Celebrating Durga Puja, the traditional way

Our member Mr. D. K Banerjee reminisces the time spent in his village during his childhood to enjoy Durga Puja.

When I was small, I used to stay in Patna and visit our ancestral home during Durga Puja. Our ancestral house was in Balagarh village, in Hooghli district. My grandparents and uncles lived there. We used to go there by train. The journey from Jirat railway station to our ancestral house was pretty interesting. A bullock cart used to be sent to pick us up from the station. Inside the covered bullock cart, we experienced a tremendously jerky journey, on the bumpy road. During the rainy season it was difficult to differentiate between the road and ponds, and we often landed straight into the waters. A few helping hands were sent along who walked alongside our bullock cart to ensure our safety.

At my ancestral home, a separate mandap was built especially for Durga puja. There was also a pretty big separate puja room. My uncles used to contribute for the puja. Everyone was given different responsibilities and we children had to collect flowers for the puja, which we really enjoyed doing. We gathered flowers from the plants around and also collected shiuli which is an important part of Durga puja. Three types of narus were made-narkol naru, tiler naru and anando naru. The last one was made only on special occasions.

The Durga idol, its clothes and adornment were made of clay called matir saj. Everyday bhog was made at home for offering to the gods and goddesses and was savoured by all. A simple preparation of khichudi and torkari was made. Banana flower curry or banana stem curry was served with khichudi on banana leaves to eat. On Ashtami, fishermen from Jele para were called to catch fish from the pond, which was offered to Goddess Durga. On Bijoya Dashami the idol was carried to the banks of the River Ganga to be immersed. All the people who were a part of the immersion had lunch at our house. Those five days all of us used to be busy making arrangements for the rituals and attending to visitors. It was great fun.

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