Beyond Five Days of Durga Puja: Maha Round Up

I sit here far, far away from the hub of that one festival I geared up for at least a month ago when I was growing up. Now I am chasing memories, sometimes falling head over heels, getting up again, swallowing that lump in my throat, which I’d like to think of as kissing tonsils.

In between re-playing my own nostalgia and curbing an aching longing to participate in the five days of fun, I sought from the Blog and Facebook world, people like you and me to share their own memories, family recipes, photographs and live commentary on Durga Puja. I was overwhelmed and humbled by the response. 

All good things must be shared. So share I will. I ask you to sit back, sip on your aromatic chai or that silken whiskey-on-the-rocks, close your eyes and be beamed up or down, above and Beyond Five Days of Durga Puja…

So put your hands together for the youngest (just four and a half!) and the most talented Little Miss Ellora Filiplic’s Durga drawing. Elly, as she is lovingly called lives in Alberta, Canada with her family. Her Grandmum thinks Elly left Asura out because it was too gory for her sensibilities, but retained a happy-looking Singha (Lion).

My Pujo Journal And surprisingly, we never missed it-all the big pandals, all those hopping around all night long which our cousins gave vivid descriptions of. Well, maybe Ma missed it. Read more…

Pujor Gondho Eshechhe. Durga Puja's in the AirI had heard  his stories of how he would recite the prayers in Pujos in England where there was no priest. With a fellow doctor, a Brahmin, mouthing my dad's mantras in front of the Goddess. Read more…

A Bou from Delhi
To the extreme relief of a north Indian girl who had spent last 25 years of her life refraining from non vegetarian food during Navratras, my MIL told me that vegetarian meals are eaten on shoshti. Read more…

Navratra
I remember waiting impatiently for the gulab jamuns and dahi badas that my mom made, not to forget the parathas stuffed with chana daal. One of my maternal aunts made coconut ladoos just for me. Read more…

Shorshe Maach/Fish in Mustard-Chili Sauce
I don’t even know if I miss it anymore in that severe heartache kind of way. The memories are sweet and calm. Everything seems very very far away, a trance… slowly fading in to past as if it never happened. Read more… 

বাজল তোমার আলোর বেণু...মাতলো রে ভুবণ... Nil akashe jokhon sada megher bhela, nodir chore jokhon 'Rupoli Bali' chikchik korche...Kash fuler bon jhokhon anonde matoyara…'Kumartuli-r' karigor-ra jokhon byasto 'thakur gorte' tokhon shuru hoto 'Pujor Bajar'. Read more…

Mahalaya…Khichudi, Dalma and Kheeri
I heard Padma fill the bucket with water and splash it. Her glass bangles moved in rhythm to make a nice jingle as she swept the courtyard. Gopal Bhai the 'Phul wala' was also early. Read more… 

There is Something About Pujo
With the silvery stalks of slender ‘Kashful’ swaying to the changing winds, the air would be heavy with the ‘Pujo pujo gondho’. Read more…

A Day, A World…
Every year this day of Mahalaya makes me cry. I miss my friends, my teachers, my parents and the enchanting Anandamela. I am not sure when again I would be able to visit the fair. Read more…

Navratri Nostalgia
And then to balance the sweetness there was sundal...tangy, spiced chick peas seasoned with mustard and garnished with grated coconut. Read more…

Mega Feast on Mahalaya Day
Some of us would recall the pre-dawn wake-up calls from our parents and grand-parents on this day to tune into the enchanting voice of the Late Birendra Krisna Bhadra. Read more…

Durga Puja
Any celebration for me is incomplete without a dedicated shrine… Be it Diwali or Christmas, I always have a dedicated shrine made for the festivities. And of course you know… that candles and lotus (new addition) make me happy!! Read more…

Probasinir Pujo
It was Shashthi, on that day of Sharat in 1998 and a pot of  Shiuli was in full bloom in Roy Mashima’s balcony next door. It was Durga Pujo in the Bong ghetto, in Chittaranjan Park but it was business as usual for the rest of the city. Read more…

Shubho Mahalaya with Luchi and Alu Charchari
This mahalaya am here in Bangalore and not going home, but still the feeling of puja with the clear autumn sky, with a sole shiuli plant at my neighbour’s have caught me, have wrapped me in its arm. I yearn to go back and touch those times for one more time. Read more…

Beyond Five Days of Durga Pooja Being married to a Bengali has several perks. Awesome Bengali  food, getting to share their love for literature & music are just some of them. But the one that stands out for me is definitely being part of Durga  Pooja. Read more…

Kaleidoscopic Memories From Past
Then getting on with her friends together for a quick session of Puchka outside Pujo Mandap. And then realizing that your first crush has just come up with his gang of friends and is awed at looking at you with that pretty saree. Read more…

The Magnificent Durga Puja
The nights become spectacular because the whole city is illuminated with colorful lights. Thousands throng the streets hopping from one pandal to another. Since driving becomes a nightmare traveling by foot sounds more sensible thing. Read more…

Kickstarting the Festivities The university had a very large Bengali community which meant that Durga Pujo was celebrated with aplomb!! And I would tag along with her to the main extravaganza to eat my fill of delicious Bengali food. Read more…

Khi(n)chudi Karaishuti Diye and Thoughts of Durga Puja
The tailor came and sat stitching away our Puja dresses...at least 5 new dresses for the five days starting from Sashthi, to Saptami, to Ashtami, moving on to Navami and then the last day of the Pujas, the great Bijoya Dashami. Read more…

Celebrating Festival Moments With Malai KulfiMy mom would prepare some traditional stuff like obattu(sweet channa dal stuffed roti), pulihara (tamarind rice),dahi wada (curd dumplings), besan ke laddu (chickpea flour sweet balls), kara posa (spicy fried snack), gulab jamun and so many other stuff for distribution to all neighbours, friends and relatives to celebrate this festival. Read more…

Ma Durga Calling
On the day, the first coat of water color appeared on the idols, we two stood for minutes passing into hours – as the potters were bringing life to earthen shapes. Read more…

Of Dolls and Beaches Golu is an artistic arrangement of dolls in odd numbered steps with increasing levels of divinity in the dolls as you traverse up the steps. Read more…

Dahi Bara and Aloo dum and Ghuguni
Durga Puja times brings nostalgia and somehow food figures high on my list of happy times during puja. While I cannot claim this dahi bara, aloo dum or ghughuni is authentic, it does get me to a happy mood! Read more…

You would have also read the individual posts already published for this event:

• Mahalaya Agamoni, Invoking the Mother Goddess
• The Mookherjees Celebrate Durga Puja at Kuldiha
• The Fever Pitch Fervour
• Dhunuchi, Dhak and Down Memory Lane
• In the Name of the Goddess
• Greeting Durga in the Land of Kamakhya

If you have reached this far, you know what nostalgia is all about. Hope all five days of your Durga Puja and beyond are filled with warmth, happiness and care.

Asche bochor abaar dekha hobe (we will meet again in the coming year), in the words of my great Grandmother – Dugga Dugga.