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#VijayaDashami The 'Akal Bodhan'


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)

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