Two great festivals occasioned with the gap of a couple of days. Outwardly, these festivals -one the Bangalee Hindus' most favourite and the other second most important after the Eid-ul-Fitr to the Muslims the world over - are dissimilar in all respects. But a closer look reveals that there runs an intrinsic theme of unreserved offering to the ultimate power. If Durga Puja is all about invoking the benign power that crushes the demon called Mahishasur invincible by any of the heaven's gods, essentially it refers to destruction of the demon within each individual. No wonder, the tradition of offering buffalos on the occasion of Durga Puja continued for centuries.
The Eid-ul-Azha, as a mark of ultimate devotion to the Almighty Creator, emulates the spirit of the greatest ever sacrifice Prophet Ibrahim was all set to make. When asked to make offering of the dearest of all he could count on, he prepared his son for slaughter. Merciful Allah only tested the prophet's devotion to Him and satisfied He asked for offering of a lamb instead. What matters most is the unalloyed resolve of mind to place oneself at the service of the Supreme Being.
At the inaugural Durga Puja, Ram, the hero of Ramayan who initiated it in the Autumn, created a similar instance of sacrifice which stands out for its extraordinary commitment. The history of the Durga Puja in its present form dates back to the days of Ram because he invoked the deity in its destructive power in order to kill demon Ravan. There was need for 108 blue lotuses for Durga's worship but there was one short. Now that it was time for starting the worship, Ram attempted to gouge out one of his eyes with his arrow to make up for the shortfall. It is because one of his names was Nilotopal meaning one who has eyes like blue lotus. Satisfied with the unerring resolve of her devotee, Devi Durga dissuaded him from taking out his eye and produced the missing lotus she deliberately took away to test Ram's devotion.
Once again, it is the purity of heart and a sense of purpose that matter most. Unfortunately, both Puja and Eids have over the centuries turned out to be more ritualistic than invocation and adherence to the spirit of unreserved surrender and sacrifice. Opulence, exhibitionism and even dilettantism have replaced the very essence of such great occasions. The Bangalee Hindus have transformed the ritual into a kind of folklore where Devi Durga is imagined a married daughter who with her sons and daughters visits her parental home once a year during the Autumn. As a homely theme this is not bad either. The awe and distance associated with gods and goddesses thus disappear and the devotees feel at ease in the thought that the heavenly beings are not much different from human beings and they too crave for attention of the mortals.
However, such a feeling is marred by people with money who spend liberally to outsmart their rivals in getting the idols made by the best artist available, in decoration of the temple -permanent or temporary-or pandal and lighting. In Paschimbango, particularly in Kolkata, the art is at time taken to the extreme with the weirdest result. Of course, there are instances of innovation by creative minds. All this is because they are in contention for prizes awarded in at least 10 different categories. So far as colour and festivities are concerned, there is ample supply of both but a sober reflection at the end of the day would expose that amidst the furore, the spirit of supplication is missing somehow and somewhere.
Then there is a similar reflection of flaunting one's wealth through sacrificial cows people procure on the occasion of Eid-ul-Azha. Every year, newspapers publish pictures of large, graceful and awe-inspiring bulls in the cattle market. There are people who want to show who they are by procuring such bulls priced between Tk 500,000 -1500,000. To stoke the superficial religious sentiment, another trend has caught up with a segment of devotees. They would like to sacrifice camels and even dumba (a kind of goat). What they forget is that the Almighty in His infinite mercy sees the soul not the animal.
Now that Durga Puja and Eids have withstood the test of time to emerge as the principal festivals in this part of the world, it is only natural that their ritualistic aspects on certain counts would go beyond the ordained limit. As long as they do encourage people to connect with each other in pure joy and amusement, there is nothing to be overly concerned. Simple village people have ever remained humble on such occasion but it is a section of the urban rich which has found an opportunity on such occasion to deviate and misinterpret religious strictures in their own depraved way. There lies the danger of encroaching upon each other's beliefs, leading to conflict. Peace-loving and truly religious people should be on guard against the deviants.
Sure enough, all festivals have their by-products -either positive or negative -and yet there is none more important than the economic outcome. This year in particular business was good with one festival following another so closely. The size of the festival economy escapes a representative estimate only because the sector is yet to be organised enough and wait for the emergence of bodies like JP Morgan Chase to present an acceptable figure for festival business.                      Â
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Let festivals bring people together
Nilratan Halder | Published: October 11, 2014 00:00:00 | Updated: November 30, 2024 06:01:00
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