Detailed Information about Durga Puja Festival & Its Importance

India, the land of the festivals has been showing to the world the grandeur in the festivals that pop up one after other in some or the other part of the Indian subcontinent. During the months of October and November the much awaited holidays of the year brings with it lots of joy and plenty of festivals. Durga Puja is the main festival of west Bengal during which the women of Bengal can be seen clad in the red and white saris the beauty of the pandals and the beating of the drums everywhere that fills the heart of every person with a rhythm of joy and happiness. This is a time of plenty of food and more that of the sweets specially the rosogullas, the name that has no match all over India.

Durga puja is a 10 day celebration in which the first day begins with the placing of the idols with the chanting of the sacred hymns dedicated to the goddess Durga who is known to be the destroyer of the infamous demon mahisasur. To commemorate the victory of the good over the evil the ten day celebrations take place in which the children, adults and the aged people also get out in the streets to see the beautiful preparations. The streets and the pandals in most of the places all across Bengal are lit up with lots of lightening that make the state dazzle with bright and the colourful twinkling lights. There infact can be seen competitions In most of the places about the decorations and the awards are given to the best ones making the occasion not only holy but also enjoyable for the visitors that pour into Bengal to view the grand celebrations of the state.

These are the times when the traditional wears are can be seen worn by the people. It also is the times when the age old customs are remembered by the people. The celebrations see the people performing fasts for the 10 days or just relying on the vegetarian diet or fruits. The main days are the last four days of the 10 day celebration the Saptami, Ashtami, Navami and Dashami.

Durga puja in west Bengal can be traced back to the 1500 AD when the Jamindar of Dinajpur and Malda districts of west Bengal first initiated the celebrations in the state. According to the mithoilogy goddesses durga was created with the collected powers of the gods. The goddesses were created with ten hands that bear a leathal weapon in each one. The pandals also usually feature the idols of the so called four children of the goddesses namely Kartikeya, Ganesha, Saraswati and Lakshmi.

The idol makers put all their efforts into making the idols of not just the goddesses but also the demon. It requires a great amount of skill to make these idols and the artisans can be seen to bring out magnificent idols and that too just in time. So there must be a sincere thanks to the artists behind the scenes who have been put their generations in the making of these idols that make the Durga Puja come alive every year and everything seems so simple.