Durga Puja, the special festival of the Bengalis.The people of Bengal celebrating this festival as victory of Devi Durga over the devil of devils Mahisashura.Every year Durga Puja take place during the ARSHIN MASH(setember-october).After MAHALAYA "DEVI- POKSHO" starts like PRATHAMA,DITIYA and it continu to DASHAMI. SAPTAMI,ASTAMI,NAVAMI and DASHAMI are the four main days of the festivals.
The myths surrounding the history of Durga Puja in Bengal tell a very interesting story. Once the demon Mahisasura succeeded to please Lord Shiva through his sincere meditation. As a result, Lord Shiva blessed him with an immortal life. After this incident Mahisasura turned into his true self and started killing people without a second thought.
Viewing such an atrocity, the Gods went to Lord Shiva and requested him to teach the demon a lesson. It is then that Lord Shiva used his third eye or trinayan and made a Goddess who had been endowed with one special power of each of the Gods of the heaven. The Goddess was given the name of Durga. A lion became her vahana and she went out of the paradise to kill Mahisaura. On killing the demon, Gods blessed Devi Durga and started rejoicing . In the ASHTAMI on which day SANDHI Puja is performed and vegetarian dishes or bhog is served to the devotees. Navami comes after ashtami, which is followed by vijaya dashami when the idol of Goddess Durga is taken to the banks of River Ganges for immersion.
vijaya dashami is the ending of a four-day long celebration, On that all bengali distributes sweets between themselves.
Durga Puja, the special festival of the Bengalis can be sensed with its spurt
of fanfare on all the four days of the Durga Puja festival. This autumnal festival
popularly known as Sharodotsav, recalls the power of female Shakti symbolized by
the Goddess Durga who slays asura to reestablish peace and sanctity on earth again.
Bengalis all over the world during these days of Durga Puja rejoice to their heart's
content reconnecting with friends and relatives. Durga Puja is an occasion when the
familiar sound of Dhak, Dhunuchi nachh,the mild fragrance of Shiuli, gives a familiar
tug to every Bengali heart.
Mahalaya marks the advent of Durga Puja, the bigest occasion of the Bengalis. The stay of Goddess Durga on Earth is only four days long. But Mahalaya starts before seven days with the chanting of ‘Mahisasura Mardini’ at dawn. ‘Debipaksha’ starts from this day. Goddess Durga is invited on Earth by the chanting of “Jago Tumi Jago”.
Early at dawn people go to Ganga and pray for their demised relatives while standing in the water. This entire process is known as Torpon. Mahalaya holds immense importance for the Bengalis. At noon the rituals are brought to an end. New clothes and sweets are offered by the devotees to their forefathers.
The Story Mahishasura was a demon who had threatened gods to throw them out of heaven. He terrified all staying in the heaven and was a big threat to the existence of the entire universe. He was indomitable due to a boon bestowed upon him by Brahma. He had gained this after a hard meditation. No God, be it Indra, the king of the Hindu gods, or be it Kumara, commander of the armies in heaven, could defeat him. Being helpless the gods asked Vishnu to help them. Vishnu first took the form of Narasimha and then that of Varaha, but failed to defeat Mahishasura. Shiva opened his third eye, which could destroy all the three worlds, to set free the fire of disaster. But that was also in vain. Suddenly then Brahma brought out a lightning stream from his mouth and Goddess Brahmi appeared on a swan with books of knowledge in her hand. Similarly Indrani, Kaumari, Vaishnavi, Varahi and Shivani came into being. They combined with each other and the beautiful Goddess Durga arose. All the gods gifted Durga with ten different weapons and then she prepared for the fight riding on a lion. After a great battle, Mahishasura was defeated by the Goddess when she stroked the demon’s heart with her trident.