Ashram Yoga : India's Spiritual Tradition » goddess-durga

Golden Durga Puja @ Cuttack

adam — Fri, 15 Oct 2010 11:46:00 +0000

Kolkata may host the most lavish Durga puja pandals in the country complete with elaborate decoration and dazzling illumination, but in Cuttack the puja is popular for the extravagance in style reflected in gold and silver work. Lakhs of people visit the puja pandals organised by three main puja organisers who compete with each other to put gold crowns on the heads of the deities. It all started a few years back when the three organisers put up silver tableaux or ‘Chandi Medha’ in the pandals imparting a sparkling aura. But gold? Nobody thought of it till Choudhury Bazar puja committee made gold crowns for the deities in 2002 to coincide with its golden jubilee. Thereafter the three organisers are vying with each other to give the ‘golden’ touch to their worship of Durga. The budget for the Mangalabag Puja Committee this year is a whopping Rs one crore, the major chunk of which would be spent on making gold crowns. Not just the Durga idol, all the other deities that flank her will sport gold crowns this year including Ganesh, Kartik, Laxmi and Saraswati. While the main crown of Goddess Durga is made up of 2.5 kg of gold, the remaining four crowns weigh a little over 2.5 kg. The total cost for the crowns, including making charges, has crossed the Rs one crore mark, said a member of the puja committee overseeing the work. Two other two puja committees — Choudhury Bazar and Sheikh Bazar — have also made gold crowns for Durga idols this year. The crown for Mahisasura was made of 7.6 kg gold at a cost of Rs 50 lakh. Besides the crown, they have ordered gold necklaces for the Goddess Durga as well. Sheikh Bazaar had also made a gold crown for Goddess Durga in 2008. A crown of 3.5 kg gold was made at a cost of Rs 28 lakh which continues to be the star attraction of Cuttack Dusshera. Known for their impeccable dexterity, filigree artisans of Cuttack have always received appreciation worldwide. At a time when silversmiths of the city were deprived of government support, non-existence of cooperatives, poor entrepreneurship, professional rivalries and invasion of machine-finished products in markets, the competition to go for silver tableaus and golden crowns have given them a new lease of life. Click On Picture To Enlarged Image

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Golden Durga Puja @ Cuttack

Deepawali And Kali Pooja

admin — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 05:24:00 +0000

Kali Puja “My child, you need not know much in order to please Me. Only Love Me dearly. Speak to me, as you would talk to your mother, if she had taken you in her arms.” Maa Kali is the fearful and ferocious form of the mother goddess Durga. She assumed the form of a powerful goddess and became popular with the composition of the Devi Mahatmya , a text of the 5th – 6th century AD. Here she is depicted as having born from the brow of Goddess Durga during one of her battles with the evil forces. As the legend goes, in the battle, Kali was so much involved in the killing spree that she got carried away and began destroying everything in sight. To stop her, Lord Shiva threw himself under her feet. Shocked at this sight, Kali stuck out her tongue in astonishment, and put an end to her homicidal rampage. Hence the common image of Kali shows her in her mêlée mood, standing with one foot on Shiva’s chest, with her enormous tongue stuck out. Kali Puja is done to diminish the ego and all negative tendencies that hinder spiritual progress and material prosperity. Performed on the night of Kartik Amavasya , which falls in October/November, Kali Puja is an intense invocation to the fearsome goddess. The main purpose of the puja is to seek the help of the goddess in destroying evil – both in the outside world and within us. The legend goes that long ago the demons, Shambhu and Nishambhu, disturbed the peace of Indra, the king of gods, and his empire (heaven). After extensive and endless battles, the gods lost all hope and the demons became stronger. The gods took refuge in the Himalayas, the holy mountains, the home of Lord Shiva and Parvati. The shaken gods sought protection from Mahamaya Durga , the goddess of Shakti. Kali was born from Durga’s forehead as Kal Bhoi Nashini , created to save heaven and earth from the growing cruelty of the demons. Along with Dakini and Jogini , her two escorts, she set on her way to end the war and kill the devils. There was chaos all around. After slaughtering the demons, Kali made a garland of their heads and wore it around her neck. In the bloodbath, she lost control and started killing anyone who came her way. The gods started running for their lives. The only source of protection seemed Lord Shiva, Durga’s consort. Seeing the endless slaughter, Shiva devised a plan to save the world. He lay down in the path of the rampaging Kali. When the goddess unknowingly stepped on him, she regained her senses. The well-known picture of Ma Kali, with her tongue hanging out, actually depicts the moment when she steps on the Lord and repents. That momentous day is celebrated ever since. Kali, also called Shyama Kali , is the first of the 10 avatars (incarnations) of Durga. Kali Puja is performed essentially to seek protection against drought and war, for general happiness, health, wealth, and peace. It is a tantrik puja and performed only at midnight on Amavasya (new moon night) in November. Best Wishes For A Happy Deepawali to All the Readers.May GOD bless us with Prosperity All Around.

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Deepawali And Kali Pooja

Navaratri

adam — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 11:42:00 +0000

The theme behind celebrating Dusshera or Navarathri is the victory over the evil. It’s either celebrated as Lord Rama’s victory over the ten-headed Ravana (Commonly known as Ram Leela) or killing of mahisharsura by Goddess Durga (Ambal). Ram Leela is a common thing in the north. On the tenth day of the Dusshera, the effigy of Kumbhakarna, Meghnad and Ravana is burnt. It’s really a wonderful sight to watch. This has been depicted in the film Swades as well. In Tamilnadu, it is celebrated as Golu. The dolls are considered as Gods and Goddesses’ who help Goddess Durga in winning over Mahisharsura. Today, it’s such an easy task to keep a Golu. Everything is available in the shops – stand, dolls, decorative materials etc. But this wasn’t the case 15 years back. The affluent people employed skilled carpenters to design and architect a Golu padi. The Golu we celebrated at D-4 isunforgattable, office appa use to take great intrest and design the golu padis, the main architec of the whole show used to be Sheaojee from 1956 onwards till appa retired from Incab , two corners of the drawing room had semi circular steps with dolls and the centre used to be the straight steps. It used to take nearly a week for the prepration and the golu at D-4 was one of the best in town. We used to enjoy the variety of sundal prepared for the ten days period, we used to have rehersal of the drama to staged at South Indian Association during navratri period, as office appa used to be the director for the stage play, even once Gopal has acted in one of the dramas. Nice days to remeber on all these festive occassions

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Navaratri