Durga Puja is an annual festival celebrated in India for paying homage and reverence to the Indian goddess, Durga. It is celebrated across India but is particularly famous in the Indian states of West Bengal, Bihar, Assam and Tripura, popularly in the eastern parts of India. This festival is observed in the Indian calendar in the month of Ashvin, which corresponds to September-October in the Gregorian calendar.
Durga Puja has significant social and religious importance since it symbolizes the universal victory of virtue over evil. It is also a spiritual metaphor for one’s eternal journey towards self- realisation. The rituals carried out during this festival have profound spiritual meaning worth inner contemplation. It represents the triumph of universal life force over the individual ego and upholding the cosmic cause over the malevolent interests of the indomitable ego.
According to Hindu mythology, Durga is the manifestation of divine powers of the Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva combined together, representing a cosmic union of the powers of deities (protectors of goodness) to slay the demon king, Mahisasura.
It is believed that the demon was causing a lot of upheaval in the land of Deities, to defeat him, all the Deities combined their powers and created Adi Shakti (primordial power). A strong, effulgent divine light came out on the unification of powers of goodness representing Goddess Durga, who conquered Mahisasura, and restored justice and peace. The underlying meaning indicates that when we unite our powers and resources for a good cause, the malevolent aspects get transformed and start working in the direction of the benevolence of mankind. Unity is one prime virtue that we learn to embody from Goddess Durga, as she came into form only with the unification of all and not an individual deity. It also reminds us to surrender the individual ego to the greater or collective ego, the limited self to the cosmic self. It also gives us this message, that power is not innately ours but comes to us by the grace of divine, to keep us grounded in humility and awe for the universal force. All of us can undertake an inner journey to connect with deeper truths, simultaneously participating in external celebrations, and co-create a beautiful reality with the union of outer rituals with inner awakening.
Wishing all readers peace, happiness and prosperity in life! Glory to Goddess Durga!
