The Auspicious Occasion of Mahalaya And Its Celebrations In Bengal

“Durgotsav” in Bengal people are anxious about one and only season of festivity and that is Durga Puja. Adults and children both alike are overly anxious about this festival and the first day of festivities begun from the day of Mahalaya.

Some of us who have been lucky enough to spend time in Kolkata know exactly the process and rituals . so today we will take you down a trip to authentic Bengal as to how and why Mahalaya is so important in here?

Mahalaya signifies the termination of Pitri Paksha and the beginning of Devi Paksha, thus ushering in the season of religious festivals. Mahalaya day is religiously observed by performing this important ritual to remember our ancestors by doing the Tarpan in the names of those who were our near and dear ones but who are no longer alive with us today. In Bengal however Mahalaya is a day when through chants and the sound of Dhak the priests all over the state invoke Goddess Durga the supremem power to leave the abode of heaven, they revoke her to rise, awake and descend on earth and annihilate the evils of the world.

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Maa Durga is worshipped in Bengal as their daughter and thus on Mahalaya it is believed that she starts her journey with her sons Ganesha, Karthik and daughters Saraswati and Laxmi from her husband Shiva’s abode in Mount Kailash in the Himalayas to her parental home in the plains.

The artisans of Kumartolli await till the day of Mahalaya to draw the eye of Durga as they think it to be Unaspiciuos to open her eyes before the Devi paksha Begins.

Durgostav is celebrated in many forms all over the country and each region has its own rituals as to how they bring home a daughter and celebrate her return.