The Bengali Association of Victoria’s Durga Puja celebrations in 2010

As the ten-day Hindu festival of Navratri reaches its climax, the biggest event in the Bengali calendar, Durga Puja, will bring a riot of colour and activity to temples around the world.

Durga Puja is also celebrated in several other states of India, as well as being a major fixture in the Bangladeshi and Nepalese calendars. However it is in Kolkata that the largest celebrations are held, often eclipsing those of Diwali, and bringing the whole city to a standstill for several days.

Large pandals, wooden structures featuring an idol of the Hindu goddess Durga, are constructed and paraded through the city. Prayers are said while drummers and dancers in ritual fashion before the wooden idols are immersed in rivers or the sea. This immersion symbolises Durga’s return to her husband, Shiva. In Kolkata alone, more than two thousand large, elaborate pandals are created each year according to Wikipedia.

Chennai’s Durga Puja ceremony last year in T Nagar

In Chennai, many Bengalis will attend Durga Puja prayers organised by The Chennai Bengali Association. The Bengali Association of Victoria have organised an event this weekend at the Gloria Pyke Netball Complex in Dandenong, Melbourne, while in Sydney the Bengali Association of New South Wales will hold an event at Concord High School. India’s Hindustan Times reports that the first community-organised Durga Puja in independent Pakistan will be held at a 150-year-old temple in Karachi.

UrbanDuniya wishes all of its readers a happy and healthy Durga Puja!