Shubho Bijoya…! Stay blessed…
Durga Puja held as Sharadutsav
is actually “untimely” and thus called Akal Bodhan (or the untimely invocation).
That is why the Puja held in October or nearabouts (the month of Ashwin in
Lunar calendar) begins with Bodhan (to awake or invoke).
Durga was worshipped during Spring. But the
origin of Shardiye Navaratra – which is more popular – owes its tradition to the Ramayan.
In Ramayan, Ram had to battle Ravan, the king of Lanka, who
had abducted his wife. The story goes that Ram was unable to defeat Ravan to
get back Sita despite using all tactics of warfare. He then decided to invoke
Goddess Durga though it was Autumn and not the time for her Puja. One of the rituals
required the offering of 108 blue lotuses. But every time Ram made the
offering, there was a flower short!
The reason being that Ravan had already invoked Durga in his
favour! And she was bound by her word!
An exasperated Ram is said to then have then decided to
offer one of his eyes, which resembled blue lotuses. So, he took up his bow and
arrow to prick one of his own eyes.
Moved by this, Durga had to unshackle herself from Ravan’s grasp
so that Ram could kill the demon and rescue Sita.
Ram began worshiping on Sashthi or the sixth day (thus Bodhan);
Ravan was killed on Dashami or the 10th day. Ram returned to Ayodhya
to a rousing welcome by his subjects which is celebrated as Deepawali.
(An interesting exercise: Go to Google Maps and type “Colombo
to Ayodhya”; click on the “walk” icon. The time taken to walk back is exactly
the difference between Vijaya Dashami and Deepawali)
On the other hand, there is no Bodhan during Basanti Puja. King
Surath of Bolipur, ancient Bengal, is said to have performed Durga Puja in
Spring for the first time. He had lost his kingdom and all his property. Later,
he met Medha Muni, who is said to have advised him to worship Durga to regain
his fate. That is also known as Basanti Puja since it is celebrated in Basant
or Spring.
However, most devotees celebrate Durga Puja in Sharad or
Autumn season while Basanti Puja is lesser known.
Thus, devotees performing Akal Bodhan are celebrating Ram’s
victory over evil.
(This post is the musings of Jayanta Bhattacharya, It has nothing to do with where he works or what he does to earn his bread. In case of any criticism or suggestion, write to @Jayantab15 on Twitter / Facebook or jayantab15@gmail.com on email)
Comments
Post a Comment