Celebrating the Goddess!

From Sify.com
West Bengal celebrates Diwali, Kali Puja
2010-11-05 18:30:00

Kolkata, Nov 5 (IANS) With Diwali and Kali Puja falling on the same day Friday, it's double celebrations for people in West Bengal.

People across the state exchanged sweets with friends, neighbours and relatives, and celebrated the occassion with traditional fervour.

Thousands of people visited Kalighat and Dakhineshwar temples since morning to offer their prayers to the goddess on this auspicious day.

Long queues were seen at Tarapith temple, near Rampurhat in Birbhum district, where lakhs of pilgrims converged to seek blessings of the goddess.

'It is after three years that I am enjoying Kali Puja in Kolkata,' said Swarup Das, a resident of Kolkata, now based in Dubai. 'My wife is also thrilled to be in the city after a long time on this day. I will spend the evening with my son, bursting crackers. At midnight we will go to Kalighat to see the puja,' he said.

Children, dressed in their festive best, were busy with toy pistols and firecrackers on the streets of Kolkata.

Pandal hopping is a popular activity during the festival, and people love to see the artistic decorations and idols in various parts of the city. Apart from the community pujas, the goddess is worshipped in a large number of homes as well, which have been holding the puja for generations.

'One of my cousins organises Kali Puja at her residence. I will go there with my family. We will watch the puja rituals, eat and burst crackers,' said T.P. Dutta, a banker.

The festivities keep the city administration on their toes as well.

Authorities have banned crackers emitting more than 90 decibel of sound to control noise pollution.

'Over 9,000 kg of banned firecrackers have been seized and more than 76 people have been arrested,' joint commissioner of police Jawed Shamim said.

Security has been beefed up in and around several parts of the city, he added.

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What is Diwali? Short answer:  A "festival of lights" celebrated between mid-October and mid-November, it commenerates many instances of Good triumphing against Evil.  It is a time of celebration, gifts, lights, brightness, sharing, and familial love.

What is Kali Puja? 

Kali Puja or Shyama Puja is a festival dedicated to the Hindu goddess Kali, celebrated on the new day of the Hindu month Ashwin in Bengal.McDermott and Kripal p.72 It coincides with the pan-Indian Lakshmi Puja day of Diwali. ...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kali_Puja

is primarily a Bengali festival, held in accordance to the lunar calendar around the first week of November . The Goddess Kali is worshipped at night on one night during Kali Puja . ...
infao5501.ag5.mpi-sb.mpg.de:8080/topx/archive

The Complex Traditions of the Diwali Celebration

Article from The Times of India. Photo from an article in the Daily Mail Online, November 10, 2007, I could not find a photo credit. Caption: Workers could take time off for the Hindu celebration of Diwali - the festival of lights. October 18, 2009 Diwali celebrations: A melange of traditions By Nidhi Singhi LUDHIANA: While Diwali is celebrated all across the country with same enthusiasm and fervour, it holds different meanings for various communities. While Bengali community celebrated it by worshipping Goddess Kali on Diwali night, people belonging to south Indian community marked the day commemorating victory of Lord Krishna over demon Narkasur. Bengalis worship Goddess Lakshmi five days after Dussehra, but on Diwali, they worship goddess Kali. Devotees believe that Kali is the aggressive form or the destructive incarnation of Goddess Durga, but Bengalis celebrated the festival by worshipping goddess Kali, because she destroys the evil and in turn, she promises rejuvenation of life and justice on earth. Among south Indians, it is believed that Diwali celebrations are simply for commemoration of victory of Lord Krishna who killed Narkasur, a powerful king of Assam, who had imprisoned various inhabitants and had been freed by the Lord on this day so Diwali is also known as Naraka Chaturdasi. Some devotees also believe that Narkasur had requested the Lord to fulfil his last wish that he wanted to enjoy the last day of his life in a grand manner and the practice thus continued. Describing celebrations, TK Banerjee, secretary, Bangia Samsad, said it is a tradition in their community to decorate the house with 14 candles a day prior to festival to keep ghosts away from their houses. Since they could not use fried sweets in the worship, they used plain burfi solely prepared by ladies of their homes but one sweet called nadu, served after havana, is liked by all. R Sidhartan, a member of south Indian community, said it is just the traditions that differ but the purpose of festivals is to celebrate it with friends and family members. He said Diwali celebrations include a visit to the temple, gifts of clothes and jewellery, gorging on sweets and receiving blessings of elders.

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I did not know that Hindus believe in ghosts. If there is reincarnation of a decedent's soul, where do the ghosts comes from, or who are the ghosts? At another website discussing the Diwali celebration, the worship of Ganeha in conjunction with the Goddess Lakshmi is mentioned (from Duniyalive.com. Hindus worship Lord Ganesha and Goddess Lakshmi in Diwali, Posted on October 19th, 2009 in Latest India News) : Diwali, Festival of Lights is an auspicious occasion celebrated across India. During Diwali the devotees worship Lord Ganesha beore any other god or goddess. Traditionally on Diwali night, Ganesh shares the altar with Lakshmi. Shree Ganesh is the Lord of Wisdom and the remover of obstacles. Lakshmi is the goddess of wealth and prosperity and also personifies beauty, grace, and charm. In the Hindu pantheon, the two are unrelated, Ganesh being the son of Shiva and Parvati. However, when placed side by side, Lakshmi Ganesh hold out promise of a year of fulfillment, free from wants. During the Ganesh pooja, the idol of goddess Lakshmi is placed on the left and Lord Ganesha, the elephant headed god is kept on the right. Goddess Lakshmi is worshiped for wealth and prosperity, while Ganesh is worshiped first to ensure that any obstacles to obtaining wealth and prosperity are removed. Shri Laxmi-Ganesh Pooja takes place on Diwali by placing their idol on a platform, making various offerings of sandal paste, saffron paste, perfume(itr), haldi, kumkum, abeer, gulal, garland of cotton beads, flowers , especially the marigold flowers and leaves of Bel (wood apple tree). Incense stick and dhoop is lit and offering of sweets, coconut, fruits, and tambul are made. At the end, aarti dedicated to Lord Ganesh is sung by the devotees.

Objections to Indian "Festival of Lights" in The Netherlands

Controversy Over Dutch Support For Hindu Goddess Monday, October 5, 2009 (1:20 pm) By BosNewsLife News Center AMSTELVEEN, NETHERLANDS (BosNewsLife)-- Citizens in the Dutch town of Amstelveen have condemned plans by local authorities to support a controversial Hindu festival that would involve praying to a Hindu goddess from India, in the heart of the town. The nearby Dutch capital Amsterdam and Amstelveen-based KPMG, one of the world's largest professional services providers, also finance the October 10 festival on Amstelveen's 'Stadsplein' (Town Square). Local officials said the 'India Diwali Festival', or 'Festival of Lights', is part of a policy to accommodate the Indian community in Amstelveen, a European gateway for international companies due to its location near Schiphol Airport and key highways. Goddess Lakshmi is a key attraction during the festival, which symbolizes the victory over evil, according to organizers. Young visitors can receive Hindu make-up and dresses, and also paint their own small clay lamp, while the event will also feature Hindu tattoos, music, dancing, and hundreds of small lights, reported the influential Amstelveen-based news website amstelveen.blog.nl. CHRISTIANS SHOCKED Several Amstelveen citizens, including Christians, have expressed shock about the event and demanded that the local Christian party ChristianUnie (ChristianUnion) protests the planned festival in the local council. "This seems idolatry. Why is the ChristenUnie not asking questions about [this]," wrote Hans van der Liet in a reaction on amstelveen.blog.nl. "It is strange that the municipality sponsors [these] religious activities. When can my Roman Catholic parish pick up a bag of money?" Questions have been raised whether financially troubled Amstelveen, which lost 15 million euro ($22 million) due to investments in Iceland's collapsed banking sector, should spend money on the Hindu event at a time of budget cuts elsewhere. The ChristenUnie's Amstelveen representative, Jacqueline Koops – Scheele, did not reply to BosNewsLife's requests for clarification whether her party would protest the event. The founder of Christian online news agency BosNewsLife Stefan J. Bos, who lived in Amstelveen before moving to Budapest, Hungary, said authorities were overlooking "credible reports that minority Christians in India have no right to openly pray to their God. "INDIAN CHRISTIANS "While Amstelveen wants to honour a Hindu goddess, Indian Christians are jailed, tortured, and even murdered for honoring their God and Lord Jesus Christ," said Bos, who also participated in the expanding forum discussions on the Amstelveen news Website. Organizers defended the festival saying Indians are "one of the fastest growing communities in the region" and that they wanted to encourage non-Indians "to learn about the culture of their neighbors. "That prompted someone to write that Amstelveen is using the festival as another way "to attract Indians with their big wallets." Other writers disagreed, describing the festival as "harmless"and a "cultural event. "The controversy in the strategic town comes amid concerns among some Christian and political leaders in the Netherlands about what they regard as the growing influence of Muslims, Hindus and other groups in the predominantly Catholic and Protestant nation. HEADSCARF TAX Far-right politicians have criticized what they view as the attack on the Netherlands' Christian-Jewish traditions. Last month the controversial politician Geert Wilders of the Freedom Party (PVV) proposed in parliament to tax the Muslim headscarf. Any Muslim woman who wants to wear a headscarf - which he described as a 'head-rag' - would have to apply for a licence, and pay one thousand euros (about $1,500) for the privilege. Wilders said the money raised would go toward women's emancipation programmes. However other politicians questioned the plan, saying it would also impact for instance nuns and elderly ladies wearing a headscarf for weather reasons. (With reporting by BosNewsLife's Stefan J. Bos). Copyright 2008 BosNewsLife. All rights reserved.

Goddess Diwali: Prayer - It Can't Hurt!

Diwali: Can Goddess of wealth help plunging market? 2008-10-28 10:20:00 By Radha Kant Bharati Light is the symbol of prosperity and joy. In the Indian sub-continent a great tradition coming down from centuries is Deepavali i.e. festival of lights. It is celebrated after twenty days from Dashahara on Amavasya 15th Day of dark fortnight of Kartika month of Indian calendar. Diwali or Deepavali signifies different things to different people of our Indian society. Popularly it is believed that on this day Lord Rama returned back to Ayodhya after completing period of 14 years in exile. Thus the occasion of Diwali is the celebration of victory of Lord Rama. Side by side it is also celebration of Naraka Chaturdashi, the day when the Demon of Darkness and Dirt Narakasura was destroyed by Lord Krishna. According to another popular believe the festival is linked with Laxmi Goddess of wealth and prosperity. On this day Goddess Laxmi goes around visiting clean, lighted and decorated houses during the night and distributes gifts and blessings. The festival of lights is celebrated in different ways in different regions of Indian sub-continent. On this pious occasion feasting, merry making and joyful get-togethers are main features. Nowadays, all over India the festival of Diwali is celebrated with pomp and show and with bursting crackers well past midnight. All our festival seasons coincide with an increase in air, water and sound pollution levels. Noise levels have been a matter of concern as they are harmful to health and welfare of all. Noise pollution can cause both physiological and psychological problems. Subjected to 45 decibels of noise, an average person cannot sleep. At 120 decibels the ear registers pain, but hearing damage begins at a much lower level, about 85 decibels. Apart from hearing loss, noise can cause lack of sleep, irritability, heartburn, indigestion, ulcers, high blood pressure, and possibly heart disease. Noise-induced stress creates severe tension in daily living and contributes to mental illness. Keeping in view the increasing trend in noise levels, various regulations have been issued from time to time to control noise pollution in ambient air, at source and at manufacturing stage. The Supreme Court has literally put a cap on ‘noise’, crackers can emit. It is 125 decibels on an average. The ruling has had a salutary effect. In pursuance of the judgement and to collect bench mark data, all the regulatory agencies of the State Government/ Union Territories have been advised to comply with stipulated norms and to draw an Action Plan for ensuring the compliance of the directions. The concerned agencies have also been advised to strengthen/establish environmental cells at the State and District levels to check noise pollution and also to undertake survey in major cities specially before and after the festivals to ensure compliance. Intensive campaigns are also launched in print and electronic media about deleterious effects of noise pollution. For creating awareness, most of the State Governments sent their monitoring reports of survey undertaken before and on Diwali day and the reports so far have revealed that there has been a reasonable success in arresting the menace of noise pollution. The conflict between competing interests in society - safety, health, and calm on the one hand, and tradition on the other hand, has evolved over time, and the health effects are receiving greater attention. There has been a concerted effort over the past few years to reduce noise pollution by opting for light based fireworks as-well-as maintaining the spirit of Deepavali. Courtesy: Press Information Bureau