Sandhi Puja - a photo on Flickriver

Sandhi Puja

            We were in Kolkata’s Tollygunge neighbourhood where we were staying in the apartment of a friend of a friend. The apartment complex had its own pandal set up and elaborate decorations—1008 lamps organized in the shape of an enormous lamp—were in place to celebrate the Sandhi Puja. 

“It lasts from 8:05 to 8:53 in the morning this time,” said one of the residents. The Sandhi Puja is celebrated for 48 minutes – the final 24 minutes of Ashtami, the 8th lunar day, and the first 24 minutes of Navami, the 9th lunar day. “This was the period when Ma Durga killed Chanda and Munda.”

Chanda and Munda were the generals of the demon king Mahishasura. While Durga was in battle, these two attempted to strike down the Goddess from behind, a shameful tactic that angered her so much that out of her third eye emerged Kali. Kali was a picture of violent fury: eyes the colour of blood, a girdle of severed hands around her waist, and a garland of skulls around her neck. In the next 48 minutes, she chopped off the heads of Chanda and Munda, and offered them to Durga, earning herself the name Chamunda.

It wouldn’t be Hindu mythology without multiple stories centered around one event, and so the man at the pandal narrated another one. A different demon king, Raavana, had attained incredible power through his devotion to Shiva. “Raavana did a lot of evil,” the man told me. “And he was so powerful that he once went all the way to heaven to acquire a divine sword from Shiva. Lord Rama wanted to put an end to him, and so he prayed to Ma Durga who appeared before Rama during these 48 minutes.”

“So, the Sandhi Puja is about the triumph of good over evil,” I said.

“Yes, there is the good path and the bad path.”

“And Raavana chose the bad path.”

“Yes, but not just him,” the man said. “We’ve all done that.”

—-

People in Bengal (Part 9 of 22)

Taken on: October 1, 2014

Tags:

People Photos

People in Bengal

India

Travel

Kolkata

Calcutta

Durga Puja

Durga Pujo

Sandhi Puja

Puja

Pujo

Durga

Chamunda

Tollygunge

Kali « less

Sets appears in: • People in Bengal • People Photos

Groups appears in: • India Images • Calcutta / Kolkata more » • Indian Travel • Bengal / Bangla • Kolkata Photographers and Photographs • Oh Kolkata « less

Camera: Canon EOS DIGITAL REBEL XSi, f/3.2, 1/125 sec, 50mm, ISO 100 (more info) (hide info)

Camera:	Canon EOS DIGITAL REBEL XSi
Lens:	EF50mm f/1.8 II
Aperture:	f/3.2
Exposure Time:	0.008 sec (1/125)
Focal Length:	50mm
ISO:	100
Exposure Bias:	0 EV
Flash:	Off, Did not fire
Exposure Program:	Manual
Exposure Mode:	Manual
Metering Mode:	Multi-segment
White Balance:	Auto
Color Space:	Uncalibrated
Software:	Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 5.0 (Macintosh)
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