Family Durga invites local Tribal community

This Durgapuja began in 1815.

Maldah, the area washed by rivers Bhagirathi, Mahananda and Punarbhaba, was a trading spot where traders from North India came with their goods. Abodhnarayan Ray, a rich lentils trader from Ghazipur in Uttarpradesh used to sail to Calcutta via Maldah. Once while sailing through Punarbhaba by the end of 18^th century, he received the news about the death of a Dinajpur Zamindar. The British government had called for an auction of part of the estate as the family could not submit tax on scheduled date. Abodhnarayan took part in auction and purchased the area on sale for three thousand rupees. The Roy family started ruling and growing their estate in Bengal. One Aghorbaba, who had a hermitage in his area, advised him to start Durgapuja. The Durga temple was finished during his son Shibaprasad Roy’s rule. Unfortunately the family lost three fourth of their estate to East Pakistan, now Bangladesh as Bengal was divided as a condition of India’s freedom from British rule in 1947. However, the Durgapuja still takes place in the village Tilasan, 36 km from Maldah city.

Many aspects of this Durgapuja are remarkable. Durga was the family Goddess of the Tilasan Roys from long before. The gold idol of that Durga was already brought and established in the Zamindar’s palace in this Santhal village by 1800 AD. That Durga idol is worshipped daily in the inner chamber of the palace temple. The golden Durga is supposed to be seen by none outside family, not even by the married daughters of the family. Hence when they had to start Durgapuja following Bengali ritual, they decided to do it by making an earthen idol. Following same tradition both the golden and earthen Durga is worshipped here and six priests are engaged in the Puja altogether.

The male family members hand invitation letters to 300 families in the village, a section of who are from tribal community to attend the festival. Lunch is arranged for all villagers on third and fourth and last day of the Puja.

Once the Puja was inaugurated by firing five rounds of cartridge on the bank of river Punarbhaba where some rituals took place on the Sasthi day. As this has become an international border area, getting permission from neighbouring country for ritual firing became an issue. Yet devotees from Bangladesh come to attend the Puja. The local Santhali traditional drummers accompany the Goddess to the immersion ghat. The once riverside rituals take place at the pond of the palace.

Same way, the traditional sweets which was once mandatory during Puja cannot be made due to the loss of skill.

Time flows, many traditions are lost with time. Still Bengali sticks to the idea which encouraged their ancestors to organize Durgapuja–festival for the people where all communities and religions unite in the name of mother Goddess.