Question

16 points.....

Why we celebrate Durga Puja - Write the science behind it about 200 words.

Answer 1

According to Markandeya Purana, Durga was a warrior goddess to fight a demon called Mahishasura. The demon’s father Rambha, king of the demons, once fell in love with a water buffalo, and Mahishasur was born out of this union. He is therefore able to change between human and buffalo form at will (mahisha means “buffalo”). Through intense prayers to Brahma, Mahishasura got the boon that he could not be defeated by any man or god. He unleashed a reign of terror on earth, heaven and the nether worlds. Mahishasur had unleashed on the three worlds.

Troubled by this powerful demon, the Gods went to Brahma but he said he could not do anything. Then all the Gods with Brahma went to Vaikuntha (the place where Vishnu lay on Ananta Naag). There they found Lord Shiva also. Brahma described the reign of terror of Mahishasur. Hearing this Vishnu, Shiva and all of the Gods became very angry and beams of fierce light emerged from their bodies. The blinding sea of light met at the Ashram of a priest named Katyan. The goddess Durga took the name Katyaayani from the priest and emerged from the sea of light. She introduced herself saying she was the form of the supreme Brahman who had created all the gods. Now she had come to fight the demon to save the gods.

On his initial encounter with Maa Durga, Mahishasura underestimated her, and said: “How can a woman kill me?” Hearing this, Durga roared with laughter, which caused an earthquake which made Mahishasur aware of the powers of Maa Durga.

And the terrible Mahishasur rampaged against her, changing forms many times. First he was a buffalo demon, and she defeated him with her sword. Then he changed forms and became an elephant that tied up the goddess’s lion and began to pull it towards him. The goddess cut off his trunk with her sword. The demon Mahishasur continued his terrorizing, taking the form of a lion, and then the form of a man, but both of them were gracefully slain by Durga.

Then Mahishasur began attacking once more, starting to take the form of a buffalo again. The patient goddess became very angry, and as she sipped divine wine from a cup she smiled and proclaimed to Mahishasur in a colorful tone – “Roar with delight while you still can, O illiterate demon, because when I will kill you after drinking this, the gods themselves will roar with delight”. When Mahashaur had half emerged into his buffalo form, he was paralyzed by the extreme light emitting from the goddess’s body. The goddess then resounded with laughter before cutting Mahishasur’s head down with her sword. Therefore, Maa Durga is also known as Mahishasurmardhini – the slayer of Mahishasur.According to some other story, Maa Durga created an army to fight against the demon-king Mahishasur and after 10 days of fighting, She and her army defeated Mahishasur and killed him. That is the reason why the day of Durga’s victory is celebrated as Vijayadashami means victory on 10th day.Durga Puja is celebrated for nine days (Navaratri) followed by one last day called Vijayadashami. However, in some parts of India, Vijayadashami also signifies Lord Ram’s victory in his battle against the demon Ravan.

Answer 2

In the Bengal region of India the Durga Puja is celebrated as the main festival of the whole year.

The celebration reasons of Durga Puja are;

1)To worship the victory of the good over evil.(Devi Durga is the symbol of holy spirit and the Mahishasura demon is the symbol of the evil spirit.)

2)We often buy new clothes,shoes,and other goods for the durga puja, which is beneficial for the merchants.