Devi Durga

Prafulla kumar Mohanty

Pray to God for ‘He is your father.’ This is the most common idea accepted by people everywhere. But one is tempted to ask ‘Why not my Mother?’ A child’s first encounter with reality starts with the mother but the mother is always a term denoting an image, she is never a reality, for, as Eric  Fromm puts it, mother is first of all ‘Father’s wife’. In social life too mothers are less equal although they shout for gender equality and fight patriarchy. All religions therefore, have male gods. The Mother Goddess is depicted as a diabolical energy often causing chaos. Indians have created many goddesses as consorts of gods. The goddesses make life easier to live, they mediate, consort but rarely are independent. Saraswati, Laxmi and Parvati the main consorts of the male trinity are benign energies but never supreme, they are powerful but their power can only run a structure or facilitate its smooth functioning.

But in India’s myth making, Goddess as an independent hegemonous functionary has been created by the Hindus to match the male gods in all respects. Durga is one such supreme Goddess who functions with extreme independence. She unfolds the idea that reality, the world of spacetime, is feminine. She is nature, Prakriti, which comprises three qualities Sattwa, Raja, Tama- brightness and purity, dynamic energy and dark languid dullness respectively. This material world with those gunas or qualities gets activated by the spiritual touch of the Rigvedic Purusha and the world moves with energy. The feminine principle is Nature’s Shakti  or energy which can create and destroy. This energy is also endowed with maya or illusion. Maya adds an unpredictable and mysterious element to reality. Durga  thus  is created as a Goddess with tremendous energy to shape up reality. Her maya destroys evil and ego. Whenever the human order loses its equilibrium by irrational ego-centric use of evil, Durga destroys the evil and restores Order. She is worshipped as Mahamaya, the Great Illusion, which includes the ultimate divinity Vishnu in illusionary sleep. She destroys Madhu-Kaitabha, Mahisa and Sumbha- Nisumbha   by her powers to restore divinity and order.

This saviour from evil, this protector from agencies of death is worshipped by men and women as the ultimate earth- power. When the paddy plants stand in neck deep water, when the clouds start receding Durga makes her earthly appearance in the autumnal serenity of nature. Durga is originally a non-Aryan goddess but her identification with Agni as the most devastating power is traced to the  hymns of Rigveda where the term durgagni is used(1.99).Whatever be the origin this female deity is worshipped with utmost austerity. The earthly image is made by the artists with care. The structure, the colour scheme and the consecration are done according to the shastras. Women and men observe the Navaratri and fast for purification of all evil elements.

In days of yore Durga puja was celebrated with devotion, purity and austerity. In Bengal and Odisha the  pandals meant for community worship were places of divine presence of supernal energy. The priests were sincere, the devotees were austere the artists genuine and the pandals meant for the public were sacred. The singers and dancers who sang the praise of the goddess were also true to their art. But slowly changes came. As the culture of poverty slowly gave way to the culture of comparative affluence the size shape and colours of the images, pandals and decorations changed. Commercialization of devotion replaced the austere with the pompous. Street pride, village pride and even bloc or city pride of garish display of wealth made the images more luscious, fashionable and sexy. The pandals changed according to the themes. The shapes changed from simple and authentic bamboo structures to majestic palaces-White House, Taj Mahal, Rashtrapati Bhavan and gothic gabled mansions etc- to psychedelic and hallucinogenic sets. The statue too changed from the idea of the Devi to temptress and vamps or killers. The organizers invested money to collect money. Often money was extracted from the rich by force. The gradual glamorization of the images and pandals was the natural outcome of commercialization of faith. The event managers and decorators with their bollywood imagination outdid their counterparts in Bollywood itself. Professional singers, dancers and players were brought to attract larger crowds so that the donation boxes will grow fatter and taller. People enjoyed the entertainment and the ostentations and loosened their purse strings. Austerity, Devotion, awe and faith have now taken the back seat.

But austere or ostentatious Durga is worshipped by Indians of the eastern states and other states with great enthusiasm. People –  young and old- look forward to  observing the Puja with celebratory joy. The present times, however, are marred by politicization of the festivities much to our shame.

But Durga will visit the earth as Mother every year and people will celebrate the victory of good over evil.  May the puja this year bring peace and joy to everyone.