In many parts of Bengal, the worship of Devi Jagaddhatri is performed on the ninth day (Navami Tithi) of the bright fortnight (Shukla Paksha) of Kartik month. Although Jagaddhatri Puja is not celebrated as widely as Durga Puja, and is hardly known outside Bengal, the Goddess holds a supreme place among the Tantric practitioners. In…
In his teachings, Sage Medhas first narrated the tale of Mahishasuramardini, the slayer of the buffalo demon, followed by the story of Chanda and Munda’s destruction. He proclaimed that Devi Chandi, consort of the Supreme Brahman, is the great cosmic power whose worship alone rescues humanity from suffering and peril. At the sage’s advice, Raja…
Durga Puja, Bengal’s grandest festival today, has a history as layered as the rituals themselves. One popular account credits Raja Kangsanarayan of Taherpur with organizing the first grand royal Durga Puja in the late 16th century. Appointed as Diwan of Bengal and Bihar under Emperor Akbar, Kangsanarayan later retired to Rajshahi and turned to religion…
According to the Purāṇas, the origins of Durga Puja trace back not to autumn, but to spring. It is said that Raja Surath, along with a merchant named Samadhi, once worshipped Goddess Durga during the season of Basant, at the hermitage of Sage Medhas. This came to be known as Basantī Puja. In fact, the…
In Bengal, Durga Puja represents more than a religious observance; it is an intricate cultural phenomenon, deeply embedded in both region and psyche. The festival’s presence is perceptible not only in ritual but in environmental cues—the shiuli blossoms, the shifting quality of seasonal light, and the pervasive beat of the dhaak drum. For five days,…
For a few incandescent days each autumn, Kolkata stops being a city and remembers it is a story. The pavements turn into footnotes, the avenues into chorus lines, and every neighborhood—para, lane, bylane—becomes a luminous stanza in the poem of Durga Puja. Clay breathes. Bamboo whispers. The conch calls. And the Mother arrives—not only as…
The entire mythological framework of Durga Puja is enshrined in the Devi Mahatmya (“The Glory of the Goddess”), a foundational text of Shaktism that constitutes chapters 81 through 93 of the Markandeya Purana. Composed around the 5th or 6th century CE, this text is the first in high Sanskrit literature to elevate the Goddess to the status of…
Mythical and Scriptural Roots: The worship of goddess Durga originates from ancient Hindu scriptures, especially the Devi Mahatmya (part of the Markandeya Purana, roughly composed by the 5th-6th century CEM. This text celebrates the divine feminine power (Shakti) who defeats the buffalo demon Mahishasura, symbolizing cosmic victory of good over evil. Early Bengal Practices: While…
1. Devi as Primordial Power The text opens by establishing Nirguna Bhagavati—the formless, transcendent goddess—as the foundational reality from which all existence emerges. Identified variously as Adi Parashakti or Brahman, she is posited as both the origin and sustaining principle of the cosmos. All creative, preservative, and dissolving forces in the universe ultimately derive their…
When examining Durga’s characterization as Adi Prakriti within Shaktism, one confronts a nuanced and foundational strand of Hindu philosophy. Durga, or Mahadevi, is not simply positioned as a divine figure but as the primordial substratum and creative impetus of the entire cosmos. This theme is especially pronounced in the Devi Bhagavata Purana and other core…