Durga Puja - Revision history

Jyoti: /* The cultural aspect */

2023-11-30T21:55:12Z

‎The cultural aspect

Jyoti: /* 1759: Guptipara */

2023-11-19T22:02:52Z

‎1759: Guptipara

Jyoti: /* The 1900s */

2022-10-15T10:30:07Z

‎The 1900s

Jyoti: /* 1759: Guptipara */

2022-10-15T08:37:29Z

‎1759: Guptipara

Jyoti: /* 1610: Sabarna Roy Choudhury family Puja */

2022-10-15T08:35:46Z

‎1610: Sabarna Roy Choudhury family Puja

Jyoti: /* History, traditions, stories */

2022-10-15T07:08:37Z

‎History, traditions, stories

Jyoti: /* Sabarna Roy Choudhury puja */

2022-10-15T07:08:21Z

‎Sabarna Roy Choudhury puja

Jyoti: /* Sabarna Roy Choudhury puja */

2022-10-06T21:08:23Z

‎Sabarna Roy Choudhury puja

Jyoti: /* 2022 */

2022-10-06T21:07:46Z

‎2022

Jyoti: /* Kolkata */

2022-10-06T21:06:25Z

‎Kolkata

← Older revision		Revision as of 21:55, 30 November 2023
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	Apart from spiritual significance the magnificent socio-religious ceremony as a part of traditional ritual engenders a feeling of oneness among all, despite all differences. It provides a great opportunity for sociocultural bonding of everyone in society via cultural, religious and artistic programmes performed in attractively decorated pandals, with people turning out in their festive clothes. From once being an exclusive celebration by those who could afford it, Durga Puja is now `sarbojanin' or accessible to all.		Apart from spiritual significance the magnificent socio-religious ceremony as a part of traditional ritual engenders a feeling of oneness among all, despite all differences. It provides a great opportunity for sociocultural bonding of everyone in society via cultural, religious and artistic programmes performed in attractively decorated pandals, with people turning out in their festive clothes. From once being an exclusive celebration by those who could afford it, Durga Puja is now `sarbojanin' or accessible to all.
		+
		+	=Mahalaya Durga Puja=
		+	==A backgrounder==
		+	[https://indianexpress.com/article/lifestyle/life-style/mahalaya-durga-puja-2023-what-is-its-significance-and-why-is-it-celebrated-8980594/ Oct 20, 2023: ''The Indian Express'']
		+
		+
		+	''' What is Mahalaya (Durga Puja): History and Significance '''
		+
		+	The central theme of Mahalaya is based on a legend from the “Devi Mahatmya” (The Glory of the Goddess), an ancient Sanskrit text that is a part of the Markandeya Purana. This text narrates the story of the goddess Durga and her battle against the demon Mahishasura, a buffalo demon who terrorised the heavens and Earth.
		+
		+	Mahishasura, who had obtained a boon of invincibility from Lord Brahma, was causing havoc and subduing the gods. Unable to defeat him, the gods combined their powers to create the goddess Durga, who was endowed with extraordinary strength and weapons. The battle between Mahishasura and Durga raged for nine days and nights, ultimately culminating in the demon’s defeat on the tenth day, which is celebrated as Vijayadashami.
		+
		+	''' How is it celebrated? '''
		+
		+	Mahalaya is celebrated with great enthusiasm and devotion in India, especially in the state of West Bengal, where it holds tremendous cultural and religious significance.
		+
		+	The most iconic and widely observed tradition on Mahalaya is the recitation of “Mahishasura Mardini,” a hymn from the “Devi Mahatmya.” Many people wake up before dawn to listen to the special radio broadcast of this hymn, which has been a tradition since 1931. It is considered an auspicious start to the day and is believed to invoke the goddess Durga’s blessings.
		+
		+	Devotees offer prayers, fast, take a dip in the Ganges, participate in cultural programmes, among other things to celebrate the auspicious occasion. Traditional Bengali dishes, sweets, and delicacies are prepared and shared with family and friends. The festive meal is an integral part of the celebration.
		+
		+	In different parts of India, Mahalaya might be celebrated with variations in customs and traditions, but the common thread is the reverence for goddess Durga and the anticipation of the grand Durga Puja festival that follows. It is a time when people come together to celebrate the triumph of good over evil and to seek the blessings and protection of the divine.
		+
		+	[[Category:Festivals\|D DURGA PUJADURGA PUJA
		+	DURGA PUJA]]
		+	[[Category:India\|D DURGA PUJADURGA PUJA
		+	DURGA PUJA]]
		+	[[Category:Pages with broken file links\|DURGA PUJADURGA PUJA
		+	DURGA PUJA]]
		+	[[Category:Religion\|D DURGA PUJADURGA PUJA
		+	DURGA PUJA]]

	=Pandâls: the themes=		=Pandâls: the themes=

@@ Line 111: / Line 111: @@
 Nearly three centuries ago, the 12 men of Guptipara set off to make the festival more accessible for the village, inadvertently creating a blueprint for marking the festival that would become its most common, recognisable and accessible form, not just in West Bengal, but across the world, wherever Bengalis come together every festival to pray to the goddess in her many avatars.
-[[Category:Festivals|D DURGA PUJADURGA PUJA
+==Colonial — and anti-colonial — roots==
-DURGA PUJA]]
+[https://indianexpress.com/article/explained/explained-history/history-durga-puja-bengal-company-8992370/  Arjun Sengupta, Oct 21, 2023: ''The Indian Express'']
-[[Category:India|D DURGA PUJADURGA PUJA
-DURGA PUJA]]
+This brief history of Bengal’s greatest festival will discuss the Battle of Plassey, the rise of native Bengali elites under Company rule, and of course, the national movement.
-[[Category:Pages with broken file links|DURGA PUJADURGA PUJA
-DURGA PUJA]]
-[[Category:Religion|D DURGA PUJADURGA PUJA
+As the oppressive heat of the Indian summer gives way to the gentle chill of autumn, an air of excitement covers Bengal, and eastern India. It is time for Goddess Durga’s homecoming, celebrated by Bengalis as Durga Puja — as much a religious occasion as one for frivolous merrymaking.
-DURGA PUJA]]
 [[Category:Festivals|D DURGA PUJADURGA PUJA

@@ Line 151: / Line 151: @@
 Apart from socio-cultural celebration uniting all in enjoyment and engagement, the puja caters to the concern of all through multiple narratives.
-[[Category:Festivals|D DURGA PUJADURGA PUJA
-DURGA PUJA]]
+==1900s: changing celebrations/ A==
-[[Category:India|D DURGA PUJADURGA PUJA
+[https://indianexpress.com/article/express-sunday-eye/consumption-of-durga-puja-changed-over-years-pandals-8183314/?utm_source=newzmate&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=sundayeye&pnespid=B7kq8E5F9jhBkVnN6crBCkJTrBk4xKZ78g4TRfsYY5XKyTjnDC21899zc6TrKnOZ2qS97pM9  Sandip Roy, Oct 2, 2022: ''The Indian Express'']
-DURGA PUJA]]
-[[Category:Pages with broken file links|DURGA PUJADURGA PUJA
+[[File: An idol by Aloke Sen (Courtesy- Niladri Chatterjee).jpg|An idol by Aloke Sen (Courtesy: Niladri Chatterjee) <br/> From: [https://indianexpress.com/article/express-sunday-eye/consumption-of-durga-puja-changed-over-years-pandals-8183314/?utm_source=newzmate&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=sundayeye&pnespid=B7kq8E5F9jhBkVnN6crBCkJTrBk4xKZ78g4TRfsYY5XKyTjnDC21899zc6TrKnOZ2qS97pM9  Sandip Roy, Oct 2, 2022: ''The Indian Express'']|frame|500px]]
-DURGA PUJA]]
-[[Category:Religion|D DURGA PUJADURGA PUJA
+Durga Puja had always been a festival of homecoming, centred on the deity herself. Now, it has become a way of seeing and situating ourselves in the world
-DURGA PUJA]]
 [[Category:Festivals|D DURGA PUJADURGA PUJA

@@ Line 60: / Line 60: @@
 [[File: The oldest part of Anjan Sen’s ancestral home in Guptipara, built in pre-British architecture in the Murshidabad style. (Photo credit- Anjan Sen).jpg|The oldest part of Anjan Sen’s ancestral home in Guptipara, built in pre-British architecture in the Murshidabad style. (Photo credit- Anjan Sen) <br/> From: [https://indianexpress.com/article/express-sunday-eye/what-12-men-did-three-centuries-ago-to-make-durga-puja-accessible-to-all-8184299/?utm_source=newzmate&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=sundayeye&pnespid=XbF1pEBY6CAdlFPEscGIRhFZ.hAixap5oR0RHqJeKcrK173njalyLS8grs3G8Hc2ghfVwYul  Neha Banka, Oct 7, 2022: ''The Indian Express'']|frame|500px]]
-[[File: Bidhyabashini Barowari tola in Guptipara, West Bengal. (Photo credit: Neha Banka).jpg|Bidhyabashini Barowari tola in Guptipara, West Bengal. (Photo credit: Neha Banka) <br/> From: [https://indianexpress.com/article/express-sunday-eye/what-12-men-did-three-centuries-ago-to-make-durga-puja-accessible-to-all-8184299/?utm_source=newzmate&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=sundayeye&pnespid=XbF1pEBY6CAdlFPEscGIRhFZ.hAixap5oR0RHqJeKcrK173njalyLS8grs3G8Hc2ghfVwYul  Neha Banka, Oct 7, 2022: ''The Indian Express'']|frame|500px]]
+[[File: Bidhyabashini Barowari tola in Guptipara, West Bengal. (Photo credit- Neha Banka).jpg|Bidhyabashini Barowari tola in Guptipara, West Bengal. (Photo credit: Neha Banka) <br/> From: [https://indianexpress.com/article/express-sunday-eye/what-12-men-did-three-centuries-ago-to-make-durga-puja-accessible-to-all-8184299/?utm_source=newzmate&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=sundayeye&pnespid=XbF1pEBY6CAdlFPEscGIRhFZ.hAixap5oR0RHqJeKcrK173njalyLS8grs3G8Hc2ghfVwYul  Neha Banka, Oct 7, 2022: ''The Indian Express'']|frame|500px]]
@@ Line 110: / Line 110: @@
 Nearly three centuries ago, the 12 men of Guptipara set off to make the festival more accessible for the village, inadvertently creating a blueprint for marking the festival that would become its most common, recognisable and accessible form, not just in West Bengal, but across the world, wherever Bengalis come together every festival to pray to the goddess in her many avatars.
 [[Category:Festivals|D DURGA PUJADURGA PUJA

← Older revision		Revision as of 08:35, 15 October 2022
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	The Sabarna Roy Choudhury family’s association with the Mughals goes back 486 years and has left them with a trove of anecdotes and artefacts. Their first connection with the Mughals happened when an ancestor named Panchanan Gangopadhyay served emperor Humayun in 1536. Devarshi says he fought against Humayun’s nemesis Sher Shah Suri and earned the title Shakti Khan, along with the jagirdari of 85 villages in present-day Halisahar. The family’s collection at Boro Bari includes, among other things, a diamond ring gifted by Jahangir, swords of Shahjahan and Aurangzeb, rare silver coins of Shah Alam’s time, perfume vials of Babur and Jahangir, and a vessel to test food for the presence of poison, Devarshi says. T		The Sabarna Roy Choudhury family’s association with the Mughals goes back 486 years and has left them with a trove of anecdotes and artefacts. Their first connection with the Mughals happened when an ancestor named Panchanan Gangopadhyay served emperor Humayun in 1536. Devarshi says he fought against Humayun’s nemesis Sher Shah Suri and earned the title Shakti Khan, along with the jagirdari of 85 villages in present-day Halisahar. The family’s collection at Boro Bari includes, among other things, a diamond ring gifted by Jahangir, swords of Shahjahan and Aurangzeb, rare silver coins of Shah Alam’s time, perfume vials of Babur and Jahangir, and a vessel to test food for the presence of poison, Devarshi says. T
		+
		+	==1759: Guptipara==
		+	[https://indianexpress.com/article/express-sunday-eye/what-12-men-did-three-centuries-ago-to-make-durga-puja-accessible-to-all-8184299/?utm_source=newzmate&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=sundayeye&pnespid=XbF1pEBY6CAdlFPEscGIRhFZ.hAixap5oR0RHqJeKcrK173njalyLS8grs3G8Hc2ghfVwYul Neha Banka, Oct 7, 2022: ''The Indian Express'']
		+
		+	[[File: The oldest part of Anjan Sen’s ancestral home in Guptipara, built in pre-British architecture in the Murshidabad style. (Photo credit- Anjan Sen).jpg\|The oldest part of Anjan Sen’s ancestral home in Guptipara, built in pre-British architecture in the Murshidabad style. (Photo credit- Anjan Sen) <br/> From: [https://indianexpress.com/article/express-sunday-eye/what-12-men-did-three-centuries-ago-to-make-durga-puja-accessible-to-all-8184299/?utm_source=newzmate&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=sundayeye&pnespid=XbF1pEBY6CAdlFPEscGIRhFZ.hAixap5oR0RHqJeKcrK173njalyLS8grs3G8Hc2ghfVwYul Neha Banka, Oct 7, 2022: ''The Indian Express'']\|frame\|500px]]
		+
		+	[[File: Bidhyabashini Barowari tola in Guptipara, West Bengal. (Photo credit: Neha Banka).jpg\|Bidhyabashini Barowari tola in Guptipara, West Bengal. (Photo credit: Neha Banka) <br/> From: [https://indianexpress.com/article/express-sunday-eye/what-12-men-did-three-centuries-ago-to-make-durga-puja-accessible-to-all-8184299/?utm_source=newzmate&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=sundayeye&pnespid=XbF1pEBY6CAdlFPEscGIRhFZ.hAixap5oR0RHqJeKcrK173njalyLS8grs3G8Hc2ghfVwYul Neha Banka, Oct 7, 2022: ''The Indian Express'']\|frame\|500px]]
		+
		+
		+
		+	As Unesco recognises Kolkata’s Durga Puja in its Lists of Intangible Cultural Heritage, a look at where it all began in the oldest town in West Bengal, Guptipara
		+
		+	On the way to Guptipara, a small town in the Hooghly district some three hours away from Kolkata, the kashful (Saccharum spontaneum) are in full bloom, signalling that the Autumn festival of Durga Puja is just around the corner. Among the oldest towns in Bengal, Guptipara is best known for its Vaishnava terracotta temples and gupo sandesh, one in the many kinds of mishti found in the state. But what is less well-known is that this town also gave the world Durga Puja in its most well-known form: the barowari puja, or the community Durga Puja.
		+
		+	There are some versions of the story of how the barowari puja started way back in 1759, depending on whom one asks. A community leader and a resident of Guptipara, 52-year-old Subrata Mondal’s research led him to the handful of old books that document the town’s history when it was still a village, written by local historians, one of which is Nrishingha Prasad Bhattacharjee’s book ‘Guptipara’s True Story & the First Barowari’.
		+
		+	Among these stories, one says that in 1759, when a group of women from the village went to a zamindar bari to pray, they were made to leave, perhaps because the family was unwilling to permit outsiders to pray inside their home. Angry at the perceived insult, the men in the village decided to hold their own puja where the community could pray.
		+
		+	It is difficult to identify the zamindar bari in question because it does not find mention in available archival records. Just a stone’s throw from the location believed to be where the first barowari puja started, is the imposing approximately 400-year-old Sen bari, built in pre-British architecture in the Murshidabad style, which some believe is the zamindar bari where the conflict first occurred in the mid 1700s.
		+
		+	Mondal believes that there is little authenticity to claims that the villagers were made to leave the Sen zamindar bari, but that has done little to put a stop to the myths surrounding the incident. “It was the nearest home to the location,” Mondal says, which has resulted in people propagating the legend. “It is an old story, but it happened in a zamindar’s home during Durga Puja,” he says.
		+
		+	A descendant of the Sen zamindar family, 71 year-old Anjan Sen, grew up hearing a different version of the story. “We have been told that villagers were always welcome to the house and participated in the rituals. But this narrative that women of the village were barred from praying and thus had to go outside and start their own puja is not accurate,” says Sen, attributing the narrative to the tales passed down in the family.
		+
		+	“Over the past decade, we started hearing this story, peddled by people who still live in Guptipara,” says Sen. Soon, what the family firmly believes to be a myth, took on a life of its own, and was reproduced by newspapers, televisions news broadcasts and travel bloggers.
		+
		+	Sen points to the prayers and rituals of the festival when it is held within rajbari and zamindar homes, where outsiders don’t typically participate intimately in the preparations of the barir puja. “Outsiders are welcome to visit, but they don’t really participate in the rituals. Our family records don’t indicate that we had any dispute with villagers or that an incident like this happened,” Sen says.
		+
		+	While the circumstances surrounding the incident that eventually led to the start of the barowari puja are unclear, what is not in dispute is that it started in the village of Guptipara 263 years ago.
		+
		+	One of the earliest written records in English on the barowari puja can be found in an article published in the May 1820 edition of the newspaper The Friend of India, a predecessor The Statesman newspaper. “A new species of pooja which has been introduced into Bengal within the last thirty years called Barowaree. About thirty years ago at Guptipara near Santipur town celebrated in Bengal for its numerous colleges, a number of Brahmins formed an association for the celebration of a puja independently of the rules of the Shastras,” says The Friend of India article.
		+
		+	The newspaper report from May 1820 delves deeper into the formation of the barowari puja and how the villagers of Guptipara eventually succeeded in setting it up, and creating a blueprint for what is recognised as the barowari puja today. “They elected twelve men as a committee, from which circumstances it takes its name and solicited subscriptions in all surrounding villages. Finding their collections inadequate, they sent men into various parts of the country to obtain further supplies of money, of whom many according to current report have never returned,” the article says.
		+
		+	Sen believes that the villagers of Guptipara who set out to solicit donations possibly travelled across the modern-day Hooghly district and the undivided Bengal province in pre-Independence India, creating the concept of soliciting ‘chaanda’ that is still in existence today. “Having thus obtained about 700 rupees they celebrated the worship of Jugudhatree for seven days with such splendour, as to attract the worship from a distance of more than a hundred miles,” The Friend of India article says.
		+
		+	The villagers, unable to celebrate Durga Puja the way they wished to, marked the next festival that appeared in the Bengali calendar: that of Jagaddhatri, an avatar of Durga, whose festival comes approximately a month later.
		+
		+	While travelling across villages to collect donations, the villagers also spread word of their cause, inspiring others across towns and villages of Hooghly, like Bandel, Chandannagar and Krishnagar in modern-day Nadia district etc. to visit Guptipara’s barowari puja and start their own.
		+
		+	“The formulas of worship were of course regulated by the established practice of the Hindoo ritual, but beyond this, the whole was formed on a plan not recognised by the Shashtras. They obtained the most excellent singers to be found in Bengal, entertained every Brahmin who arrived and spent the week in all the intoxication of festivity and enjoyment. On the successful termination of the scheme, they determined to render the pooja annual, and it has since been celebrated with undeviating regularity,” says The Friend of India article.
		+
		+	By the turn of the century, the concept of the barowari puja had reached Calcutta, where it evolved even further. The first barowari puja in the city started in the 19th century, in the locality where the neighbourhood of Kalighat and Bhawanipore meet, near the Adi Ganga, off Balaram Bose Ghat. Inadvertently, the barowari puja and its popularity also provided an impetus to the artisans of Kumartuli, who made idols of the goddess and her family, generating more opportunities for their craft and subsequent income.
		+
		+
		+	Still, it would take another century for the barowari puja to be entirely open to the public. “It was only in the twentieth century with the establishment of sarbajanin puja that the festival culture became public and the goddess traveled from the parlour to the streets,” write Knut A. Jacobsen and Kristina Myrvold in their book ‘Religion and Technology in India Spaces, Practices and Authorities’ (2019).
		+	“The word sarbojanin (for all men) came to be substituted for barowari at the time of the Indian National Congress (INC) held in Calcutta in 1910,” write authors Subhayu Chattopadhyay, Bipasha Raha in their book ‘Mapping the Path to Maturity A Connected History of Bengal and the North-East’ (2017), where this form of puja was used as a nationalist forum in religious guise.
		+
		+	Today, many across West Bengal and elsewhere where Durga Puja and other forms of the goddess are worshipped through the year, interchangeably use ‘barowari’ and ‘sarbojanin’ to indicate the communal nature of the festivities.
		+
		+	Back in Guptipara, the location where the first barowari puja started is now identified as the Bidhyabashini Barowari tola, named after the goddess Jagaddhatri who is worshipped here in the avatar of Bidhyabashini. The term ‘tola’ is a Bengali word for the location where a deity’s idol is placed. Diverging from the standard features and colours of the Durga idols most commonly seen in Bengal and in those created by artisans from the state, this idol is painted vermillion, but nobody is acquainted with the back story.
		+	Like many others familiar with the town’s association with this form of puja celebrations, Sen and Mondal are almost tired of correcting people: “It is a misconception that the concept of barowari puja started with Durga Puja. It started with Jagaddhatri Puja and then became widely adopted for other festivals, especially associated with the goddess,” says Sen.
		+
		+	When the Bidhyabashini Barowari tola’s grounds are not filled with devotees lining up to offer prayers to the deities, it would be easy to overlook the structure located deep inside a narrow bylane, surrounded by homes on all sides in the small town. On the tola’s orange facade, two small white plaques with inscriptions in Bengali provide some more information about the site’s history. The first plaque reads: A member of the extended Sen family, Satish Chandra Sen, provided the funds required to establish what forms the exteriors of the Bidhyabashini Barowari tola in 1939. The second plaque says: “The site where the barowari was created. Bidhyabashini devi’s puja. Established in 1116 in the Bengali calendar”.
		+
		+	Nearly three centuries ago, the 12 men of Guptipara set off to make the festival more accessible for the village, inadvertently creating a blueprint for marking the festival that would become its most common, recognisable and accessible form, not just in West Bengal, but across the world, wherever Bengalis come together every festival to pray to the goddess in her many avatars.
		+
		+	[[Category:Festivals\|D DURGA PUJADURGA PUJA
		+	DURGA PUJA]]
		+	[[Category:India\|D DURGA PUJADURGA PUJA
		+	DURGA PUJA]]
		+	[[Category:Pages with broken file links\|DURGA PUJADURGA PUJA
		+	DURGA PUJA]]
		+	[[Category:Religion\|D DURGA PUJADURGA PUJA
		+	DURGA PUJA]]

	==The 1900s==		==The 1900s==

@@ Line 11: / Line 11: @@
 =History, traditions, stories=
 ==The 1900s==
 [https://epaper.timesgroup.com/Olive/ODN/TimesOfIndia/shared/ShowArticle.aspx?doc=TOIDEL/2019/10/07&entity=Ar02002&sk=E2021F6F&mode=text  M N Kundu, Oct 7, 2019: ''The Times of India'']
@@ Line 32: / Line 76: @@
 Apart from socio-cultural celebration uniting all in enjoyment and engagement, the puja caters to the concern of all through multiple narratives.
 [[Category:Festivals|D DURGA PUJADURGA PUJA

← Older revision		Revision as of 07:08, 15 October 2022
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−	~~===Sabarna Roy Choudhury puja===~~
−	~~====2022====~~
−	~~[https://epaper.timesgroup.com/article-share?article=02_10_2022_020_004_cap_TOI Chanchal Mazumder, TNN, Oct 2, 2022: ''The Times of India'']~~

−	[[File: ‘Ek Chali’ Durga idol at the Sabarna Roy Choudhury ‘Boro Bari’. (Left) An Akbar-era gold coin is used to apply sindoor on the Pathanpur Bari idol.jpg\|‘Ek Chali’ Durga idol at the Sabarna Roy Choudhury ‘Boro Bari’. (Left) An Akbar-era gold coin is used to apply sindoor on the Pathanpur Bari idol <br/> From: [https://epaper.timesgroup.com/article-share?article=02_10_2022_020_004_cap_TOI Chanchal Mazumder, TNN, Oct 2, 2022: ''The Times of India'']\|frame\|500px]]
−
−	Right now, Kolkata is a city of Durga Puja pandals. Every street has one. Some are known for their grandeur, others for their antiquity, and yet if you had to choose a fi rst among these equals, odds are you would pick the Sabarna Roy Choudhury family Puja.
−
−	~~Celebrated continuously since 1610, it is the oldest of the old extant Pujas. It’s also known for adhering to tradition instead of being swayed by new themes and fads every year.~~
−	But there’s something else that makes the Roy Choudhury family Puja special – it owes its origin to a land grant by Mughal emperor Jahangir, mediated through his general Raja Man Singh of Amber, the modern Jaipur.
−
−	~~''' Chapter Of History '''~~
−
−	Not many people know their great-grandparents’ names. Fewer still can trace their ancestry beyond 5-6 generations, but the Roy Choudhury family is privileged in this regard. They now count 35 generations between the founder of the Puja, Lakshmikanta Gangopadhyay a. k. a. Sabarna Roy Choudhury, and the youngest living member. And Lakshmikanta himself was from the 22nd generation of Bengal’s illustrious Gangopadhyay Brahmin clan.
−	~~How the stars brought together the Badshah, the Raja and a Bengali court offi cial to start the Roy Choudhury family Puja is quite a story.~~
−	Lakshmikanta’s father Jiya Gangopadhyay was a renowned Sanskrit scholar who lived at Kali Kshetra (today’s Kalighat in Kolkata), says Devarshi Roy Choudhury, one of the thousands of Lakshmikanta’s 35thgeneration descendents. He says there are more than 20,000 of them spread around the world and he is joint secretary of the Sabarna Roy Choudhury Parivar Parishad.  In 1570, Jiya Gangopadhyay’s beloved wife Padmavati Devi died soon after giving birth to Lakshmikanta. Thedistraught husband lost interest in worldly matters and became an ascetic under the title Kamdev Brahmachari. He travelled to Varanasi, leaving little Lakshmikanta in the care of the priest at Kalighat.
−
−	In Varanasi, Kamdev Brahmachari was destined to meet Akbar’s redoutable general, Raja Man Singh of Amber. The Raja became a disciple of the ascetic from Bengal, and the rest – to use a cliche – is history.
−
−	~~''' Guru Dakshina '''~~
−
−	Raja Man Singh was one of Akbar’s navratnas (nine gems). He had the power and infl uence to change people’s fortunes, but his guru, Kamdev Brahmachari, did not crave material possessions. However, in 1608 the Raja induced emperor Jahangir to bestow a vast rent-free jagir on Brahmachari’s son Lakshmikanta as guru dakshina.
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−	~~This ‘jagir’ stretched from ‘Haveli Shahr’ (now Halisahar) in the north of present-day Kolkata to Diamond Harbour in the city’s south.~~
−	Lakshmikanta also impressed the Mughal with his effi ciency in record-keeping and administrative skills, so he was conferred the title Majumdar. And later, when he excelled as a jagirdar, he earned the titles Roy and Choudhury. Since then, Lakshmikanta’s descendents have styled themselves as the Sabarna Roy Choudhury family.
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−	~~''' Puja Pioneers '''~~
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−	In 1610, two years after Lakshmikanta became a jagirdar, he and his wife Bhagwati Devi decided to start Durga Puja in Barisha, their biggest district. It was not the fi rst Durga Puja – the festival itself is timeless – but they made a stylistic innovation –
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−	~~‘Ek Chali’. The Barisha Durga Puja was the fi rst to worship Ma Durga and her four children (Lakshmi, Saraswati, Kartik and Ganesh) together in one ‘chalchitra’ or structure, says Devarshi.~~
−	This year marks the 413th edition of Puja at the family’s six baris (houses) – Aatchala Bari, Boro Bari, Mejo Bari, Majher Bari, Kalikinkar Bari and Benaki Bari – in Barisha. They also conduct Puja the traditional way at their two houses in Virati Bari and Pathanpur Bari. That means adhering to the instructions in the manual Durga Bhakti Tarangini by Mahakavi Vidyapati. One ritual that they have modifi ed inkeeping with modern sensibilities is animal sacrifi ce. Now all eight houses perform a token sacrifi ce with ash gourds.
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−	~~''' Secular Ethos '''~~
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−	The Puja that started after a Mughal emperor’s grant has remained a secular and inclusive celebration since. Devarshi says one of the rituals at the Pathanpur Bari Puja is still done with the mohurs that Jahangir gave to Lakshmikanta Gangopadhyay.
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−	Talking about his extended family, Devarshi stresses: “we are one family, a secular family”. He says in the 150-odd years from 1608 to 1757 their ancestors governed the jagir without religious discrimination. They had Hindu and Muslim subjects, and whatever presents they brought for Puja – fruits, vegetables, flowers – were offered to Ma Durga.
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−	~~Now there are no subjects, but Devarshi says their neighbours and other people living around the family’s eight houses participate in the Puja.~~
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−	~~''' FROM BABUR TO SHAH ALAM '''~~
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−	The Sabarna Roy Choudhury family’s association with the Mughals goes back 486 years and has left them with a trove of anecdotes and artefacts. Their first connection with the Mughals happened when an ancestor named Panchanan Gangopadhyay served emperor Humayun in 1536. Devarshi says he fought against Humayun’s nemesis Sher Shah Suri and earned the title Shakti Khan, along with the jagirdari of 85 villages in present-day Halisahar. The family’s collection at Boro Bari includes, among other things, a diamond ring gifted by Jahangir, swords of Shahjahan and Aurangzeb, rare silver coins of Shah Alam’s time, perfume vials of Babur and Jahangir, and a vessel to test food for the presence of poison, Devarshi says. T
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 [https://epaper.timesgroup.com/article-share?article=02_10_2022_020_004_cap_TOI  Chanchal Mazumder, TNN, Oct 2, 2022: ''The Times of India'']
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  The Sabarna Roy Choudhury family’s association with the Mughals goes back 486 years and has left them with a trove of anecdotes and artefacts. Their first connection with the Mughals happened when an ancestor named Panchanan Gangopadhyay served emperor Humayun in 1536. Devarshi says he fought against Humayun’s nemesis Sher Shah Suri and earned the title Shakti Khan, along with the jagirdari of 85 villages in present-day Halisahar. The family’s collection at Boro Bari includes, among other things, a diamond ring gifted by Jahangir, swords of Shahjahan and Aurangzeb, rare silver coins of Shah Alam’s time, perfume vials of Babur and Jahangir, and a vessel to test food for the presence of poison, Devarshi says. T
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 Pandal-hoppers at Tarun Dal discussed how this might be the first LGBT-themed puja. Even those who were unfamiliar with the popular LGBT symbols used in the pandal turned to their friends and family to find out what they meant. In this way, in the unlikeliest of places and contexts, thousands of people each day were starting a conversation on LGBT identities.
 Almost every neighbourhood in Kolkata builds a pandal as a home for the goddess and her family, welcoming her like a daughter or as a feminine force against evil (depending on their interpretation). The festival gives every locality an opportunity to establish itself in the collective imagination of the city. It has also become a celebration of the city’s inclusive spirit in many ways. This year, a pandal in South Kolkata, 75 Palli, decorated the entrance with a web of electric meter boxes with the names of local citizens. Inside, in front of a towering cityscape, were wireframe sculptures of diverse religious architecture, and the sound of mantras was interspersed with the azaan, Catholic hymns, and readings from the Guru Granth Sahib. The organisers were at hand to explain that the meter boxes represented the diverse people who power the city. A similar pandal on communal harmony in Beliaghata drew some heated criticism on social media, but this was quickly countered by overwhelming support online and enthusiastic crowds at the pandal.
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 In many ways, this pandal was a fitting symbol for this year’s puja — representing a fantasy world where we have the privilege of escaping from the daily grind and distracting ourselves from the crises — ranging from Kashmir and Assam to Amazon — that cry for our urgent attention. However, this fantasy also created encounters with diverse perspectives and ideas, sparking an imagination of a more inclusive and joyful world.
 =The spiritual aspect=