It all started about a month ahead of the Durga Puja when I had decided to drop in to a village known as Dasghara in Hooghly, about an hour's journey from my home town, to try and experience the preparations for Bengal's greatest festival in the households of the former landlords of the region. A documentation that followed was well appreciated. Link to view the same is as follows: https://youtu.be/k61knvOkCno
I had planned an year in advance when three days ahead of Mahalaya last year in 2017, had dropped in to a village about eighteen kilometers from Bolpur, Birbhum.
Hatserandi, a beautiful village in rural Bengal has every right to represent the tourism map of the state of West Bengal because of its Pata Durgas that are worshiped by the householders in the village over generations. Durga Puja in Patachitra or painted framework rather than the clay idols we commonly see, is an age old tradition in Bengal which is on the verge of dying out for several reasons. A documentation of such visit can be found at https://youtu.be/Vl1OsNvETXo
The exquisite beauty of the images painted by artists engaged in such work without due publicity, the warmth and welcoming villagers, the simple yet beautiful rituals that form the true essence of the Durga Puja, much different from the cocktail of themes that we normally see in the larger cities especially in Kolkata today which as per me, mar the originality to a good extent, drove me to those places. To add on, I always rued the fact that I belong to a family having its origin in a village in Hooghly, which celebrated Durga Puja in their own family Nat Mandir over generations however all such traditions could no longer continue as family differences tore all apart. I planned my Durga Puja holidays with an extensive drive across rural Bengal covering villages in Birbhum and Hooghly wherein I could walk through the old traditions of Durga Puja primarily celebrated by families who have kept the traditions alive since ages, braving all odds. I made some good friends during the journey, some of whom were kind enough to take me into their family homes to allow me to experience the essence of such a beautiful celebration.
I have tried to preserve a few of such memories in the form of the many pictures and videos that I could record. For me Durgotsav is not about the blaring loudspeakers, theme pujas where thoughtless artistry mars the originality of the Goddess, but the simple rituals where Durga is considered as our very own village girl, married far off to an eccentric personality, coming home with her children for only four days. The Agamani songs which have been penned by anonymous poets and sung over generations glorifying the home coming of Uma and also earnestly requesting for a longer stay at her mother's house before returning back to the dreaded Kailash have always fascinated me. Some snaps shots of Durga Puja 2018 as below.
Shubho Bijoya to all
Shoubhik Bandyopadhyay
Kojagari Lakshmi Puja
24th October, 2018
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