The history of Durga Puja is like an ocean. In the ancient world, we find the worship of the earth as a mother, that is, she gave birth to this world. A pregnant mother’s statue was found in in Willendorf, Austria which is known as the Willendorf Venus. It is a prehistoric art piece that is approximately 30,000 years old. In the Stone Age, a lion riding woman’s statue was found in ancient Anatolia, which is about 8,000-year-old. In the ancient Cappadocian civilization, there was a goddess named Maa. Like our Durga, she was also riding a lion. In the Middle East and Mediterranean region, there was a goddess riding a lion. In Mesopotamia, her name was Inanna, who was a symbol of war, love and fertility. In the Sumerian regions, this goddess was known as Ishtar. This goddess has weapons on her back, a horned helmet on her head, her feet are placed in a dominant position on a lion. Much like the Durga of Bengal, a war goddess.
“Mahishasuramardini”, a 10th-century A.D. Pala-era goddess, is housed in the National Museum in Delhi. The statue is made of stone. “Mahishasuramardini” is a fierce form of Goddess Durga who slays the demon Mahishasura. Durga is a popular goddess in Hinduism, symbolizing feminine power and protection. March 15, 2014, National Museum, Delhi, India.
An “Ashtadhatu” (octo-alloy) statue of “Mahishasuramardini Singhabahini” Goddess Durga, belonging to the Mitra Mustafi family of Sukharia village in Balagarh. December 6, 2015, Balagarh Hooghly, West Bengal.
“Mahishamedha”( buffalo sacrifice) was performed in ancient Harappa. Many historians believe that this “Mahishasuramardini Durga” was introduced from there. In the sixth century, we can first see the story of Mahishasura (demon) in “Sri Sri Chandi” (a sacred Hindu scripture).  In the eighth century, a relief of Mahishasura seen in Mahabalipuram, Tamil Nadu. However, before that, there is a hymn to Durga in the Mahabharata where it is said that her thirst is quenched by the blood of a buffalo. She was worshipped through buffalo sacrifice. In Bengal, thousands of goats and buffaloes were sacrificed in Durga puja long ago. In the Harappan civilization, Goddess Usha (Vedic goddess of the dawn) was worshipped. This goddess is also known as “Dasabhuja” (ten armed) in ancient Vedic literature. This goddess was worshipped in the autumn. After that, in the Gangaridai civilization at Chandraketugarh, we see mother with her four companions. The idol is almost like the present Durga Puja. Sacrifice was also used in the worship of this goddess.
A “Singhabahini” ( lion riding woman) statue of Goddess Durga belonging to the Sheoraphuli Rajbari. The idol is made of “Ashtadhatu” (octo-alloy). It is said that Manohar Roy, the king of Patuli in Burdwan, received a dream message from Maa Sarvamangala. The goddess told him in a dream to dig a well and bring her back. Accordingly, he brought Maa Durga home the next morning. In 1734, a temple was built in Sheoraphuli Rajbari to install the goddess. The goddess is worshipped here in the form of Goddess Katyayani. Kartayani Durga is a special form of the Hindu goddess Durga and the sixth form of the Nava Durga. October 19, 2015, Sheoraphuli, Hooghly, West Bengal.
A priest performs puja of “Mahishasuramardini Singhabahini” Goddess Durga, at the Bhukailash Rajbari temple. The temple complex dates back to 1781 and was constructed by Raja Joynarayan Ghosal. October 19, 2015, Bhukailash, Kolkata, West Bengal.
From the Pala period we first see Durga “Mahishamardini” (The one who subdued or killed Mahishasura), “Dashapraharanadharinee”( who holds ten types of weapons, signifying her power and prowess in battle) and “Singhbahini”( lion riding woman). “Singhbahini” is also found from the Kushan Period. According to a modern scholar Devdoot Patnaik, 1900 years ago the Kushan emperors expanded their kingdom in North India. There, they saw a goddess being worshipped in a local tribal society. That goddess was similar to the Bactrian “Nana” goddess they knew earlier. The Kushans imagined a single goddess by combining these two goddesses. Those tribal community used to sacrifice buffaloes in worship of their goddess and they worshipped the goddess Mahishamardini. According to Devdoot Patnaik, that custom evolved and gave birth to the Singhbahini Mahishamardini Durga.
A Relief of “Singhabahini” goddess Durga on the wall of the “Chandi Mandap” of the Mitra-Mustafi family in Sripur. The “Chandi Mandap” constructed in 1707 by the Mitra Mustafi family. Here, small hands are visible on both sides of Goddess Durga’s shoulders. This Durga is very similar to the relief of the goddess statue found during excavations in the Gangaridai civilization at Chandraketugarh. In the relief of Chandraketugarh, the goddess had small weapons on her head. Historians believe that these later transformed into small hands on both sides of the shoulders. “Chandi Mandap” is a place of worship particularly common in Bengal. It is basically an open space or small room where an idol of a goddess is placed or worshipped symbolically. “Chandi Mandap” is an important place for Hindus, especially for the worship of the goddess Chandi. In many rural areas, a “Chandi Mandap” also serves as a focal point for social and religious activities. October 21, 2015, Sripur, Hooghly, West Bengal.
“Singhabahini” Goddess Durga is on the roof of the nearly three hundred year old “Chandi Mandap” of the Mitra family of Antpur. The idol is carved in kathal wood (known as jackfruit). This Durga also is very similar to the relief of the goddess statue found during excavations in the Gangaridai civilization at Chandraketugarh. Antpur is a small village in Hooghly district. The patriarch of the Mitra family, Kandarpa Mitra, came to live in Antpur from Konnagar. He was the one who started the Durga Puja of the Mitra family at this “Chindi Mandap” in 1690. October 21, 2015, Antpur, Hooghly, West Bengal.
In the Pala period, in some idols, two companions of the mother are seen. But in the Middle Ages, the worship of the mother with four children is seen. In the poem “Chandimangal”( it is a popular Bengali literary genre, which was prevalent from the 13th to the 18th centuries) of the poet Kavikankan Mukunda Chakraborty, the image of Durga puja with the mother and her family along with four children is seen. The worship of that mother is being done continuously almost all over Bengal today. Durga Puja by making clay idols in Bengal is not more than two and a half centuries old. There are two traditions of making Durga idols in Bengal. “Bishnupur style” and “Kangshanarayan” style. It is said that the “Bishnupur style” was introduced by a king named Jagat Malla of Bishnupur who first worshipped a clay Durga idol in Bengal. And the “Kangshanarayan” style was introduced by King Kangsa Narayan of Taherpur in Rajshahi, now in Bangladesh, who is credited with organizing the first grand public Durga puja in the Indian subcontinent. In ancient Bengali sculptures, the lion seen in the “Mahishamardini” idol is called “Narasimha” by many people. Because the Bengali nation had not yet seen a real lion. This “Narasimha” lion is seen in the Durga puja of many traditional houses in West Bengal. There, the body shape of the lion is much like a horse. Again, in some places, a real lion is seen. According to many writers, in houses where Shakta worship is performed, the lion is worshipped, while in Vaishnava houses, the lion is shaped like a horse. Our mystics say that the lion, the vehicle of Goddess Durga, is the symbol of the best of men. The lion is called the king of animals. Man becomes best only when he reaches his ultimate transcendence through spiritual attainment. If we consider the history of Harappa, this worship of Goddess Durga is about four and a half thousand years old. Mothers have always been worshipped along with their children. In ancient civilizations, mother statues have been found with their children in their laps. In ancient times, it was customary to worship the reproductive power of women. In the mythologies of ancient civilizations, women were the symbol of fertile power. She is the goddess. In ancient Egyptian, Iranian, Persian, Mesopotamian, Chinese, and Indian civilizations, the fertile power of women was predominant as goddesses. This mother power is the religion of Bengalis, which has Tantra at its root. This Tantra religion is a treasure of the Bengali nation. This religion is intertwined with the history, culture and emotions of this nation. We are all children of our mother and the worship of Goddess Durga is intertwined in the lives of Bengalis. It is the biggest festival of Hindu Bengalis all over the world.
The idol of Dhakeshwari Mata from Kumartuli, Kolkata. The idol is one and a half feet tall and the goddess has ten arms. The two front hands of the goddess are large and the eight back hands are relatively small. Mahishasuramardini is standing in the form of Durga. Lakshmi Saraswati is on the top and Kartik and Ganesh are on the bottom. The lion is the vehicle on which the goddess is standing and killing Mahishasur. The back “chala” (roof) is made of silver. The idol of Goddess Dhakeshwari is more than 800 years old. To protect the goddess from possible attacks and looting during the partition riots, this original Mahishasuramardini Durga idol from Dhaka was secretly and quickly brought to Kolkata in 1948 by Rajendra Kishore Tiwari and Harihar Chakraborty. July 10, 2018, Dhakeswari temple, Kumartuli, Kolkata.
The terracotta “rekh deul” temple of Sribati depicts the “Mahishasuramardini Singhabahini” Goddess Durga with two attendants. Govindahari Chandra of the Chandra dynasty of Sribati village established three Shiva temples here in 1836 CE. All three temples are adorned with exquisite terracotta decorations. This temple was built during the British era in Bengal. This temple was built during the British era in Bengal. The terracotta relief maintains a realistic perspective. But the craftsmen of Bengal were less skilled in making three-dimensional sculptures because they came from the carpenter (sutradhar) community and had to adapt their wood carving skills to terracotta. June 21, 2018, Sribati, Bardhaman, West Bengal.
“Mahishasuramardini Singhabahini” Goddess Durga with her family on the wall of the Sarvamangala Terracotta Temple in Burdwan. In 1702, Maharaja Kirti Chand of Burdwan built the temple of Sarvamangala Devi. Here, Maa Durga is presented with her family in a single chala(roof). A single chala Durga idol refers to a type of idol in which Goddess Durga, her children Lakshmi, Saraswati, Kartik and Ganesha, and the demons are placed together under a single chala (roof). Later, this style was seen in the traditional Durga Puja of the Banedi Zamindar houses of Bengal. June 21, 2018, Bardhaman, West Bengal.
Durga idol of Rajaram and Jagatram Roy’s house in Behala. Durga Puja was started in the Roy family since 1756. This Durga idol is an example of the “Kangshanarayan” ritual. There are four children of the mother, Lakshmi-Saraswati on top and Kartik-Ganesh on the bottom. Here too, the lion is shaped like a horse. This is a single-chala idol, where Goddess Durga, Lakshmi, Saraswati, Kartik, and Ganesh—all these five are installed under a single chala (roof). The word “chaal” means roof. The characteristic of East Indian sculpture is the covering on the back of the head of the idols of Durga and other goddesses. In the sculpture of the Middle Ages, a covering is seen around the head of the idol. This was done for a kind of decorative beauty in stone idols. Ever since the worship of clay idols started in our Bengal, the artists adopted this medieval style. This is how various types of Durga “chaal”(roof) were born. The designers of this “chaalchitra” were Bengali sculptors. This was once a common practice, which brought everyone under one roof like a joint family and gave them joy. For a long time, such Durga idols have been worshipped in most aristocratic families in Bengal during pujas. October 11, 2024, Behala, Kolkata, West Bengal.
