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Tag: Durga Puja

Durga Puja at Vedanta Society of Greater Houston Streamed Online

By Sanchali Basu

Houston: As the saying goes, “One has to change and keep up with the times,” Durga Puja at the Vedanta Society of Greater Houston (VSGH) also had to evolve with the times. In this unprecedented year of the COVID pandemic, only volunteers who were directly involved with the Puja were allowed inside the temple during the worship on October 17, when VSGH celebrated the Durga Puja.

The proceedings started the previous evening with the Durga idol being moved to the dais of the main temple. Kalabau was placed next to Lord Ganesh and the idol of Mother Durga with her children was decorated beautifully. Due to travel restrictions, Swami Kripamayananda who visits us every year from Toronto for this occasion, unfortunately could not join us this year. This happened after him visiting us 7 years in a row. Our resident sannyasi, Swami Atmarupananda who could not assist with conducting the Puja last year, was at the helm of affairs this year.

The Puja started at 10 AM sharp with great austerity and devotion, and the livestream started on the VSGH YouTube channel. Rupa Ghosh’s melodious devotional songs during the entire Puja made the temple reverberate with divinity. The entire choir could not participate due to Covid restrictions and there was no accompaniment of musicians either.

The Puja ended with the beautiful Arati performed by the Swami with the chandelier lamp to the beat of the traditional dhak, by Nirmalya Roy and Kansar ghanta, by Ramyani Roy. Devotees were then requested to offer flowers to the Mother (Pushpanjali). The few volunteer devotees in the center got to offer Pushpanjali with the chanting of Durga mantras.

Once the Puja concluded, devotees were allowed into the center through the main entrance, one family at a time to pray and offer flowers at Ma Durga’s feet. They were greeted at the entrance by Swami Atmarupananda. Then they were requested to exit through the side entrance and pick up boxed sweets and fruit prasad on their way out. All visitors were requested to wear a mask to allow entry into the center. Some devotees sat on the center lawn area to eat the prasad maintaining social distance and enjoying the lovely, breezy mild October weather.

Although it was unfortunate that devotees could not attend the Puja in person, the online streaming provided everyone with a good flavor of the Puja. The puja was conducted in a very efficient, devout, and smooth manner by Swami Atmarupananda. He requested devotees for the annual contribution to the center for its regular maintenance and upkeep. A donation box was kept at the entrance, where devotees were dropping off their donations.

In this unique year of the Covid pandemic, devotees were thankful and grateful that they were allowed a semblance of the real Durga Puja, if not live, at least virtual.

For more information about the activities at VSGH, please visit: www.houstonvedanta.org

October 26, 2020
Vedanta Society of Greater Houston (VSGH) Durga Puja 2018

By Sanchali Basu

HOUSTON: It is that time of the year again – Durga Puja time! As is the norm every year, VSGH will take pride in hosting the first Durga Puja of the season in Houston. VSGH has gone through several changes over the past year. Revered Swami Atmarupananda, an authority on the Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda, besides authoring several books on Vedanta and meditation, has taken over as the spiritual head of VSGH since last December.

He will be assisting Swami Kripamayanada from Toronto, in conducting the puja. The puja will commence early in the morning with the Nabapatrika and the idol of Mother Durga being carried to the nicely decorated pandal outdoors to the beat of the Dhak and the blowing of the shankh, creating a divine atmosphere.

The puja will continue to the accompaniment of melodious devotional songs by the VSGH choir and end with a beautiful arati, and pushpanjali, the offering of flowers, by devotees. Looking at the weather forecast, one can expect a bright beautiful sunny day, not too warm, to the delight of the devotees.

The puja will be followed by fruit & lunch prasad distribution to all attendees. This is one puja that all Houstonians look forward to every year, because of the sincere piety and devotion with which the puja is carried out. It imbibes a spiritual atmosphere in which all devotees bask.

A book stall is also set up at the back of the Puja pandal for attendees to check books out and purchase. Some dignitaries are expected to attend the event. A record crowd is being expected this year. A warm invitation is being extended to all to attend with family and friends. Admission and parking is free, but donations are welcome.

For further information about the event, please visit: www.houstonvedanta.org or contact Ashok Dasgupta at 979-421-0957, Swapna Chaudhuri at 281-584-0488, or leave a message at the Vedanta Society 281-988-7211.

October 4, 2018
Durga Puja After Two Decades

Saurabh Sengupta

By Nirmalya Ghosh

HOUSTON: Coming back to Houston to see the Durga Puja after two decades has been a revealing experience for me. As a graduate from IIT Kharagpur, I came down to Houston the “oil capital of the world” on United Nations Fellowship. After completing doctoral studies, I left for Pune, India in 1991 on a promising assignment.

Bengali community across the globe worships Goddess Durga. In those days Durga Puja was held in the church and later in the Gandhi Community Centre and selected Houston residents were requested to prepare khichuri, vegetables, mishti and payesh, it was then pooled together and distributed to all Bengalis not only from Houston but from Austin, College Station, Baton Rouge etc. who attended the Puja. It was more of a limited community social get together and religious worship of Maa Durga. There were a few games for the children in the afternoon and not much of evening activities.

I visited Houston again in 2013 after a gap of almost 22 years. From day one, the warmth made us feel at home. We witnessed Durga Puja celebration at Houston Durgabari and Vedanta Society for two years (2014 and 2016). It is a home away from my home country because of so many friends and acquaintances.

In this time gap, I was amazed to see the growth of the community and the construction of Durga bari. It is an honour for Houston to have this pratishthan. When Durga Puja of Houston was awarded the first prize by Chief Minister of West Bengal in 2015, I was overwhelmed. Houston Durga puja today is celebrated with a lot of grandeur.

One feels proud when the whole community is so vibrant and holds on to the culture staying so far away from the motherland. The cultural program put up by the local talents of all age groups was very entertaining and well-choreographed. It was amazing to witness the children dressed up in dhoti and ladies in sari playing Dhak and Dhol almost to perfection in front of Maa Durga.

Being involved in Pune’s Durga Puja and enjoying the volunteer activities gives me unique perspective. In Houston too, we were fortunate enough to volunteer our services once for cutting of fruits and distribution of Prasad. The religious rituals were elaborate and so meticulously performed by the priests.

Food plays an important role in the Durga Puja festival. The bhog in the afternoon and chicken rezalla, mutton curry etc. served for dinner were really delicious and the mishti and chatni went really well with them. What was appealing and praise worthy was that the food was prepared in house, by a team of dedicated persons, and our appreciation goes to all. The fish fry and mashla muri sold at Houston Durga Puja, was really delicious and a star attraction to all of us. Our sincere thanks to the canteen team who prepared it so tasty. I only remember to have had similar mashla muri outside west Bengal at singer Abhijit Bhattacharya’s Durga Puja at Lokhandwala, Mumbai.

Durga puja is not only a religious program; it is a social festival too. To me, another star attraction was the promotion of budding and young Bengali singers from India.

We got the opportunity to talk to Imon Chakrabarty and Durnibar Saha who we have been watching on TV. We certainly miss this in Pune and other areas outside Bengal during the festival time. The concept of sari, dress, jewelry, pickle, insurance company, website promotion stalls at the Durga Puja mandap is something new compared to that in India, where it is more of gastronomic food and less of saris and jewelry.

It was indeed an occasion for revival and rejuvenation for us. The transportation arrangement from the parking lot to the venue would have been better served if sun shade could have been provided for the devotees at Durga Bari. I would love to visit the unique Houston Durga Puja every year and be a part of it. In my opinion, the Puja of this magnitude was well managed from Puja- Bhog- Dinner- Cultural events- Exhibition etc. and credit goes to the team.

November 3, 2016
Durga Bari Celebrates Durga Puja in Style Despite Inclement Weather

Photos: Saurabh Sen Gupta

By Sanchali Basu

HOUSTON: No amount of rain could dampen the spirits of the local Bengali community in celebrating the Annual Durga Puja which everyone looks forward to the whole year. The Puja is normally celebrated over 10 days in Bengal, beginning on Mahalaya with the invocation of the goddess Mother Durga and continues on with the Bengali calendar tithis, Shashthi, Saptami, Ashtami, Navami and Vijaya Dashami. The festival marks the victory of Goddess Durga over the evil buffalo demon Mahishasura. Vijaya Dashami is celebrated as Dussehra in other parts of India and the nine days of festivities are celebrated as Navratri in western India. The Durga Puja festival epitomizes the victory of Good over Evil.

In India, some of these days are observed as public holidays and people get to enjoy this time with family and friends. In the United States, due to time constraints, the Puja ceremony is condensed over a weekend in most places. We in Houston, are spoilt with the Durgabari being around, and get to celebrate the Durga Puja in the traditional way over 5 days, on the proper Tithis, and additionally over the weekend for the office-goers if the Tithis don’t happen to coincide with the weekend. This year happened to be one of those years.

Mahalaya on October 11 started with the musical rendition of Mahishasur Mardini followed by Anandamela (fund-raising for the temple with food stalls selling Bengali culinary delicacies), fashion show, skit and excellent recitation by invited artist from Kolkata, Debasish Chakraborty.

Surprisingly, even on a weekday morning, Ashtami tithi celebrations had about 500 people in attendance, which began with Chandipath in the morning, followed by Puja, Pushpanjali, Arati and Bhog lunch, and Sandhyarati in the evening, as is the normal sequence of events daily during the Puja. Presumably, people had caught wind of the weather forecast over the weekend and did not want to take a chance. An integral and important part of Durga Puja, Sandhi Puja which is performed at the juncture of Ashtami and Nabami, when Durga is worshipped in her Chamunda form, also kept a lot of devotees in the temple until almost midnight

The Puja was celebrated all over again beginning Oct 22 with Amantran and Adhibas and the evening entertainment was provided by guest artist from Kolkata, Shampa Kundu who had a repertoire of Rabindra Sangeet, modern Bengali songs and even medleys of Bengali-Hindi songs and kept the audience glued till almost 1 AM on a week night. Bhoomi (Bangla Band) was accompanied by Lakshman Das Baul on Friday and featured an array of popular folk song hits. Local singers also showed their talent and flash mob dancers entertained people while they were waiting patiently in the food distribution line.

Despite the heavy rains hitting the Houston area on Saturday and Sunday, the organizers had a well thought out plan of action. The temple was closed early on Saturday, local programs were deferred to Kali Puja and Debojit Saha, Bollywood singer, one time winner of Sa Re Ga Ma Pa was brought on stage in the afternoon. He brought out the wild side of the audience with his renditions of popular Bollywood numbers from yester years to the present and also delivered some Bengali popular Kishore Kumar songs. He came down from the stage to dance with the delighted screaming, dancing audience and mingled with them lapping up every bit of the adulation and fan-frenzy. He was very ably supported by the extremely talented Swagata Dey (vocals), and Kutti (keyboard).

Oct 25, Bijoya Dashami day bittersweet, with the immersion of the Naba Patrika and Bisarjan, and Sindoor Khela (married women anointing one another with vermilion signifying the departure of the goddess to her in-laws’ abode) and distribution of sweets, brought the Durga puja celebrations to a close.

The sari, jewelry, book stalls, the blowing of conch shells (shankha), rhythmic beats of the drums (dhaak), fish fry stalls and loudspeakers blaring popular songs were all very reminiscent of the Puja atmosphere back home. Thanks to the able leadership of Santanu Mukhopadhyay, Puja committee chair, the Bayou city with its seamless execution of the Puja lived up to its reputation of being able to cope under difficult circumstances. Please visit www.durgabari.org for upcoming events, namely Kali Puja.

October 29, 2015