Another turn around the sun has been completed and the Holy occasion of Mahalaya is finally here again. For those who are not familiar with the concept of Mahalaya, it is the day that marks the end of “pitripaksha” and the beginning of “devipaksha”, indicating that Durga Puja is just a week’s wait away. It has always baffled people who are not from the city of Kolkata, to comprehend what really is the hype about Durga Puja here. Well, to give you an idea (although it is well beyond anyone’s literary skills to be able to give anyone an estimate of what this festival means to this city), the actual celebration starts usually from Panchami, but as soon as the day of Mahalaya arrives, every heart in this city is giddy with glee as the golden voice of Virendrakrishna Bhadra reminds us “Maa ashchen” (mother is coming).
From the perspective of religious rites, on the day of Mahalaya, people go to bathe in the river Ganga and perform “tarpan”, a ritual to pay their respect to their ancestors. But the real essence of Mahalaya spreads through our veins sharp at 4 AM, when the radio stations play the good ol’ classic “Mahishasura Mardini” (a half hour audio montage depicting the myth of the killing of Mahishasura by Devi Durga), as has been the tradition in the culture of Kolkata since timeimmemorial (since 1931 to be accurate).
Image Credit: bppostscript.files.wordpress.com
Even though the emotions and nostalgia attached to the day of Mahalaya is running quite the same through the newer generation, there is no denying that with time, traditions change as well. What was perhaps a compulsion during the times of the older generation, now is a choice- waking up at 4 in the dawn to listen to the same radio program that has been ushering in the devipaksha in our lives for so long. Thanks to the development of mass media, now we have innumerable adaptations of the Mahishasura Mardini, with visuals added for further spectacle, remade songs in better qualities (technically speaking) and the option to go onYouTube at any given point of time to access all these content, including the original version. So does that mean the dawn of Mahalaya wears itself away in vain, waiting for the city to awaken at the sound of “Jaago tumi jaago”?
Image Credit: digitaltrends.com
Absolutely not. It is not only the older generation that abides by the tradition to keep the nostalgia alive. The younger ones too realize that the joy of carrying on this tradition is irreplaceable. That is why the usually sleep deprived gen z was up at 4 today again, whether it be in Kolkata or Mumbai or North Carolina, to welcome their mother. Time may have taken children away from Kolkata, but Kolkata has never left its children. Distance and difference of time zone can only take you so far away from home after all.
