Thursday, October 13, 2005

Durga Pujo in Singapore

The Durgostav in Singapore was an enjoyable experience. The moment I got out of the Farrer Park MRT, I sighted three or four Bengali women dressed colorfully in 'pujo attire' (term used to cover up my lack of knowledge of saree varieties). We entered the chock- a- block full pandal auditorium were Mother Durga was housed in all her resplendent glory. The purohit was chanting the mantras of prayer, the many men and women dressed in traditional Bengali attire were animatedly chatting with each other. The festive spirit was very palpable. There were loads of Marwaris, Panjabis and Gujratis as well, all offering prayers to the Divine Mother. All together. Sometimes I marvel at the fact that India manifests herself as much outside her borders as she does within them.
It was all good. There was quite bit of jostling as well, because of the large number of people there. I also ended up losing my shoes for a while. Thank God I found them in the end! Met some Bengali friends, made some new ones, laughed, chatted and offered prayers.

Its like I had never left Kolkata...

Maa Durga in Singapore.















Cheers!
Abhishek.

8 comments:

Miss M said...

Hey! Shubho Bijoya! =D

Abhishek Chatterjee said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Abhishek Chatterjee said...

Medz - Hey shubho bijoya to you too! Do they have 'bhashan' here? What with all the restictions and all...just curious.

Anonymous said...

well! well! well! impressive name-innovations!!!! so when do u plan to meet?!!!!!

by the way.......Shubho Bijoya, Mr Chatterjee!

Miss M said...

Theres no 'bhashan' here simply cos Bengali association cant afford to bring a new thakurer murti every year. Hence the same idol is used for 3 concecutive years before a new one is bought from calcutta.

And frankly, i am not very sure what do they do with the old murtis. Never really heard of 'bishorjon' here.

But this time round, ma Durga's murti was exceptionally beautiful! Wasnt it just spectacular? Nice pic taken btw! =)

Abhishek Chatterjee said...

S - innovation is the future of the world. Read the book called 'Innovator's dilemma'by Clayton Christensen. he came to give us a talk. Interesting.

Medz - thanks. lovely murti it was.

Anonymous said...

Nice post. Good to see that the festive spirit is alive outside India as well.

Unknown said...

nice post! during navratri puja me along with my mother used to visit Maa Durga Temple in our village and offer her prayers by chanting durga mantra and be on fasting for 9 days.