Durga Puja can be defined as a festival of joy, happiness and re-union for the people of West Bengalis. Bengalis wait for this auspicious festival whole of the year and start with its preparations one month prior to the festival. This year Durga Puja is all set to commence on 26th September and end up on 30th September bringing joy and happiness in the lives of the people. This festival has a great significance when it comes to Durga Maa idol making and the fasts that people do.
This festival is basically a five-day event but in the homes of Bengalis, this can be termed as a month-long event as it takes the people, artisans and the organisers to take place to everything approximately one month to bring the best of the puja. On the first day that is also known as the Panchami, the Durga idol and also the idols of Saraswati, Laxmi, Kartik and Ganesh are unveiled to the people. On the day of Panchami, Ananda Mela takes place where it’s a tradition of local women sharing their special food recipies and culinary skills in the evening before the puja begins. The items include delicious Roshogulla, Chops, Cutlets, Bhajja(Different fried items) and many more mouth-watering food which compel all the people to visit the Ananda Mela for sure atleast once.
It is a tradition that on the day of Durga Puja, people wake up early and keep a fast till the Anjali that takes place every morning and which they break their fast with fruits and sweets. The beautiful pandals across the city adds to the beauty of the puja. Then after the Anjali ends up different games for enjoyment are played by the ladies of the community and then the Bhog takes place of the Durga Maa where several devotees are served food which includes, Khichdi, mixed vegetables, Begun bhaja (eggplant fritters), tomato chutney, papad, rajbhog and payesh(Kheer).
The calender of Durga Puja for the year 2017 is as follows: Mahalaya-17th September, Maha Panchami-25th September, Maha Shashti- 26th September, Maha Saptami- 27th September, Maha Ashtami-28th September, Maha Navami- 29th September and Vijay Dashami- 30th September. This is a best festival of the Bengalis which is full of lights, enjoyment, dance, drama and food.
