Benoy K Behl’s documentary Triumph of Knowledge: Durga Puja in
Kolkata, focused on the minute details of Durga Puja, reports
Rakesh Kumar
Talk about festivals of India and Durga Puja of West Bengal may well top the list. During 10 days the whole city of Kolkata wears a festive look and it is very hard to overlook the citizens’ fervour. Moreover, the last four days, marked as a holiday in the state, brings everything other than Puja celebrations to a complete halt. This imagery is what the eye of artist Benoy K Behl has captured in his documentary titled Triumph of Knowledge: Durga Puja in Kolkata.
The 25-minute documentary of Benoy K Behl featured the craziness of the people for the Puja ~ how they are fully and deeply immersed in the adulation of Durga, as well as the social events, which are held alongside the celebrations. And how in Kolkata alone, more than 2,000 pandals, or platforms on which the image of Durga is placed, are set up. "It is a great festival, where each night hundreds of thousands of people go from one pandal to another. Friends and family come together for the occasion. There is much shopping. Roads are over crowded and traffic comes to a standstill. Yet everyone is happy. That is the spirit of Durga Puja," shared Behl during the screening of the documentary at India Habitat Centre.
Started from the big pandal, his documentary goes on to give a history of the Puja ~ how the Puja culture started in Bengal and the first family that housed the first Durga pandal. Behl's documentary traces the history of the Durga Puja from medieval period. It was a group of elite NRIs from London who started this celebration in Kolkata. Ever since, it has become an inseparable tradition of West Bengal. The main Puja is on the seventh, eight and ninth days. On the tenth day, Vijaya Dashmi, Durga is taken in a procession to be immersed in the water, which is symbolic of her departure to her husband’s home in the Himalayas. "It is believed that Shiva allowed his spouse Durga to visit her parent's home for nine days every year. The festival of
Durga Puja marks this visit of Durga. On the last day Vijaya Dashmi, she leaves the parental home for Shiva's abode Mt Kailash," explained Behl in his documentary. Apart from this, the documentary also explained that the traditional image of Durga in Bengal following a pan-Indian iconography. One could see her in this form in sculpture in the rock-cut caves at Mamallapuram and Aihole, of the 7th and the 8th centuries. This is Durga as Mahishasurmardini, when she spears and slays the buffalo demon of our ignorance. Durga Puja is observed in her honour, to celebrate her victory over the evil of ignorance. Durga Puja is also widely celebrated in Tripura, Assam, Jharkhand and Orissa.
Talk about festivals of India and Durga Puja of West Bengal may well top the list. During 10 days the whole city of Kolkata wears a festive look and it is very hard to overlook the citizens’ fervour. Moreover, the last four days, marked as a holiday in the state, brings everything other than Puja celebrations to a complete halt. This imagery is what the eye of artist Benoy K Behl has captured in his documentary titled Triumph of Knowledge: Durga Puja in Kolkata.
The 25-minute documentary of Benoy K Behl featured the craziness of the people for the Puja ~ how they are fully and deeply immersed in the adulation of Durga, as well as the social events, which are held alongside the celebrations. And how in Kolkata alone, more than 2,000 pandals, or platforms on which the image of Durga is placed, are set up. "It is a great festival, where each night hundreds of thousands of people go from one pandal to another. Friends and family come together for the occasion. There is much shopping. Roads are over crowded and traffic comes to a standstill. Yet everyone is happy. That is the spirit of Durga Puja," shared Behl during the screening of the documentary at India Habitat Centre.
Started from the big pandal, his documentary goes on to give a history of the Puja ~ how the Puja culture started in Bengal and the first family that housed the first Durga pandal. Behl's documentary traces the history of the Durga Puja from medieval period. It was a group of elite NRIs from London who started this celebration in Kolkata. Ever since, it has become an inseparable tradition of West Bengal. The main Puja is on the seventh, eight and ninth days. On the tenth day, Vijaya Dashmi, Durga is taken in a procession to be immersed in the water, which is symbolic of her departure to her husband’s home in the Himalayas. "It is believed that Shiva allowed his spouse Durga to visit her parent's home for nine days every year. The festival of
Durga Puja marks this visit of Durga. On the last day Vijaya Dashmi, she leaves the parental home for Shiva's abode Mt Kailash," explained Behl in his documentary. Apart from this, the documentary also explained that the traditional image of Durga in Bengal following a pan-Indian iconography. One could see her in this form in sculpture in the rock-cut caves at Mamallapuram and Aihole, of the 7th and the 8th centuries. This is Durga as Mahishasurmardini, when she spears and slays the buffalo demon of our ignorance. Durga Puja is observed in her honour, to celebrate her victory over the evil of ignorance. Durga Puja is also widely celebrated in Tripura, Assam, Jharkhand and Orissa.
