The Bengalee Belief
Sati, one of the incarnations of Goddess Durga, was the daughter of Daksha and Menoka, the king and queen of the Himalayas. Sati had married Shiva against the wishes of her father. Insulted by her father's rude attitude towards her husband Sati starved herself to death.
Enraged at the insult and sati’s death, Shiva picked up Uma’s body, and danced the dance of destruction (‘Tandav Nritya’) throughout the Universe. This dance was so intense that the entire Universe was on the verge of destruction. Seeing this god Narayana, another of the Divine Trinity, threw his weapon ‘Sudarshan Chakra’ (flying discus) and cut Uma's body into pieces. (The places, where these pieces fell, were known as ‘Shakti Piths’ or places of energy and different incarnations of the divine mother are worshipped in these places. ) Narayana revived Sati as Uma who was married to Shiva once again and peace was restored.
Every year during the season of 'Sharat' or autumn, Uma/Parvati comes to her parents' home along with her four children Ganesh, Saraswati, Lakshmi and Kartik, who represent Wisdom, Knowledge, Prosperity and Beauty respectively. As this much awaited visit by the full family takes place only once a year, this event is associated with so much festivity and celebrations.
Close to the heart of almost every Bengali is the image of Durga as the daughter who visits her parents annually. Each year, there is great rejoicing at the time of her homecoming, but the air is tinged with sadness on the day one bids adieu to the deity. The Bengalis identify more intimately with the human face of the omnipotent Goddess.
The Mythology
According to the Gita -the holy book of the Hindus – whenever evil rears its ugly head, the Almighty comes to the rescue of humanity by establishing victory of truth over untruth, and good over evil. Navratri is a celebration of the victory of good over evil , with several variations of the tradition all over India. Durgapuja specifically celebrates the victory of the goddess Durga over the demon Mahishasura. According to legend, Goddess Durga was summoned by the gods Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva, to defeat the demon, who had set out to conquer the world.
She went to battle on her ferocious mount lion, armed with the weapons given to her by the other Gods. In the battle, she fought and killed the evil Mahishasura and restored heaven to the Gods. Since then the goddess is invoked for protection from the powers of evil. Durga Puja is observed in her honor, to celebrate her victory over evil.
Ramayana says that when Rama was engaged in the fierce battle with Ravana, he wanted to secure the blessings of victory from Devi Durga. He held the puja to evoke the goddess during autumn to his dire plight, thereby worshiping Durga untimely (in Akal). Hence this puja is called Akalbodhon.
Children of Maa Durga
Durga and her husband Shiva have four children – Laxmi, Saraswati, Karthik and Ganesh. Laxmi is the elder daughter of Durga. Laxmi is married to Narayana, one of the Divine Trinity. She is the goddess of wealth and fortune. She rides an owl. Saraswati is the younger daughter of Durga. She is the Goddess of Knowledge, music, dance and art. She rides a swan. Karthik is the eldest son of Durga. He is the God of warfare and beauty. His 'vahana' or carrier is a peacock.
Ganesh is the youngest child of Durga. He, the 'Siddhidata' whose carrier is a mouse, is worshipped as the starter of anything, specially any business endeavours. Even before the worship of Durga starts, Ganesh is worshipped first, to ensure that he lets the Puja get going. Regarding his face which is that of a white elephant, the story goes as follows. Shani, the brother of Durga, is a god whose eyes are powerful enough to behead one in a single glance. On Ganesh being born, Shani was so happy that he forgot about the power of his glance and went to see his newborn nephew Ganesh. Invariably, Ganesh was beheaded by Shani’s glance. On realising what he had done Shani consulted Lord Narayana immediately and it was Narayana who told him to go in a specific direction and bring the head of the first thing he met on his way, which would remake Ganesh's head. Shani found a white elephant on his way and brought its head to Narayana, who in turn, fitted that head into Ganesh. On being told by Durga that people might not worship this elephant headed funny looking God, Narayana gave Ganesh the boon that Ganesh will be worshipped before starting anything, including the worship of other Gods.
