Puja in TNagar

Durga puja is an auspicious occasion and a great celebration in Eastern part of our country, though this festival is celebrated in different variants throughout the country such as Navaratri or Dussera.   It is a dedicated worship of the mother goddess, where a devotee seeks her blessings for strength, prosperity and wisdom. While predominantly the Bengali community participates in this, Durga Puja or Vijaya Dasami has now become national festival.

The Durga puja celebrations have changed color over the years, and today it has become a cosmopolitan social event.  Large puja pandals are specially built for the occasion and they are well decorated. An image of the goddess is displayed in these pandals and people gather to perform community puja.  On the whole this festival helps in bringing people together and promotes the spirit of festivity, brotherhood and communal harmony. Outside Bengal, prabashi Bengalis take this opportunity to meet in families, perform cultural programmes, try to build in Bengali customs and practices in the new generation and also at times the event turns out to be a “spot the bride or groom “occasion. There will be stalls serving Bengali cuisines in pandals and you must see the overflowing crowd there, no Bengali seems to be doing their cooking at home this time. During the day time, all Puja pandals serve free prasadams which in Bengali called”Bhog"- a whole some dish, a community lunch. Like in Diwali, Bengalis buy new dresses during Durga Puja.

In Chennai, Durga puja is conducted with great fun fare. The Bengali association in T Nagar is over 75 years old and has been conducting pujas every year which are quite popular and well received amongst chennaites. Whenever you see multiple Bengalis living, rest assured there will be as many associations! And the first thing they have in their action item is to start a Durga Puja. So since Chennai is not an exception, multiple such Bengali associations conduct similar pujas in other places like Besant Nagar, Avadi, Kolathur, Airport Authority colony, Anna Nagar, Madras Kalibari and Apollo Specialty Hospitals.

Puja in Besant Nagar

Apart from the regular pujas in the several locations I had attended, I also visited Ramakrishna Mutt which had celebrations on account of Navratri and Durga puja, though the celebrations here are quite different in nature when compared to the ones you witness in special community puja pandals. The calm and serene environment surrounding the Mutt enlivens our spirits and takes us close to the divine.   It was like I had stepped into a different world altogether. In the evening there is devotional songs sung by the monks and joined by all devotees and general public. You must not miss it.

Ramakrishna Mutt - Chennai