Durga Puja
Durga Puja or Sharadotsav is an annual Hindu festival in South Asia that celebrates worship of the Hindu goddess Durga. It refers to all the six days observed as Mahalaya, Shashthi, Maha Saptami, Maha Ashtami, Maha Navami and Vijayadashami. The dates of Durga Puja celebrations are set according to the traditional Hindu calendar and the fortnight corresponding to the festival is called Devi Paksha (Bengali: দেবী পক্ষ, ‘Fortnight of the Goddess’). Devi Paksha is preceded by Mahalaya (Bengali: মহালয়া), the last day of the previous fortnight Pitri Paksha, ‘Fortnight of the Forefathers’), and is ended on Kojagori Lokkhi Puja (‘Worship of Goddess Lakshmi on Kojagori Full Moon Night’). (Wikipedia, 2004)
Durga Puja festival marks the victory of Goddess Durga over the evil buffalo demon Mahishasura. Thus, Durga Puja festival epitomizes the victory of Good over Evil.
Durga Puja is celebrated as a major festival in Bangladesh all over the places of Dhaka, Chittagong, Khulna, Sylhet, Rajshahi, Rangpur, Bogra and other major places and all the villages of Bangladesh where the 10% population is Hindu.3-day National Holiday is being declared and most of the educational institutions remain closed as it is one of the major national festival also in Bangladesh which is widely celebrated and peoples from all religion participate in the program. (Wikipedia, 2004)
Creation of the idols
The entire process of creation of the idols (murti) from the collection of clay to the ornamentation is a holy process, supervised by rites and other rituals. On the Hindu date of Akshaya Tritiya when the Ratha Yatra is held, clay for the idols is collected from the banks of a river, preferably the Ganges. There is age-old custom of collecting a handful of soil (punya mati) from the nishiddho pallis literally 'forbidden territories ', where sex workers live, and adding it to the clay mixture which goes into the making of the Durga idol. After the required rites, the clay is transported from which
Durga Puja festival marks the victory of Goddess Durga over the evil buffalo demon Mahishasura. Thus, Durga Puja festival epitomizes the victory of Good over Evil.
Durga Puja is celebrated as a major festival in Bangladesh all over the places of Dhaka, Chittagong, Khulna, Sylhet, Rajshahi, Rangpur, Bogra and other major places and all the villages of Bangladesh where the 10% population is Hindu.3-day National Holiday is being declared and most of the educational institutions remain closed as it is one of the major national festival also in Bangladesh which is widely celebrated and peoples from all religion participate in the program. (Wikipedia, 2004)
Creation of the idols
The entire process of creation of the idols (murti) from the collection of clay to the ornamentation is a holy process, supervised by rites and other rituals. On the Hindu date of Akshaya Tritiya when the Ratha Yatra is held, clay for the idols is collected from the banks of a river, preferably the Ganges. There is age-old custom of collecting a handful of soil (punya mati) from the nishiddho pallis literally 'forbidden territories ', where sex workers live, and adding it to the clay mixture which goes into the making of the Durga idol. After the required rites, the clay is transported from which
Bibliography: Society for Confluence of Festivals in India. (2012, September 28). Durga Puja. Retrieved May 6, 2013, from Durga Puja Website: http://www.durga-puja.org/the-rituals.html Wikipedia. (2004, January 12). Wikipedia. Retrieved May 7, 2013, from Wikipedia Web site: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Durga_Puja .