Dear Friends,
Have logged in only for a few minutes, as today is such an auspicious day! Today is Mahalaya which is very very significant to all the Bengalis. Every year, we all wake up at 4 o' clock in the morning to listen to a special Radio programme and feel delighted as it directly connects us with Maa Durga. Wanted to write something on it, but I am not feeling well these days 😔 (and family members are imposing all kinds of restrictions on me 😡 😔 ), so just searched the net and posting from the information available in different websites:-
About 'Mahalaya':
The traditional six day countdown to Mahasaptami starts from Mahalaya. Goddess Durga visits the earth for only four days but seven days prior to the Pujas, starts the Mahalaya. The enchanting voice of Birendra Krishna Bhadra (writing about it after this part 😊) fill up the predawn hours of the day thus marking the beginning of "Devipaksha" (as well as the end of 'Pitri-paksha') and the beginning of the count-down of Durga Puja. The festive spirit of Durga Puja reaches its pitch on the day of 'Mahalaya'. It is the day when many throng to the banks of river Ganga, clad in dhotis to offer prayers to their dead relatives and forefathers. People in the pre-dawn hours pray for their demised relatives and take holy dips in the Ganges. This ritual is known as 'Tarpan'. This day bears immense significance for the Bengalis.
According to Puranas, King Suratha, used to worship goddess Durga in spring. Thus Durga Puja was also known as Basanti Puja. But Shree Rama preponed the Puja and worshiped Durga in autumn just before he set for Lanka to rescue Sita from Ravana. That is why it is known as 'Akaal Bodhon' or 'untimely worship'. It was considered untimely as it is in the myths that puja was performed when the Gods and Goddesses were awake i.e."Uttarayan" and was not held when the Gods and Goddesses rested, ie."Dakshinayan". It was on the day of Mahalaya, the beginning of "Devipaksha", the Gods and Goddesses woke up to prepare themselves for Durga Puja.
(Source: http://www.bangalinet.com/mahalaya.htm)
About the programme in Radio-
On the dawn of Mahalaya, homes in Bengal resonate with the immortal verses of the Chandipath (chanting from "Chandi"). Chanting of the hymns from the holy book of "Chandi" in the recorded voice of late Birendra Krishna Bhadra over radio has become synonymous to the real Chandipaath. The Chandipaath is aired by All India Radio in the programme Mahishasura Mardini, narrating the incarnation of Goddess Durga and her fight with Mahishasura. Since the early 1930s, Mahalaya has come to associate itself with an early morning radio program called "Mahishasura Mardini" (the annihilator of the demon Mahishasura). This All India Radio (AIR) program is a beautiful audio montage of recitation from the scriptural verses of "Chandi", Bengali devotional songs, classical music and a dash of acoustic melodrama. The program has also been translated into Hindi set to similar orchestration and is broadcast at the same time for a pan-Indian audience. For nearly six decades now, the whole of Bengal rises up in the chilly pre dawn hours, 4 am to be precise, of the Mahalaya day to tune in to the "Mahishasura Mardini" broadcast.
(Source:http://www.netglimse.com/holidays/durga_puja/mahalaya.shtml
The first part-"Mahalaya in Bengal" is also good in this link.)
[Another link about Mahalaya with detailed info: http://hinduism.about.com/cs/audiomusic/a/aa092003a.htm]
Some part of this radio programme is there in YouTube. The whole programme on Mahalaya is about 90 minutes .. But this abridged YouTube version is of 30 minutes . Link of Part 1 of the series: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kSgNI1hmays
(But I guess most of the members won't be able to enjoy it as the narration is mainly in Bengali, only the Chandipaath portion will be enjoyed by all😊.)
Joy Maa Durga!
(That's how we say it in Bengali 😃)
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