Durga and stories about Shakti

Welcome to 2017 agamony at the chowdhury residence,

We are here to celebrate and share about

 Hindu art and iconography, Durga is frequently depicted standing atop or riding a tiger or lion, which represents power, will, and determination.

In riding this fearsome beast, Durga symbolizes her mastery over all these qualities. Her bold pose is called Abhay Mudra, which means "freedom from fear." Just as the mother goddess confronts evil without fear, let me tell u a story

The year 2011

An couple was  on an eve walk at a  lake side,  n  robbers accosted the couple, they held a knife on the throat of the man, who was 6 ft. tall, presuming he would be the one to offer resistance if any, and before they knew it there was this lady who were on them with a

 umbrella that she was carrying, n 

needless to say they beat a hasty retreat, 

that lady is Sabita Ghosh,my  MOM,

 Sabita Ghosh

THE FIRST DURGA PUJA IN BENGAL

The first grand worship of Goddess Durga in recorded history is said to have been celebrated in the late 1500s. Folklores say the landlords, or zamindar, of Dinajpur and Malda initiated the first Durga Puja in Bengal.

 According to another source, Raja Kangshanarayan of Taherpur or Bhabananda Mazumdar of Nadiya organized the first Sharadiya or Autumn Durga Puja in Bengal

THE 'BARO-YAARI' PUJA AND BEGINNING OF MASS CELEBRATION

The origin of the community puja can be credited to the twelve friends of Guptipara in Hoogly, West Bengal, who collaborated and collected contributions from local residents to conduct the first community puja called the 'baro-yaari' puja, or the 'twelve-pal' puja, in 1790.

The baro-yaari puja was brought to Kolkata in 1832 by Raja Harinath of Cossimbazar, who performed the Durga Puja at his ancestral home in Murshidabad from 1824 to 1831.

ORIGIN OF 'SARBAJANIN DURGA PUJA' OR COMMUNITY CELEBRATION

"The baro-yaari puja gave way to the sarbajanin or community puja in 1910, when the Sanatan Dharmotsahini Sabha organized the first truly community puja in Baghbazar in Kolkata with full public contribution, public control and public participation. Now the dominant mode of Bengali Durga Puja is the 'public' version,"

The institution of the community Durga Puja in the 18th and the 19th century Bengal contributed vigorously to the development of Hindu Bengali culture.

EVOLUTION OF THE 'PRATIMA' AND THE 'PANDAL'

The traditional icon of the goddess worshiped during the Durga Puja is in line with the iconography delineated in the scriptures. In Durga, the Gods bestowed their powers to co-create a beautiful goddess with ten arms, each carrying their most lethal weapon.

The tableau of Durga also features her four children--Kartikeya, Ganesha, Saraswatiand Lakshmi. Traditional clay image of Durga ,or pratima, made of clay with all five gods and goddesses under one structure is known as 'ek-chala' ('ek' = one, 'chala' = cover).

There are two kinds of embellishments that are used on clay--sholar saaj and daker saaj. In the former, the pratima is traditionally decorated with the white core of the shola reed which grows within marshlands. As the devotees grew wealthier, beaten silver (rangta) was used. The silver used to be imported from Germany and was delivered by post (dak). Hence the name daker saaj.

Aigiri Nandini dance - Shilpika

Whats the most Important part of Pooja’s ?

Worship of the stomach for every Bengali on this planet.  SO LETS GET SOME FOOD NOW :) 

Nature in Arizona in play

The roads are calling ...

The Dam

Yup this is where one can start floating on a piece of foam, also called raft colored bright blue, it makes for good visibility I say, no matter how ugly in looks in the greater scheme of things

it is an 3 hour boat ride we indulged ourself, looking on the face os the canyon, wondering what it would be like if we were to walk this path, yes it would be a long walk, but a fun walk n if it has some cloud cover not that bd, mostly we are so used to comfort this would make for some good walking I say

As we looked and looked 

And imagined different character on the side 

Of the canyon wall they did seem to come alive.

it is an 3 hour boat ride we indulged ourself, looking on the face os the canyon, wondering what it would be like if we were to walk this path, yes it would be a long walk, but a fun walk n if it has some cloud cover not that bd, mostly we are so used to comfort this would make for some good walking I say

I see a girl on the swing do you ?

And here is proof the indians were artists, who were at it on the canyon walls, before it got banned to wring on rocks ( can't blame - we can only seem to write our names or our crushes names on walls ) 

sa we floated down the canyon we spied some people on the top , do u see them , now u know how difficult it would be to see your enemy if they were on top of the canyon 

we sailed on and the view from top is :

The Horse shoe bend canyon 

the photographer was probably at :

yup the tiny one at top :) 

 Looking at all of this, how can one not wonder what is 

The power If there is a super power surely this is the one  .