the pujadalan. It hardly mattered he was fasting or not, every one loved to bloom those lotuses.
If the Sandhikshan was late that meant we were split in two parts, a considerable portion relaxing in the home while the other not so considerable portion was out, roaming in the village as usual. I was in the second part. It was no use sitting at home and watch others eating, was it?
Mahanabami
Mahanabami used to bring a feeling of sadness with it. In old families there is not much to do in vijayadashami morning, specially for members. Though my seniors used to ask for some garlands, but I believe that was because they wanted to console us.
So Mahanabami means almost end of puja, and beginning of waiting for another year. A deep sense of sadness creeps in, no matter how much you try to push it away.
There was only one bonus, the sandhyarati used to be very long, well, our arati used to be amply long in the first place, because the priests used to go as slow as possible while we stood there choking in the smoke created by incense sticks and dhuno (a powder which creates thick, perfumed smoke when sprinkled on simmering fire created by coconut skin).
It used to be our target to stand near the pillars, so we could lean on them during those long hours of arati. The youngsters competed for the chamars (a monstrous brush like thing used for the purpose of hand-fans).
Vijayadashami
Vijayadashami meant end of the fun days. Those who used to wake up early to do the puja arrangements could stay in bed for a little late. Only those who were absolutely devoted woke up early and left for the pujadalan.
After a brief puja the priest used to move the mangalghat a little, that meant that the Goddess has left for her home. Then some special rituals were held. The eldest bride of the whole family used to take a tray of rice and pradeeps from the pujadalan to laxmir ghar (the room where the goddess of wealth, Malakshmi resides). Then the men used to write the name of mother goddess durga on the leaves of bel, well we women joined them in the later years. How can we be deprived of that pleasure?
Then the mangalghat was immersed in river, any one who wanted to accompany it was allowed to do so. We used to utilize this occasion for a lengthy bath in the river.
Then the married women of the family used to apply sindur to the deity and feed sweets to her. It’s quite a well known ritual these days, called sindurkhela, its one of the favourite display of movies and serials, after dhunuchi nach (which is not a part of our puja).
The deity is carried outside the pujadalan in the evening, that is the only occasion when we can touch it, and we touch its feet.
Carriers take her away for immersion after the darkness falls; the men of the family accompany her, women crowd on the roof to see her as far as we can. Usually at-least one of the male members carry flashlight with them and keep shining it on her face so we could get her glimpses.
Then we come downstairs and start a short tour, offering our pranams to half a dozen temples around the home. Then we touch the feet of elders and hug those who refuse to touch feet or receive pranams. By the time we women have finished it men used to return and change into typical Bengali dress – dhuti panjabi, after that we all used to gather in the pujadalan.
Then the men used to touch the feet of elders, that was a beautiful thing to watch. They were seated seniority wise and the ceremony started from the youngest. Touching feet and hugging each other. This ceremony over a small function was held that every one back to their homes. Sad and tired.
Ekadashi
Ekadashi meant goodbye time. Wake up as late as you wish. My ekadashi meant roaming around the village wearing my gown, with a cup of tea in my hand.
We cant imagine that happiness in urban pujas. We used to return to our urban homes after taking the lunch and resting for a while.
With the deep yearning for the next puja.
