Mahisasurmardini Durga worshipped on ‘Navami’

October 18: The festive fervour of the devotees during the days of Durga Puja 2018 was noteworthy. However, the enthusiasm reached its zenith on the last two days of this auspicious festival.The day of Maha Navami carries special connotation in the religious parlor.

On Maha navami, Goddess Durga is worshipped in the form ‘Mahisasurmardini’ which means the destroyer of Buffalo Demon. It was on this Maha Navami day Goddess Durga defeated and killed buffalo demon Mahishasura and veered off his head using a trishool (a three-headed spear given to her by Lord Shiva). This year the Ashtami tithi ends on 17th October, 12:49 PM, post which starts the Navami tithi. Mahanavami begins with Mahasnan and Shodashopachar Puja. A special puja called Sandhi Puja is carried out when the Ashtami tithi ends and Navami tithi starts. This interval is said to be very auspicious. The Goddess is worshipped with 108 lotus flowers and bilva leaves.

At the juncture of Maha Ashtami and Maha Navami ‘Sandhi Puja’ is also performed. Generally considered as one of the main rituals of Durga Puja, it takes place during the last 24 minutes of Ashtami and the first 24 minutes of Navami. It is also known as ‘Sandhikhan’ in Bengali. This year Mahanavami starts on 17th October and would end on 18th October. Navami Tithi Begins – 12:49 PM on 17/Oct/2018 and Navami Tithi Ends – 15:28 PM on 18/Oct/2018 (Source: Drikpanchang.com)

In many parts of the country, Hindu households hold ‘Kanjak’ or Kanya Puja. Nine girls are welcomed into the house by first washing their feet. They are then tied a moli (red thread) around their wrists. These girls are seated in a line and served a delicious bhog of halwa, poori and chole. They are also given gifts like pencils, tiffin boxes and hair clips. Young girls, who have not hit puberty yet, are seen as embodiment of Goddess Durga herself and are thus treated with much love and affection. Some observe the ritual of Kanjak on Ashtami or the eighth day of Navratri too.

Durga Balidaan Puja is performed on Durga Navami during the Apharna Kaal. A ‘havan’ is mandatory on this day, to conclude the Navratri Puja. At Silchar too, ‘Balidaan’ or animal sacrifice took place at Shyamananda Ashram. Devotees donated pigeons, goats for sacrifices.

On Navami a delicious feast consisting of khichdi, mixed vegetables, papad, tomato chutney, roshogolla and payesh are prepared and served at several pandals. Known as bhogs, devotees stand in line to get a taste of it and in many ways, eating the ‘bhog’ completes the Durga Puja celebrations.

From the last few years, the Durga Puja of Udharbond has carved a niche for itself. Without viewing the puja pandals of Udharbond, especially the puja of Kalibari Road, pandal hopping seems to be incomplete. This year too, the beautifully decorated pandal in the form of Titanic attracted multitude of devotees.

There was special arrangement to enter the Titanic pandal without waiting in the queue for long by paying rupees 100 or 50. But a thing which many of the devotees complained is that people in the general queue were made to wait for around 2 to 3 hours before they could enter inside the pandal. This is a problematic aspect for the aged, children and female. Probably, the puja committee has failed to depute enough volunteers for crowd management. However, people are hopeful that the Kalibari Puja Committee at Udharbond will device some mechanisms next year so that people are not made to wait in the queue for long hours.

In all the three districts of Barak Valley, devotees thronged the puja pandals in large numbers. There were people on the streets 24×7. It seemed that the towns were awake all throughout and enthusiasm of the people knew no bounds. The most significant aspect of Durga Puja 2018 was that it was totally a peaceful one without any information of any untoward incident as of now. Do visit way2barak on the day of Bijaya Dashami to have a glimpse of idol immersion.

Best wishes to all our readers from way2barak.