Goddess Durga welcomed with gun fire in ‘Baidul Zamindar Bari’
Keeping to the age-old tradition of the powerful Zamindars (landlords,) Maa Durga, a form of Shakti, is welcomed with gun fire at the Baidul Zamindar Bari in South Dinajpur since the British Raj days. The tradition is strictly followed during ‘Sandhipujo’ (the juncture of Maha-Astami and Maha-Navami.)
“The Puja first started with the patronage of our grandfather and Zamindar, the late Prasanna Lal Chowdhury, in 1811. He had six sons and each family still has one licensed gun as his legal heir. The guns are fired during Durga Puja every year,” stated 90-year old Indira Chowdhury, granddaughter-in-law of Prasanna Lal Chowdhury. She is the oldest surviving member of the Chowdhury family. The Puja is organised rotationally by the family members of the six sons.
This Puja hits the 113-year mark this year without any interruption.“In the age of big-budget theme pujas in South Dinajpur, our Puja still remains a crowd-puller with many revelers coming here to get a taste of the rich heritage. This year, the Puja is being organised by our family,” added Indira Chowdhury.
Prasanna Lal’s grandson Mrityunjay Chowdhury said: “The custom of gun firing started in the early 1950s. My uncle, late Kshitish Chandra Chowdhury, narrating the history behind this tradition, had told me that this area was full of robbers and dacoits then. They frequently targeted rich zamindars of the area. We were their soft targets during those days. Well off families were compelled to keep licensed firearms owing to this.
Our forefathers had started the tradition of gun firing during ‘Sandhipujo’ in order to send a strong message that they are capable of protecting themselves. The person who fired the gun in the air during the Puja would seek the blessings from Maa Durga so that he could protect his family throughout the year.”
Mrityunjay’s father, late Baidyanath Chowdhury, told him that six brothers together purchased one Belgium made double bore rifle along with four single shot Indian made rifles for self-defense.
Baidul is about 9.5 km from here and located on the banks of Atreyee River on the outskirts of Balurghat. “We have 75 bighas of Debottar property along with a big pond having equal share of the six family members. Every year, ‘prasad’ is distributed among 1000 people who visit the four-day long festival.
Total Puja cost is collected solely from the property and no subscriptions are collected from outside,” said 81-year old Amit Kumar Chowdhury, also a grandson.
