Sarbojanin Durgapuja 2008, Switzerland
Mythological Background of Goddess Durga
There are various versions about the incarnation of Goddess Durga. The most
common one goes like this:
Once upon a time, a demon by the name of Mahishashur became very powerful
because of a boon conferred upon him by God Shiva. As a result he invaded
the Heavens and drove out all the gods residing there including their king,
Lord Indra. All the resident gods and goddesses of Heaven visited the three
main Powers of this Universe; Brahma, Vishnu and Maheshwar (another name for
God Shiva) and lamented on their state of sorrow and the amount of torment
put upon them by Mahishashura. Listening to this, Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva
were so enraged that the grief of the gods also transformed into immense
anger over the deeds of Mahishashura. Out of this combined rage and anger of
the 3 main gods and all other gods and godesses present there, developed an
immense power and out came Goddess Durga as an incarnation of Shakti, the
power behind everything in this Universe.
All the gods and goddesses, started praying to her to save them from their
plight and angusih which they are suffering at the hands of Mahishashura.
All of them started to give her various means of self defence (weapons and
carrier) and out came Goddess Durga, fully prepared to face the might of
Mahishashura.
Thus started one of the biggest fights between demons and gods, or evil and
good, in the form of Mahishashura fighting Goddess Durga. As always, good
prevails over the evil and Goddess Durga came out victorious in this fierce
battle. She killed Mahishashura and reinstated the gods in their original
abode in the heavens. She then told all the gods and goddesses to call her
in their times of distress and she will respond immediately to alleviate
their plights and misery.
Thus it is a common belief among the Hindus, that Goddess Durga, being the
reincarnation of Shakti or power, is always worshipped during times of
hardship, conflicts and confrontation. The Hindus pray to Goddess Durga or
one of her many incarnations, to overcome any adverse situations in life and
they believe that with her blessings they can cross any hurdles.
Mythological Background of Durgapuja - Akalbodhan
In the Hindu Epic Ramayana, one can find the earliest reference of Durga
Puja i.e. worship of Goddess Durga by mankind. In Ramayana, Lord Rama (king
of Ayodhya) went to "Lanka" along with his army of monkeys from "Kishkindhya"
led by Hanuman. He went to Lanka to rescue his wife Sita who was abducted
and imprisoned by Ravana, the king of demons residing in "Lanka".
Before embarking on the invasion of Lanka, Lord Rama started to worship
Goddess Durga asking for her blessings during the ensuing battle against
Ravana. During those days, it was believed that Goddess Durga has to be
worshipped with one hundred "Neelkamal" (blue lotus flowers) but Lord Rama
could arrange only ninety nine of them. Out of desperation and intense
desire to please the goddess, Lord Rama decided to take out one of his blue
colored eyes (resembling blue lotus) and offer to Goddess Durga. Impressed
by his devotion, Goddess Durga appeared before him and blessed him for the
ensuing battle.
This battle also turned out to be one of the epics between the evil and the
good but finally Lord Rama came out victorious and emancipated Lanka from
the clutches of the demon, Ravana. It is said that Ravana was killed in the
"Sandhikhan" (junction) between Ashtami (eighth day after new moon) and
Navami (ninth day after new moon) and he was cremated in Dashami (tenth day
after new moon). He reinstated Bibhishan, Ravana's brother and a pious man,
to the throne of Lanka and returned to Ayodhya along with his wife, Sita.
Lord Rama's worship of Goddess Durga took place during the autumn month of
Ashwin (as per Bengali calender) instead of the normal period during the
spring month of Chaitra (as per Bengali calender). Hence it is called "Akal
Bodhan", Akal means unconventional time, Bodhan means worship. We, the
Bengalis, also perform Akal Bodhan i.e. during the autumn months, as per
Bengali calender to do our Durga Puja.
