Durga Puja and Dussehra Memoirs

Take 1 - Biswajita Ray Samal

My childhood memories of Durga Puja go back to the time when we lived in our house near Bhubaneswar's airport. Durga Puja in that area was predominantly organized and celebrated by the Bengali staff who lived in the airport campus. After completing puja at home, we would all dress up and go visit the Puja Mandap. It was so nice to see all the women, men and children dressed up! I loved seeing the Dhup dance. And those drum sounds! They gave me the goose bumps then, and even now, when I think about it, I get goosebumps – Bhakti goosebumps! I learnt about sindoor khel – this is something that was not common among Odia people. I learned at these celebrations the reason behind sindoor khel. Earth is Goddess Durga’s maternal home, her maika. As she gets ready to head back to the heavens, she is bid farewell with the auspicious colors of vermilion, sindoor.

I also remember going to Cuttack a few times to watch the different medhas. It was always interesting to watch the Bhasani from the balcony of our family friend’s home. Bhasani always made me sad – I knew it was temporary, but it felt like Goddess Durga was leaving us. I felt more sad for the artists who had put so much effort in creating the idols.