Durga Puja begins today with Maha Shasthi

BSS :
Durga Puja, the biggest religious festival of the Bangalee Hindu community, will begin today with incarnation of Goddess Durga on the day of Maha Shasthi at temples and makeshift mandaps across the country amid due religious fervor and gaiety.

The annual five-day Sharadiyo Durgotsab will commence with Kalparambho tomorrow morning which will be followed by Adhibash, Amantran (invitation) and Bodhon (incarnation) in the late afternoon as Maha Shasthi Tithi starts on 12.31am on Friday.

Dhakeshwari National Temple priest Barun Chakrabarty said the festival will begin with Kalparambho at 8am at the temple and later in the late afternoon Adhibash, Amantran and Bodhon will be held at the base of the Bel tree on the temple premises in order to awaken Goddess Durga.

The most auspicious time to observe the Kalparmbha ritual is early morning.

This involves the installation a pot or Kalash filled with water, invoking Goddess Durga on the base of a Bel plant (Bilva Tree) and taking a Sankalp (determination) to perform the Durga Puja by following all necessary rituals and practices in proper manner for the next four days.

According to Hindu religious texts, the ideal time of worshipping the goddess is spring.

Autumn is considered the season where the ‘devatas’ or Hindu deities go into rest mode.

If deities have to be invoked at this time they must be awakened from their sleep.