The most auspicious days for Bengalis during Dassera are the 6th (Sashtami), 7th (Saptami), 8th (Ashtami), 9th (Nabami) and 10th (Dashami). Of these Ashtami is the most important day. Ant R’s father enlightened us about its importance. Legend has it that before Lord Ram went to Lanka to fight the demon king Ravan and rescue Sita, he conducted a ’sandhi puja’ offering a havan (holy fire) to Ma Durga. One of the most critical ingredients of this havan was the offering of 108 blue lotuses. So Laxman, Hanuman and their army of simians gathered 108 blue lotuses with great difficulty. However when Lord Ram counted there were only 107 lotuses. So the entire lot had to be discarded and they had to go through the entire rigmarole again. Yet again the count showed one less. This went on for some time till Lord Ram realised that there was some divine meaning to this trick and appealed to Ma Durga that in order to complete the count he would offer one of his eyes to her (as he was also called ‘kamala nayana’ or ‘lotus eyed’). Satisfied with the offering, Ma Durga accepted the 108 blue lotuses and blessed Lord Ram with victory. And the rest as they say is mythology…

On Ashtami most girls wear a saree and deck up in their finery. Aunty lent me her Bonkai Oriya Silk sari (which I draped in typical Bengali style complete with a cotton jhola and keychain) and Ant R wore a black & red batik print sari while SK who hates draping saris stuck to a loose silk black and white salwar kameez. At the risk of sounding pompous, I will say that all of us looked pretty in our Indian wear; a far cry from the usual denims we lounge around in. The cotton jhola (bag) that I carried had the message ’save the tigers’ with saffron and bottle green stripes on an off white background. Seeing this Ant R’s dad remarked “Mamta Bannerjee will be very happy to see you”. I thought it was because of the tiger message till he clarified that these were similar to the colours of Trinamool Congress .

Aunty for some reason felt very happy to see us and since I kinda matched her in size (am not really thin you see), announced that she had adopted me for a day:-). Not only this she went on to add that she had titles for us to introduce to prospective grooms. Since I was the most traditionally dressed, I was titled ‘ready to serve’ (it conjured an image of me on a serving tray like a stuffed turkey taken to be carved), SK was ‘easy to handle’ (a title by which both Ant R & I disagreed…SK is anything but easy to handle and her bark is worse than her bite) and lastly Ant R was ‘handle with care’ (due to her petite frame and sharp tongue).  

The entire group trooped to the Sovabazar Rajbati (or Purani Bari as it is popularly known) where Durga Puja was first celebrated in October 1757 (2 months after the battle of Plassey). Since then the Puja has been held here every year with descendents of the family coming down only for the festival. The bari which surrounds a garden area on 4 sides is in ruins with the back portion having almost caved in. Only a small part is habitable which is where the Durga Puja is held. The casts used to make the idols are the same as those used in 1757 resulting in the idols looking the same till date. 

On Dashami (the last day of Durga Puja, which is also the time for immersion), we accompanied aunty to a nearby pandal for Sindoor Khela (celebrated or rather played by married women only). In this, the women first apply sindoor (vermillion powder symbolising matrimony) to all the statues, stuff Sandesh (a traditional milk based Bengali sweet) into their mouths and wipe their faces with betel leaves. This is symbolic of wiping Ma Durga’s tears as she is supposedly headed to her in-law’s place from her maternal home.

The immersion process too is very different as compared to our Ganesh visarjan. The entire set of idols are first tied to a wooden or bamboo frame which is then tied between 2 boats that go deep into the river and gradually drift apart thereby slowly immersing the idols in the water. Since the idols are made of clay, they quickly dissolve in water unlike Ganesh idols that are washed ashore often dismembered and in pitiable conditions. The frames are retained to be recycled and reused fo Laxmi Puja or Kali Puja and in many cases even till the next Durga Puja. Those pandals that have terracota work sell the murals, panels etc. to devotees who install these in their homes.

With this the 10days of Durga Puja come to an end and the simplicity of the festival truly strikes a harmonious balance between nature & devotion.