The Optimistic

Durga Puja 2019 : Countdown Begins Durga Puja is widely celebrated in West Bengal and some other parts of India. It is observed every year during late September or early October. This festival is a celebration of the victory of Goddess Durga over the buffalo demon, Mahishasura. In 2019, Durga Puja is going to be celebrated on 4th October, 2019 with the Panchami Puja and will end on 8th October, 2019. The dates of this festival usually coincide with the last 5 days of Navratri, a popular celebration of the Hindus. The arrival of Goddess Durga on earth is observed as Mahalaya. The actual Durga Puja celebrations start 7 days after Mahalaya which is considered to be the day when Goddess Durga comes to our abode. History of Durga Puja Here's how the worship of Goddess Durga came into practice. In ancient times, there existed a buffalo demon called Mahishasura who had received a boon from Lord Brahma. According to this boon, no man or deity could kill Mahishasura. Having receive...

Durga Puja 2019 : Countdown Begins Durga Puja  The first grand worship of Goddess Durga in recorded history is said to have been celebrated in the late 1500s. Folklores say the landlords, or  zamindar,  of Dinajpur and Malda initiated the first Durga Puja in Bengal. According to another source, Raja Kangshanarayan of Taherpur or Bhabananda Mazumdar of Nadiya organized the first  Sharadiya  or Autumn Durga Puja in Bengal in c. 1606. The origin of the community puja can be credited to the twelve friends of Guptipara in Hoogly, West Bengal, who collaborated and collected contributions from local residents to conduct the first community puja called the 'baro-yaari' puja, or the 'twelve-pal' puja, in 1790. The baro-yaari puja was brought to Kolkata in 1832 by Raja Harinath of Cossimbazar, who performed the Durga Puja at his ancestral home in Murshidabad from 1824 to 1831, notes Somendra Chandra Nandy in 'Durga Puja: A Rational Approach' published in  The...