Over 500-year Durga Puja Legacy in Assam; Devi Vandana Rends Air on Installation of Goddess

Staff Reporter

GUWAHATI: Chanting of the Devi Vandana to the Divine Goddess who resides in all existence in the form of power, rent the air in Assam on Wednesday when the devotees performed the installation of the Goddess (sathi puja) amid ululation, blowing of conch shells, drumbeats, and whatnot.

The Durga Puja in Assam can be traced back at least to the 15th century at Bilbeswar Devalaya at Belsor in the present Nalbari district, where Ahom kings worshipped Goddess Durga following the tradition. As the tradition goes, the puja committee of the devalaya brings a plantain tree (Ram kol) from a house in any area in the locality. This year, the devalaya committee has brought the plantain tree from the house of Dhaneswar Barman of Shahpur in Palanquin in a cultural procession, seven km away from the devalaya. The Durga Puja at Bileswar will sacrifice 45 buffaloes this year. The west Nalbari area was agog with the installation ceremony of the goddess today.

The Durga Puja at Barnaddi, near Bilbeswar Devalaya, also carries a historic legacy of Durga Puja in the area. This year the people of Barnaddi are celebrating the 524th Durga Puja, a legacy that continues there from the time of Ahom kings.

Yet another Gurga puja that also carries the legacy of the Ahom kings is the Burhi Gosaini Devalaya at Jorhat, where the Shakti puja is celebrated with spiritual traditions. The idol of the temple was brought by Ahom King Rudra Singha from the Jaitia Hills of present-day Meghalaya. Later, Gaurinath Singha shifted the Ahom capital to Jorhat from Rongpur and established the Burhi Gosani Devalaya in Jorhat in 1794.

Astride the Brahmaputra, Guwahati, that has around 500 puja pandals, witnessed Durga Puja with pomp and gaiety today. Apart from the installation of the goddess amid cultural and religious traditions, the puja committees of the metropolitan city were busy in their preparations for the Saptami Puja today.

 Also Read: Assam: Durga Puja sacrifice rituals to be observed in Guwahati city (sentinelassam.com)

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