#durga puja festival

[sheltiechicago]

This photo was shot on a rainy day in a street in Dhaka. I saw this rickshaw puller taking shelter from the rain in his rickshaw, trying to save himself from the rain. The longing on his face made me emotional.

EMBRACING SIMPLICITY: ASHRAFUL AREFIN’S FINE ART PHOTOGRAPHY TALE

In the realm of fine art photography, Ashraful Arefin, hailing from Dhaka, Bangladesh, has a unique gift for transforming everyday moments into extraordinary art. Born on May 3rd, his photographic journey began in 2013 with a 365-day project that ignited a deep passion for photography.

This image was shot in the river Yamuna, Delhi. I saw this man rowing his raft filled with trash collected from the river. Suddenly there were migratory birds surrounding him in search of food. I found it really interesting and he looked like a character from a storybook.

This image was shot during the Durga Puja festival in Dhaka, Bangladesh. 

[subir-astrologer]

NAVRATRI / MAA DURGA PUJA

Navratri and Durga Puja are two major Hindu festivals celebrated with great enthusiasm across India, though their significance and style of celebration vary across regions.

Navratri, meaning "Nine Nights," is a festival dedicated to the worship of Goddess Durga in her nine forms. It typically spans nine days and nights and occurs twice a year – Chaitra Navratri (spring) and Sharad Navratri (autumn). The autumn Navratri is more widely celebrated and culminates in Dussehra or Vijayadashami, marking the victory of good over evil.

The chief deity adorned on these days is the feminine principle of the divinity. Therefore, all the forms of Mother Goddesses are heralded, worshiped and adorned on these days. Called as Shakti, the female energy represents the universe, while Shiva represents the consciousness or soul.

Maa Durga is the ultimate source of power who takes care of the entire universe and feeds it. The Navratri festival glorifies the eternal power of Durga and seeks her blessing and protection. As per the legend, there was a demon called Mahishasura who was a terror to all the three worlds.

As per the boons he had received, he could not be killed by any gods, humans or demons except the feminine energy, which he underestimated to be insufficient to vanquish him. To save all the worlds from his captivity, Mother Durga, assumed a terrific form and waged a war against him for nine days and killed him on the tenth day. The word Durga also means the power which destroys misery and sufferings.

A Sanskrit verse heralds Mother Durga as “Durga Dhurgati Nashini”, the one who destroys afflictions. Worshipping Mother Durga on these nine days is said to confer joy, prosperity, wealth, hope, wisdom, success and lasting happiness.

The Navratri festival is a sort of refreshing and recharging one. Homes, educational institutions, businesses and organizations clean their premises and conduct pujas and worship on these nine days.

Some of the key Aspects:

Goddess Worship: Each of the nine days is dedicated to a different avatar of Durga (Shailaputri, Brahmacharini, Chandraghanta, etc.).

Fasting and Rituals: Devotees observe fasts and perform daily pujas (prayers) with offerings of flowers, fruits, and sweets.

Garba and Dandiya Raas: In Gujarat and Maharashtra, it is celebrated with dance forms like Garba and Dandiya Raas, which are performed in groups, with people wearing colorful traditional attire.

Kanya Pujan: On the eighth or ninth day, young girls are honored as embodiments of the goddess and offered food and gifts.

Dussehra: The tenth day symbolizes the victory of Lord Rama over Ravana or Goddess Durga over the demon Mahishasura.

Durga Puja celebration :

Durga Puja, particularly prominent in West Bengal, Odisha, Assam, and Bihar, celebrates the victory of Goddess Durga over the buffalo demon Mahishasura. It typically spans five days (Shashthi, Saptami, Ashtami, Navami, and Dashami) but preparation and celebrations can last longer.

Some of the key Aspects:

Idol Worship: Elaborate pandals (temporary structures) house stunning idols of Durga, along with her children (Lakshmi, Saraswati, Ganesha, and Kartikeya). Devotees visit these pandals to offer prayers and seek blessings.

Cultural Festivities: Durga Puja is not just a religious event but also a cultural extravaganza. Traditional dances, plays, music performances, and art exhibitions form an integral part of the celebration.

Anjali and Sindoor Khela: Devotees offer Pushpanjali (flower offerings) on Ashtami, and on Dashami, married women apply sindoor (vermillion) on each other as part of Sindoor Khela, symbolizing the goddess's departure to her heavenly abode.

Immersion (Visarjan): The idols are immersed in water bodies, symbolizing Durga's return to Mount Kailash.

While both festivals celebrate the feminine divine and the triumph of good over evil, Navratri tends to have a more pan-Indian presence, while Durga Puja is particularly grand in Eastern India, especially Kolkata. Both festivals bring communities together and inspire a spirit of devotion and joy.

[coming-of-age-witch]

october november december. they pass by so fast but its heavily decorated with joy and pleasant moments. i love to look forward to them because of all the things they have in them, but once we reach january the first month goes away in looking back to these months and wishing i could go back and have the same kind of fun again

[theamoristwriter]

বনেদি বাড়ির পুজো ! ✨

[intellectual6666]

There she is, looking at us for the last time before she bids us a final goodbye for this year. She heard everyone's cries, everyone's pain, everyone's sorrow and she will solve all of them. All we have to do is wait. I know, she is going back way too fast this time, but she will come back fast too.

And she will get justice too.

আবার এসো মা ।

Shubho bijoya everyone 🙏

Picture credit : Me

[thatchaoticdesigirl]

It's that time of the year again...

The city has been cleansed with the after showers of monsoon. Blue sky peeking through fluffy clouds resembling the cotton candy carried by the street vendors. The smell of durga puja coming in through the open windows. Standing outside Kumortuli is a small smiling face in shabby clothes and dirty hair. The departure of idols might be significant for the whole city, but not for the little boy whose father will be coming home after months of crafting the inanimate joy that would fill the city for the next 10 days.

The single mother spent her bonus on the little piece of jwellery she had seen her daughter longingly looking at in Gariahat. The transferred father took a few extra days off. A son remembered his father on the banks of the Ganges, while the recently widowed woman longingly glanced at the idol's red saree. They felt what the poets may describe as peace and happiness but for them it was just plain old durga puja.

She arrived with her children, shaking the whole city from its slumber, a ray of hope within the gloomy times. Every year she arrives with the same smiling face and listens to all our problems. To the lost boy trying to find his place in society, to the queer person trying to figure out why they were wrong, to the girl who never saw her father after that day in court, to the lady who never knew what happened to her daughter the night she went out with her friends. Lives filled with tragedy after tragedy lie at Maa's feet asking for a way ahead. Maa listens. She gives them hope and sometimes tragedies do go away. The boy lands a job while the queer person is invited back to their family. The girl recieves a gift from her father while the lady cries at the station,report in hand. Maybe not happy endings, but closure. That's what Maa gives. Hope is just the surface of the abyss of our mind which actually seeks closure.

The bright lights and bamboos wrapped in colourful clothes stand as a symbol of the hardwork of all those people who worked relentlessly to make this festival a pathway to overcome tragedy. The people live another day to fight, blessed by Maa.

At the break of dawn on Mahalaya, someone replaces the oxygen with adrenaline, and for 10 days, the city does not sleep.

[zindagi-se-darte-ho]

you know what? i am so excited about october and pujo. i am excited to go pujo shopping, i can't wait to lie in bed at 5 in the morning listening to mahalaya, i am excited to watch my neighbourhood light up in strings of yellow lights, i am excited to go pandal hopping with friends and family, i am so eager to eat all the hearty bengali meals on all the five days, i am excited to wear sarees and jhumkas, i am excited for nabami night outs, i am excited for dhunuchi naach and even for bishorjon. though bishorjon will bring me all the melancholy, yet i am so excited. i can barely contain my excitement.

[naturenova-herbals]

নীল আকাশে মেঘের ভেলা, পদ্মফুলের 🪷 পাপড়ি মেলা । ঢাকের তালে কাশের 🌾 খেলা, আনন্দে 🙋‍♀️ কাটুক শারদবেলা ।। 🎉 শুভ নবমী 🕉

[architect-artists-blog]

Evil trembles … good prevails .:: unleashing the power of DURGA ON VIJAYDASHAMI

[subir-astrologer]

NAVRATRI ( MAA DURGA PUJA )

Among the festivals of the Hindu tradition, Navratri is endowed with a great significance. It is the symbol of victory of good over evil.

The nine day festival culminates on the tenth day which is the day of victory and success. This festival also marks the symbolic journey from humanness to divinity thereby reminding people of the real goal of human life.

The chief deity adorned on these days is the feminine principle of the divinity. Therefore, all the forms of Mother Goddesses are heralded, worshiped and adorned on these days. Called as Shakti, the female energy represents the universe, while Shiva represents the consciousness or soul.

Maa Durga is the ultimate source of power who takes care of the entire universe and feeds it. The Navratri festival glorifies the eternal power of Durga and seeks her blessing and protection. As per the legend, there was a demon called Mahishasura who was a terror to all the three worlds.

As per the boons he had received, he could not be killed by any gods, humans or demons except the feminine energy, which he underestimated to be insufficient to vanquish him. To save all the worlds from his captivity, Mother Durga, assumed a terrific form and waged a war against him for nine days and killed him on the tenth day. The word Durga also means the power which destroys misery and sufferings.

A Sanskrit verse heralds Mother Durga as “Durga Dhurgati Nashini”, the one who destroys afflictions. Worshipping Mother Durga on these nine days is said to confer joy, prosperity, wealth, hope, wisdom, success and lasting happiness.

The Navratri festival is a sort of refreshing and recharging

one. Homes, educational institutions, businesses and organizations clean their premises and conduct pujas and worship on these nine days.

Charities are given away and cultural events are held. In several possible ways, divinity is worshipped and praised. The three first days are dedicated to the worship of Mother Durga, the second three days herald Mother Lakshmi and the third three days are in praise of Mother Saraswati – the three energies that rule over the universe and do the creation, sustenance and destruction.

The final day is also called as Vijayadasami on which Mother Durga won over the demon. Any tasks started on this day is said to be successful.

[whimsicalwonders369]

Maa Siddhidatri is worshipped on the ninth day of Navratri. According to Hindu mythology, Rudra worshipped Adi-Parashakti, the supreme Goddess of Power, when the universe began. Since she had no form, Adi-Parashakti appeared in the form of Siddhidatri from the left half of Lord Shiva. When this happened, Shiva came to be known as Ardha-Narishwar.

[notyourvedu]

Festivals>>>>>>

[theamoristwriter]

নবমী, 12/10/24 🍂

[panditpavansharma]

Day 9 of Navratri - Maa Siddhidatri

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A post shared by Sri Pavan Sharma Guruji | Best Vastu Expert in India (@panditpavansharmaguruji)

[back2bluesidex]

Today (Saturday, btw) is my last working day before a week long festive holiday! I'm 30 minutes in my shift and already wishing for the clock to fast forward to 6:30 in the evening! huhu.

Also, tryna write the next chapter of slide ....

[thingsdavidlikes]

Devoted-rhythmic souls.. by Fahim Faisal Khan Shapnil