Durga Pooja is celebrated widely in the Indian states of
West Bengal , Assam, Orissa, and Tripura.
It is an annual Hindu festival which venerates the Goddess Durga . The six days it is celebrated on are the
Mahalaya, Sashthi, Maha Saptami, Maha Ashtami , Maha Navmi and Bijoya Dashmi.
On the tenth day of
Bijoya Dashmi , Durga the Mother , returns to Shiva, her husband. This is symbolised by the immersion of the idol in the waters .... the ritual being "Bishorjon".
Durga Pooja also includes the
worship of Shiv, Lakshmi , Ganesha , Saraswati and Kartikeya .
Modern traditions have come to include elaborately decorated pandals and artistically decorated idols .
Ritual drummers called "Dhaakis" beat a leather strung "
dhaak" and show off their skills during ritual dance worship called aarti.
The festival also celebrates the triumph of Good over Evil , symbolised by the slaying of the demon "Mahisasur" by Durga Maa.
