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◤◢◣◥◤◢◣◆◢◣◥◤◢◣◥◣◥◤◢◣◥◤◆◥◤◢◣◥◤◢ |MAHALAYA| By JyotiiD
Mahalaya Amavasya is the beginning of Devi Paksha signifying the end of Pitri Paksha. Mahalaya signifies the start of Durga Puja celebrations. On this day,the first white colouring of Durga Maa's idol is started.
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(Devi maa's idol being coloured)
On this day people pay homage to their descended ancestors. People perform "tarpan" on the day of Mahalaya to offer prayers to their ancestors and give "bhog" to the Bramhins and poor. The "Shraddha" is usually performed by the eldest male member of the family. People wake up at dawn,clean their house,take bath and then start preparations for Mahalaya. The food that are to be offered to the ancestor are prepared either in silver or copper utensils. Dishes like rice,dal,vegetable curry,pumpkin curry,kheer and lapsi are made. After the food is prepared,it is served on a banana leaf and offered to the ancestor. It is believed that they come in form of crow,dog etc to accept the food offered.
There are certain set of rituals which need to be thoroughly followed while performing shraddha. The person performing shraddha must first take a bath and then dress up in a dhoti;he must be bare chest as the sacred thread worn by him needs to be changed several times during the shraddha. He must also wear a ring made of "duba ghasa" as the ancestor are invoked to reside in that ring. Another step is the pinda dana,which meajs offering pindas to the ancestor along with water. Pinda means a dish made of cooked rice,barley flour balls mixed with ghee and black sesame seeds. After the ancestor come in form of crow and dog and eat the food,then food is served to Brahmins followed by the family members.
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(Food offered to ancestors)
Mahalaya is celebrated with much fervor as it marks the beginning of Durga Puja festivities. Durga Maa is believed to descend Earth on this day. It is believed that on the day of Mahalaya,Goddess Durga,Lord Shiva and their children beginned their journey from Kailash Parvat to Earth-Durga Maa's maternal home. This is why every year Maa Durga is invited on Earth this day as people continuously chant -"Jago Maa Jago" and some verses from Chandi Purana. Maha saptami usually falls seven days after Mahalaya but this year Maha saptami will fall 35 days after Mahalaya because of "Mala Masa". Mala masa means a lunar month which has two amavasya and no auspicious rituals are performed during this month.
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(People paying homage to their departed ancestors)
Mahalaya is mainly celebrated in West Bengal,Odisha,Assam,Tripura and Karnataka. Some ritual may differ from state to state, but the zeal and enthusiasm of people to welcome Devi Maa and their ancestor remains same. The day is filled with happiness and excitement. Mahalaya signifies the power of truth,virtue,courage and it strengthens everyone's belief on the universal fact that "good always triumphs over evil".
Every year this day, the melodious voice of Birendra Kumar Bhadra echoing "Ashwiner Sharodo prate..." throughout Bengali households to celebrate the arrival of Durga maa. This is what Mahalaya meant to me, until last year. In the Durga pandal, gobbling on the oily goodness of the fish fry, waiting to collect my Mughlai paratha from the vendor, I heard two ladies chatting. Yeah I eavesdropped. Not my fault they were so loud that you could probably hear them from kilometers away.
They were talking about Pitru Paksha. Although I couldn't make much of the conversation, the words stuck. Next day, going into my school's computer lab during the period, yeah I am courageous enough to check other stuff even Wattpad during our teacher teaching. I searched for Pitru Paksha.
Although I had guessed from the words meanings it had something to do with our dear ancestors, I wanted to know more. And as I searched throughout I understood what it is. Paying the rightful tribute that our ancestors deserve. Paying a homage to display our gratitude to our ancestors.
You may ask why? It is because if not for them we would never be enveloped in the blankets of this comfort. Now, now, before you say this is all thanks to the hardwork of your parents or theirs, think again. They may have earned the money to get you these luxuries. But who created them? Our ancestors. From the journey of a Homo Habilis to a Homo Sapien, we evolved. So did our surroundings.
The day the ape ancestor of ours rose to fight with the bone of an animal, we developed. The day the meat that they ate fell into the fire and turned soft, we developed. The day they evolved enough to cover themselves we developed. These are not small things, like Rome was not built in a day, neither was a shirt sewed in an instant.
Come on today, lets pay homage and the deserved respect our ancestors deserve.
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Indian legion wishes a very happy Mahalya to everyone. ind_legion
