Jalpaiguri: ‘Durga Puja does not end on the 10th day here’

Durga puja does not come to an end on the day of Dashami (10th day) in many places in North Bengal.

The mother Goddess instead is worshipped in the form of ‘Bhandani,” by the people of the Rajbanshi community. This Puja is organised on Ekadashi Tithi, the next day of Dasami, and elsewhere on Dwadashi Tithi (On the 11th and 12th days.)

Like Durga, the goddess here has 10 hands. In some places the goddess has four hands also. However, there is no Asura (demon) with the goddess. Here the Goddess is seen sitting atop a tiger instead of a lion. Lakshmi, Saraswati, Kartik, and Ganesha also accompany the Goddess. In Jalpaiguri, the Bhandani Puja is organised in Varnish Gram Panchayat area of Mainaguri block and Bhandani GP area of Dhupaguri block. Locals claim that this puja is more than a hundred years old.

“I saw my Thakurda (grandfather) also performing puja. Earlier this puja was organised by our family but now everyone participates in this puja. Not only the people of the Rajbanshi community, but people belonging to various ethnic tribes, participate,” stated 62-year-old Paresh Chandra Roy of the Bhandani area.

Fairs and other events are organised to mark the Puja. Many mythological tales have been doing the rounds about this puja, especially in the Rajvanshi society. Uma (Goddess Durga) was returning to Kailasa, her husband’s abode, as a rural bride from her father’s house through the forests of North Bengal after Dashami. However, she lost her way in the dark night. Hearing the cry of the lost village bride, the people of the Rajbanshi community came running. They took the bride to their village. Devi spent that night in the village and returned to Kailash the following day. Satisfied with the hospitality of the villagers, she revealed her true identity and blessed the people of rural Bengal with a boon to keep their granaries always full. This is how the Bhandani Puja started. It denotes the Goddess of granaries.