‘Coronasur’ to steal the charm out of the Puja of Mahishasur Mardini! writes Moumita Gupta

Oct. 5: The history of the evolution of Durga Puja is going to experience another big transformation in this era of coronavirus pandemic. Different from how we grew up witnessing Goddess Durga, she might be adorned in a different way this year. The Goddess is imagined to hold all the necessary weapons for defeating the ‘Coronasur’ (COVID-19 demon). When it comes to fighting deadly contagions like COVID-19, multi-armed goddesses were often invoked to slay the deadly pandemics which India has experienced from ancient times until the the modern age. The goddesses act as “celestial epidemiologists” curing illness. Durga Puja 2020 is all set to witness the Mahishasur Mardini slaying the mighty Coronasur.

It must be a very delicate call to decide on the festivity of Puja in this pandemic year – one needs to balance the trade-off between economy and public health judiciously. Should the festivity officially be suspended for this year? Certainly, there are idol-makers, craftsmen, dhakis, small shopkeepers, and many others who earn major parts of their yearly income out of this festivity. And these people would prefer the festivity to roll on, even if it’s restricted. But restrictions too needs to be restricted to certain extent. As pulling out all the wool from a woolen garment will convert it into an invisible attire, similarly too much dose of restrictions can convert celebrations to obsolescence.

Ahead of the Durga Puja festivities amidst the scare of COVID-19 pandemic, people in Cachar are caught in the web of restrictions issued in the form of the Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) issued by the District Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) Cachar. A carnival of the magnitude of Durga Puja has got is own connotation. So it is quite natural that a wide controversy was triggered by the SOP. But again, the question of balancing celebration of a festival and maintenance of public health could not be ignored.

Religious festivals across the globe and across religions have also been severely hit by coronavirus. This year’s Easter at Vatican was almost a solo performance by the Pope with an empty St. Peter’s Square, Eid prayers were held at the two holy mosques in Makkah and Madinah “without worshippers”, and Puri’s famous Rath Yatra was organised without devotees in a historic first. According to Fiocruz, Brazil’s leading public health institute, this new coronavirus was circulating in Brazil in early February, weeks before the Rio Carnival during February 21- 25. Thus, one would keep on wondering about the role of the carnival in turning Brazil into one of the epicentres of Covid-19. The festivity of Durga Puja is to be adjudged in this context before we can jump to any hardcore conclusion.

The slew of restrictions brought to place by the Deputy Commissioner of Cachar just 20 days before the biggest carnival of Bengalis has drawn strong repercussions from people in the district. Social media is replete with comments from netizens from different walks of life. Restrictions regarding the size & pattern of the idols ought to have been notified atleast before the Mahalaya. The idol makers and the puja committees are now caught in the horns of dilemma. No roadside eateries are permitted around the puja venues, whereas restaurants are allowed to serve food. But are all people economically capable of shelling out currency at the big food joints? Again prohibition imposed on plying of two wheelers during the puja speaks volume of inequality between the age old divide of rich and the poor! Further, it is hard to find the correlation between using loudspeakers by puja committees and the rise in the number of COVID-19 cases! Such instances could be multiplied.

Restrictions have perhaps become the order of the day, be it during Durga Puja or entering the village in Hathras in Uttar Pradesh where the family of the rape victims dwell. The word ‘restrictions’ should be prefixed by the word ‘reasonable’ (Reasonable restrictions), which would perhaps provide more judiciousness. However, what would happen to ‘social distancing’ if millions of people are out for pandal-hopping? Many political gatherings in the recent past in Barak Valley and other parts of Assam, Bihar etc. witnessed blatant violations of social distancing. The yardstick of measuring restrictions should ofcourse be the same in case of religious festivals and political conglomerations.

Since the time of Lockdown 1.0, the major issue of debate was ‘life versus livelihood,’ which continued to remain at the back of the mind of the government till the present phase of Unlock 5.0. In between, ‘livelihood’ seemed to have an upper hand on ‘life’. When the country witnessed some few hundreds of COVID-19 positive cases, lockdown in the strict sense of the term was imposed; whereas, when the number of positive cases are above 75,000 per day, the nation has entered the phase of ‘Unlock’ and have now reached to Unlock 5.0. Even a causal glance at the figures would reveal the fact that India has ofcourse paid heed to ‘livelihood’ more than ‘life’.

Puja provides a great opportunity for advertising and publicity, amid the spectacle of artistry and craftsmanship. With businesses severely hit, millions of job losses and increasing poverty and hunger, and the economy reaching the bottom due to the most severe pandemic in living memory, it’s almost clear that the common people would also find it extremely difficult to spend on food, apparel, electronic goods, and travel during the festival season. But at the same time, with no possibility of a vaccine by October, and coronavirus remaining within the system, the ‘usual’ festivity in Durga Puja might trigger another big outbreak of the epidemic. Perhaps, the urgent need of maintaining social distancing haunted the district administration for which severe restrictions were imposed.

The nation has come a long way since 1947. It is expected that the people have grown in maturity and so it can be expected that before thousands set out of their houses for pandal-hopping, they themselves will exhibit enough maturity by maintaining ‘social distancing’ not for fear of law but for keeping themselves out from the clutches of ‘Coronasur.’ In that case, there would not be any requirement of restrictions & policing. So a ‘toned down’ Durga Puja festival seemed to be on the cards wherein a judicious balance can be maintained between ‘life and livelihood.’ COVID-19 has undoubtedly increased the goddesses’ workload. And with no known cure and no viable vaccine, the contagion goddesses may well have their hands full for some time. Devotees can only hope and pray that Mahishasur Mardini in the incarnation of Coronasur Mardini will slain the virus and get rid our planet earth of the suffocating face mask.