| Wisconsin Bengali community's Durga Puja 2007 Keeping spiritual and cultural tradition alive By Heidi M. Pascual |
| "Puja" means worship, and "Durga Puja" is the worship of Durga, the 10-armed goddess who slew the evil Mahishasur. For the Hindus all over the world, particularly those from West Bengal, Durga Puja is their most important festival. In Wisconsin, the Bengali Association of Madison and the Bengali Cultural Society of Milwaukee joined hands to celebrate their 24th annual Durga Puja on October 20 at Verona Middle School. On the stage was built an elaborate "pandal," a work of art in itself, with Durga on the center, standing over a lion mount and the slain Mahishasur, and wielding 10 weapons in her 10 hands. The pandal, colored in gold over lotus petals on top, was the religious center of the event, where the attendees offered their prayers and flowers. There were ritual dance worships called aarati to the rhythmic beats of the drums. The day started with prayers led by Raghuchandra Bhatt, a priest from Hindu Temple of Wisconsin, followed by flower offerings to the gods (Pushpanjali), and then food offering and for blessing (Prasad). According to Saswati Bhattacharya, Durga Puja is also a celebration of good over evil. "In a way, we can think about this |
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| The cultural program, dedicated to Ma Durga, consisted of musical numbers, poetry, and a skit, all in the tradition of West Bengal and other areas also celebrating Durga Puja every year. It was both a spiritual gathering and a celebration of culture in Wisconsin. |
| being or this woman who has the capability of working as 10, and she is adorned with all the weapons needed to take out the evil," Bhattacharya explained. "The evil in this case is Mahishasur, who could take different forms, and one form he has taken in this particular case is mahish, meaning buffalo, and asur, meaning the evil." Mahishasur, the demon, unleashed all his powers so he could rule the world. To defeat him, the gods created a woman (Devi/Durga), gave her weapons necessary to fight him and gave her powers. "Lord Shiva gave her the trishul or the trident,"Bhattacharya said, "Indra gave her the thunderbolt; and a few others like Chandra, gave her beauty, so Devi was so beautiful. Devi was then sent to fight the evil. Mahishasur, who could take on many forms, first tried to woo Devi by his [good looks]. Devi said, 'I'm way superior than you.' So he kept on taking different forms, and finally when he turned into Mahish, Devi actually killed him." |
| From top) Worship dances; Anupama and Saswati Bhattacharya |
| (Above) Sougata Bardhan, Prasenjit Sengupta, Jayati Lodh, and Sruti Banerjee |
| (From top) Dance and songs for Durga |