Durga Puja, also referred as Durgotsava (Festival of Durga or Sharadotsav) is an annual Hindu Festival in South Asia that celebrates worship of the Hindu Goddess Durga. It refers to all six days observed as Mahalaya, Shashthi, Maha Saptami, Maha Ashtami, Maha Navami and Vijayadashami.
Sitting all evening in mandaps, simply watching people; paying their obeisance to the Goddess with the beat of dhak music in the air ; the incessant fights with the kakus and kakimas about the songs to be played on the days of the festival, the many days and nights spent in anticipation, in mad planning, in just being able to decide which clothes to wear on what day, keeping the best ones aside for Ashtami and Nabami, selecting shoes and the like were what kept us occupied most of the time. Also which all pandals were absolutely un-miss-able, and which all could be afforded a miss, what exactly the menu would be – mind you, the menu had to be different all five days from Shashti to Dashami, with the most delicious food reserved for Ashtami and Nabami. This is what durga puja is about.
One need not travel all the way to West Bengal to witness the grand Durga pooja festival. Thanks to the Bengali community in Mangalore, Durga pooja celebrations will kick off in true Bengali style
The Bengali community puts in all effort to give Mangaloreans a true slice of Bengali culture. All are invited for the pooja.
Let’s have a look on durga puja celebrations in Mangalore.
THE PANDAL HOPPING STARTS……
Most often visited temples during this time are kudroli and mangladevi temple. There is huge crowd in these temples where people pray diligently to the Goddess and have Prasad (ladoo) too.
Another visited place is Mangalore’s OWN PANDAL.
SHREE SHREE DUGA POOJA AND DASARA CELEBRATIONS : The Durga pooja celebrations are held at the Hindi Prachar Sangh in Mangalore. Over 500 people belonging to Bengali community participate . There is an idol made of goddess duga and is worshipped till the last day with the same traditions followed by Bengalis. There is pushpanjali in the morning and there is bhog in the afternoon. Everyone is invited to have the bhog. There is aarti in the morning and evening and Prasad is also distributed among all devotees. After the pooja, the idols are immersed. In Mangalore, the Durga statue will be immersed at Sulthan Battery.
There is beautiful lighting in the whole city especially in lalbagh area.
The whole area from P.V.S. circle to bejai (near Mangalore Municipal Corporation) is lighted up and looks beautiful and is bubbly and busy with people enjoying the festive. There are small road side stalls and shops put up which enlightens the whole area.
There is also a consumer fair in the maidan near pabbas where lots of rides are put up,eatables and commodities are sold. So one can have a nice time with friends and family. This brings more of the festive mood.
The celebrations here are a miniature version of those in Kolkata.
So people go pandal shopping and have a wonderful time enjoying the festival…
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