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Mahalaya is an auspicious Indian occasion observed seven days before the Durga Puja, and heralds the advent of Durga, the goddess of supreme power. The dark fortnight of Aswayuja is known as the Mahalaya Paksha or the fortnight specially sacred for offering oblations to the departed ancestors. Durga - goddess of deliverance - comes to earth on the seventh day after the autumn new moon. She is depicted by the 'kumors' or potters as a resplendent golden figure standing on a lion's back, each of her ten arms bearing a particular weapon, as she triumphs over the demon Mahisasura.
THE TRADITION OF MAHALAYA
Seven days before the puja, from the day of Mahalaya starts Devipaksha. People take a holy dip in the river Ganga at dawn and pray for the departed souls - the act is called 'Tarpan'. Since the early 1930s, Mahalaya has come to associate itself with an early morning radio program called Mahisasura Mardini or The Annihilation of the Demon. This All India Radio (AIR) program is a beautiful audio montage of recitation from the scriptural verses of Chandi Kabya, Bengali devotional songs, classical music and a dash of acoustic melodrama.
This program has almost become synonymous with Mahalaya. For nearly six decades now, the whole of Bengal rises up in the chilly pre dawn hours, 4 am to be precise, of the Mahalaya day to tune in to the Mahisasura Mardini broadcast.
THE FACTS
The occasion of Mahalaya, always goes on reminding mankind of the divine scheme of things that the Evil may have had its say, but it is ultimately the Good that has the last laugh.
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