Festival unites communities
7 Oct 2008, 0411 hrs IST, B K Mishra,TNN
PATNA: Even as the entire city is in the grip of Dussehra festival with the statues of Goddess Durga installed in tastefully decorated pandals at eve ry nook and corner and people queuing up for offering prayers, few people realise the significance of this festival in promoting communal harmony. The festival offers immense opportunities for the people of different communities to come closer and promote the feeling of fraternity and brotherhood.
Social scientists said India's secularism becomes very much pronounced during Dussehra festival in which people belonging to both Hindu and Muslim communities participate with almost equal enthusiasm to share their mutual feelings of joy. Many non-Hindus partake in the decorations and illuminations which are the highlights of the festival. At most places in Patna, attractive pandals are usually erected by Muslim artisans.
Mass contact is an inseparable concomitant of Dussehra festival, said Patna University retired political science professor Bachoo Sinha. Such is the irresistible fascination of the masses for this festival and for participation in its various colourful activities that the religious aspect takes the backstage and the community character of the whole affair comes to the foreground, added Sinha.
Patna College sociology teacher Randhir Kumar Singh said, "The present day community Durga Puja is the Puja converted into a thorough community worship from its erstwhile character of a religious organisation of a private nature. The social side is very prominent in the pujas now-a-days with a large number of people comprising an entire neighbourhood, sometimes a whole mohalla, joining in its preparation and successful execution."
Durga Puja has so many paraphernalia attached to its mirthful pageantry that it has now turned out to be a source of livelihood albeit temporarily to so many people engaged in different professions. Right from idol makers and clay modellers to decorators, hawkers, vendors, cloth dealers, tailors, musical bands, florists, confectioners, grocers, purohits and volunteers, a vast manpower is needed to see that the Puja is performed smoothly.
Sweets assume greater significance for children and grown-ups alike, during the four-day festival than anything else. Brisk sale of sweets during the festival is clearly indicated by the big rush of people at all leading shops. According to the owner of a leading sweet shop located on New Dak Bungalow Road here, sweets worth over Rs 1 lakh are sold daily during the festival as against his normal sale not exceeding Rs 25,000. In fact, it becomes very difficult for the shopkeeper to meet the demands of all his customers.
As a matter of fact, many believe that the Puja has now-a-days become a mini industry of sorts, opening out so many ways of deriving pecuniary gains from its multipronged sources of income, besides providing healthy entertainment and tasty food to the puja revellers.
source: timesofindia
7 Oct 2008, 0411 hrs IST, B K Mishra,TNN
PATNA: Even as the entire city is in the grip of Dussehra festival with the statues of Goddess Durga installed in tastefully decorated pandals at eve ry nook and corner and people queuing up for offering prayers, few people realise the significance of this festival in promoting communal harmony. The festival offers immense opportunities for the people of different communities to come closer and promote the feeling of fraternity and brotherhood.
Social scientists said India's secularism becomes very much pronounced during Dussehra festival in which people belonging to both Hindu and Muslim communities participate with almost equal enthusiasm to share their mutual feelings of joy. Many non-Hindus partake in the decorations and illuminations which are the highlights of the festival. At most places in Patna, attractive pandals are usually erected by Muslim artisans.
Mass contact is an inseparable concomitant of Dussehra festival, said Patna University retired political science professor Bachoo Sinha. Such is the irresistible fascination of the masses for this festival and for participation in its various colourful activities that the religious aspect takes the backstage and the community character of the whole affair comes to the foreground, added Sinha.
Patna College sociology teacher Randhir Kumar Singh said, "The present day community Durga Puja is the Puja converted into a thorough community worship from its erstwhile character of a religious organisation of a private nature. The social side is very prominent in the pujas now-a-days with a large number of people comprising an entire neighbourhood, sometimes a whole mohalla, joining in its preparation and successful execution."
Durga Puja has so many paraphernalia attached to its mirthful pageantry that it has now turned out to be a source of livelihood albeit temporarily to so many people engaged in different professions. Right from idol makers and clay modellers to decorators, hawkers, vendors, cloth dealers, tailors, musical bands, florists, confectioners, grocers, purohits and volunteers, a vast manpower is needed to see that the Puja is performed smoothly.
Sweets assume greater significance for children and grown-ups alike, during the four-day festival than anything else. Brisk sale of sweets during the festival is clearly indicated by the big rush of people at all leading shops. According to the owner of a leading sweet shop located on New Dak Bungalow Road here, sweets worth over Rs 1 lakh are sold daily during the festival as against his normal sale not exceeding Rs 25,000. In fact, it becomes very difficult for the shopkeeper to meet the demands of all his customers.
As a matter of fact, many believe that the Puja has now-a-days become a mini industry of sorts, opening out so many ways of deriving pecuniary gains from its multipronged sources of income, besides providing healthy entertainment and tasty food to the puja revellers.
source: timesofindia
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