Durga pujo or Sharodotsava is the biggest and grandest among all festivals which are celebrated in India generally in the month of Ashwin(September-October). It is thecelebration of the victory of goddess Durga over the evil asur or demon king named Mahishasura. This is a ten day long eventful festival, which begins with theMahalaya. This is the beginning of Devi Paksha and the end of the Pitri Paksha. Generally in this day, most Hindus perform tarpaṇa by offering water and food to their dead ancestors. And we Bengalis believe that during this time of celebration ma Durga descend from heaven or Mount Kailash to her parental home on earth with all her four children -Ganesha, Kartikeya, Lakshmi and Saraswati. The next significant rituals of the main celebration begin from the sixth day or Sashthi followed by MahaSaptami, Maha Ashtami, Maha Navami and Vijay Dashami or Bijoydashami.
Living in Kolkata during this festival time one can witness the spectacular and gorgeous celebration, right from the beautifully decorated pandals, gorgeous idols, street lightings, varieties of street food, the rhythm of dhaaks beaten during the worship of the Goddess, dhunuchi naach, to name a few. One can feel the excitement in the air, the pujo pujo feeling in the air gives so much positivity which cannot be expressed in words. This is the feeling we Bengalis live through and wait for a whole year. But as we are still in a pandemic situation and fingers cross over the speculation of the third wave of corona when it will come, we have to continue our life with new normal norms. So like last year we have decided to stay indoors as much as possible avoiding social events and public gatherings and safely celebrate this Durga pujo, mostly virtual viewing Durga idol on tv or social media.
But just because this coronavirus is around in the world we don’t have to lock our spirit and enthusiasm in this festive season and forget to become happy and lift our mood. As this is the second time that Durga pujo will be celebrated within the pandemic situation, I think we are well aware and more knowledgeable as to how to protect ourselves from this deadly virus.
My take will be like last time to avoid social gatherings as much as possible, and celebrating at home and hence here are few tips as how can we still enjoy these days of celebration at home without going out:
1. Dress up for the house party: We all love shopping and during his festive time various e-commerce site is flooding their offers with discounts on clothing and accessories. However, this pandemic breakout going outside is minimized still it will be a great idea to treat ourselves with online shopping with that gorgeous traditional dress for the celebration. Arrange a small house party, invite your friends, relatives whom we have not meet during this pandemic situation, pull that new dress from your wardrobe, dress up for the occasion, ask other family members of yours also to dress their best and Enjoy your house party. This will keep us to lightening the mood.
2. Decorate your home: I knew we all tidy and clean our house before the pujo, but it will be a great idea to change the decor of your drawing room which was waiting for a long. Changing the curtains or cushion cover or putting a spectacular lighting decor for the pujo room. This will not only give the house a festive look but also lift our spirit.
3. Cook different delicacies: Food is the main attraction in all festivals. Cooking a different kind of traditional delicacy during all four days of celebration is a great way to get hooked. Enjoying delicious food with family members will bring more togetherness.
4. Virtual pandal hopping: Sit together with family members to virtually visit all the pandals on tv or live darshan on various social media platforms. Avoiding social gatherings is the best option keeping in mind the current scenario.
5. Chatting: Catch up with your friends with Facebook and WhatsApp chat sharing videos and snap of family timings will be a great way of virtual socializing.
6. Watching any recent movies with family on the ott subscription or go for old classic movies.
I know this is not a very brilliant and exciting idea and cannot replace the enjoyment and excitement of pandal hoppings and many will defer from me but at least we can be safe and not put our health at risk. I hope this pandemic situation be over soon and we can live our life at our will.
Happy and safe Durga pujo to everyone.