Durga Puja is one of the major festivals of Hinduism, traditionally celebrated for 10 days in the month of Ashvin (September – October) and particularly celebrated in Bengal, Assam and other eastern states of India. It symbolizes the victory of Goddess Durga over the invincible Mahishasura and celebrates the divine feminine (Shakti). The environment begins to vibrate with Durga Puja fervour from Mahalaya, which is the last day of Pitru Paksha (a 16-lunar day period when Hindus pay homage to their ancestors), and officially starts from form the Sashti Tithi (the 6th day) when Goddess Durga is celebrated in various forms as Durga, Lakshmi and Saraswati. It ends with Vijayadashami with loud chants and drumbeats.

How is Durga Puja celebrated?

In northern India, people fast and light a lamp for nine days, a practice known as ‘Akhand Jyot’. They end this period of fast with Kanjak, where they invite nine girls below the age of 10 to their house and distribute gifts and offerings. It is believed that these ‘kanyas’ or girls are the forms of Goddess Durga. In Gujarat, the festival is also celebrated with the ‘Garba’ dance.

In southern India, people decorate the altar by organising steps in odd numbers and place toys and effigies of all deities. They invite everyone for a feast and exchange gifts. Each night is dedicated to the different forms of Goddess Durga.

Durga Puja Dates

• Starts on 19th Oct 2023 and ends on 24th Oct 2023

What is the significance of the Tithi and Dates during this period?

Maha Panchami (19th October 2023)

Is marked as the commencement of Durga Puja across India.

Shashti (20th October 2023)

On Shashti, which is the sixth day of the Durga Puja festival, it is believed that Goddess Durga descends on earth with her four children - Ganesha, Kartikeya, Lakshmi, and Saraswati. On this day, Goddess Durga’s idol is revealed to the public.

Saptami (21st October 2023)

Goddess Durga’s idol is invoked with life by the ritual of Pran Pratishtha. A banana tree is dressed in a sari and bathed in a river like a newly wedded bride and the process is called ‘Kola Bou’.

Ashtami (22nd October 2023)

Goddess Durga is worshipped as a young, virgin girl in a ritual called ‘Kumari Puja’. Sandhi Puja is performed to worship Chamunda Devi’s form of Goddess Durga.

Navami (23rd October 2023)

This is the last day of the festival when a Maha Arti (symbolic of removing darkness) is organized to mark the conclusion of the festival.

Vijaya Dashami (24th October 2023)

On the 10th day, the idol of Goddess Durga is taken for immersion to the river.

Significance of Goddess Durga’s idol

Though the festival starts in September or October, the artisans start making the idols months before, during summer. The process begins with prayers to Lord Ganesha and to the perceived divinity in materials such as bamboo frames in which the idols are cast.

The process of sculpture making starts with the clay, or alluvial soil, collected from different regions to form the base. It is believed that Goddess Durga is Prakriti (Mother Nature), present everywhere in the universe. The custom is to include soil samples in the clay mixture of Goddess Durga from areas believed to be ‘nishiddho pallis’ (forbidden territories such as brothels).

The clay is combined with straw, kneaded and molded into cast made from hay and bamboo. Then it is given shape, painted, polished, decorated, and displayed in the pandal for Durga Puja.

Collective Worship

This festival is a social and public event in the eastern and northeastern states of India, where it dominates religious and socio-cultural life. Temporary pandals are built at community squares, roadside shrines and temples. The festival starts at twilight with prayers to Goddess Saraswati, a manifestation of Goddess Durga who resides in all creations, in everything and everywhere.

On this day, the eyes of Goddess Durga are made. Ganesha Puja is also performed and devotees visit the pandal temples. Day Two represents the remembrance of the Goddess and her manifestations, such as Kumari (goddess of fertility), Mai (mother), Ajima (grandmother), Lakshmi (goddess of wealth) and, in some regions, as the Saptamatrikas (seven mothers) or Navadurga (nine manifestations of Durga). From Sashti Tithi, major festivities and social celebrations start.

Puja Ritual

• Paata Puja: The process of making an idol begins from Paata Puja on the day of Rath Yatra around July. Paata is the wooden frame that forms the idols.
• Bodhana: Involves rites to awaken and welcome the Goddess to be a guest, typically done on the sixth day of the festival.
• Adhivasa: Anointing rituals with symbolic offerings made to Goddess Durga; it is believed that each offering represents subtle forms of the Goddess. It is completed on the 6th day.
• Navapatrika Snan: Bathing of the navapatrika (nine planets) with holy water; done on the 7th day of the festival.
• Sandhi Puja and Ashtami Pushpanjali: They are performed on the 8th day which is at the cusp of the ending of the 8th day and beginning of the 9th day as it is considered to be the moment when Goddess Durga was in a battle with Mahishasura and attacked by the demons Chanda and Munda.
  Goddess Chamunda emerged from the third eye of Goddess Durga; killed Chanda and Munda at the cusp of Ashtami and Navami (8th and 9th day respectively). This moment is celebrated as Sandhi Puja by offering 108 lotuses and the lighting of 108 lamps.
  This ritual is performed in the last Ashtami Tithi of 24 minutes and first 24 minutes of Navami Tithi. The surrogate effigy is smeared with red vermillion to symbolize spilled blood. The Goddess is then offered food (‘bhog’).
• Dhunuchi Naach and Dhuno Pora: Dhunuchi Naach is a dance ritual performed with ‘dhunuchi’ (incense burner). Drummers called Dhakis, carrying large leather–strung ‘dhaks’ create music and do Puja and Arti.
• Yagna and Bhog: The 9th day of the festival is marked with a yagna (fire oblation) and bhog (feast). Some also perform Kanya Puja or Kanjak.
• Sindoor Khela and Immersion: The 10th and last day, called Vijayadashami, is marked by Sindoor Khela, where women smear sindoor or vermillion on the idols and also smear each other with it. Following the immersion, Durga is believed to return to her mythological marital home of Kailasha to Shiva and the cosmos in general. Distribution of sweets, gifts and family visits mark this day.

Visarjan – The farewell to Goddess Durga

On Vijayadashami, the idol of Durga and other effigies are carried through a huge procession to the local river, where they are immersed and this custom is followed as symbolic of the departure of the deity to her home and to her husband, Shiva, in the Himalayas. The idols are biodegradable made of clay soil, straw, and wood.

The environmental activists have raised the concern and banned the use of hazardous paints, and various state governments have started distributing lead free paints to artisans at no cost to prevent pollution. Images of the Goddess along with the huge lion, the demon Mahishasura, the different pandals decorated with bamboo structures, and temples are then removed.