It is a period of worshipping the Mother Goddess in her varied aspects: as Durga (Goddess of Valour), Lakshmi (Goddess of Wealth) and Saraswati (Goddess of Learning). Nine days of this festival are equally distributed among these three manifestations of Shakti. Since it is a festival of nine nights, Durga Puja is also known as Navaratri in some places, especially in South India.

The celebration of Durga Puja goes very far back in history and there are abundant references to it in India literature from 12th century onwards. Mother worship assumed great significance in the tantra, yoga and bhakti cults too. However, today Durga Puja is generally a community festival. In ancient sculptures, Durga is endowed with many arms, sometimes 20 or 28 even 32 arms! This was perhaps in keeping with her capacity to perform supernormal feats. However, today the idols of the goddess are made with 10 arms only, corresponding to the story in Markandeya Purana.

The Puja celebration over the years has changed colour often. Earlier, it was the most expensive of all festivals and could only be performed by the rich and the powerful like feudal lords, rajas and big businessmen. However, it always evoked great enthusiasm and popular support. In ancient practice, Durga was worshipped alone and the worship was attended upon by strict rules and regimens. There was a special hour for offering of sacrifices and this hour varied from year to year, depending on astrological calculations. The rituals needed psychological discipline and alertness for, it was believed that even a minor slip in the recitation of the holy text would bring disaster upon the worshipper and his family.

But in today’s ethos, Durga Puja has become a community celebration rather than a personal worship. The evolution of many clubs, associations and societies has made the Puja cosmopolitan in character. The social and ritualistic significance of the Puja has also been modified to a great degree. Much of the stringency attending upon its rituals has slackened and its public celebration gets filmy and sometimes has political overtones too. According to an account by a social commentator, the Puja celebrations had plummeted to the depths of banality in the mid-19th century under the impact of modern British education. English bands stood guard near the Goddess, sandwiches and coffee were offered to her and often her image was crowned with a bonnet in Parisian style!

Today, though the celebration has been shorn of such levity, it has become an occasion for pageantry and extravaganza. Age-old conchshells and drums have given way to loud film songs and sometimes the goddess is modeled on popular film actresses. On the flip side, animal sacrifices, a must earlier, have been dispensed with at many places and shrines.

While earlier Durga was worshipped alone, now it is, more often than not, the goddess with her family. Durga is portrayed as the supreme head; and the presence of Ganesha, Kartikeya, Shiva etc marks a wholesome picture of divinity. In days of yore, Durga Puja used to be an occasion for folk songs known as agamani or welcome songs. Today, it is marked by the release of new discs and albums, many of which are not decent enough to be heard.