Durga Puja is observed for 6 to 10 days in various parts of the country. In most of Northern India, the festival is also known as Navratri (Nine Nights). This year, Navratri will begin on September 26th and end on October 4th.
Months before Durga Puja, the narrow lanes and bylanes of Kumartuli in Kolkata come alive with artisans and idol makers shaping the ten-armed goddess and her family with clay for the festivities. The kumars, or god-makers, create the chinmayi, or clay idols, which are mrinmoyi through the ritualistic practises of the priest during the five-day festivities.
Hours of hard work and sweat create exquisite pieces of craftsmanship, with demand running high and varied for what king of an idol a family or a community wants to install inside their house or marquee.
For the uninitiated, the clay is brought down the Hoogly River from Uluberia, a village near the city with clay suitable for shaping the idols. However, the riverbank is not the only source of clay used in the creation of Goddess Durga idols.
Four crusial things required in preparing idol of Durga
When preparing the idol of Goddess Durga, four things are crucial, according to Hindu tradition. These include mud from the Ganga’s banks, cow dung, cow urine, and soil from outside brothels, known as ‘Nishiddho Pallis,’ which are required for the idol to be complete.
According to traditional beliefs, the soil should be begged and received from a sex worker’s hand as a gift and blessing since it is known as ‘punya mati’ or the sacred soil and was earlier collected by the priest. Nowadays it is collected by the person who makes the idol, months before the festivities.
While it could be that people might have included the custom to include people who are outcasts into the folds of the autumnal festivities.
Many people believe that the soil is blessed because those who visit the forbidden lanes of prostitutes leave their virtue and piety at the door to enter the world of carnal desires and sin. The soil then absorbs all of the virtues and becomes blessed.
Another school of thought, based on Vedic studies, believes that nine classes of women known as Navkanyas should be worshipped and revered during Durga Puja. A nati (dancer/actress), a vaishya (prostitute), a rajaki (laundry girl), a brahmani (Brahmin girl), a shudra, a gopala (milkmaid): these are the women known as Navakays.
Worshiping the ten-armed goddess is said to be incomplete without honouring these women.
