Religion । ধর্ম

Diwali is one festival that every corner of India celebrates, in some form or the other. As there is no central model or standard protocol, the diverse local-level celebrations are not really regional variations, but represent the cultural tradition of that part of India. Each region, sub-region, cult or sect has evolved its mode of celebration, based on its history and ancient beliefs, but each is definitely connected to the main festival of Diwali.

আদি নবরাত্রি উৎসব ছিল বসন্তকালে, চৈত্র মাসে। কিন্তু নিঃসন্দেহে, শারদীয় নবরাত্রি বা অকালবোধনকে (রবিবার থেকে মহানবমী অব্দি) ভারতে প্রায় প্রতিটি অঞ্চলে অনেক বেশি গুরুত্ব সহকারে পালন করা হয়।

Many have often wondered how the ancient Indic religions, Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism (Sikhism is not that ‘ancient’), survived and prospered for millennia — without a designated holy book like the Bible or the Koran and with no Mecca, Vatican or Jerusalem to guide. With a little introspection, we come to realise that it is actually this absence of a ‘central command’ and non-uniform format that account for this.

On the 8th of September this year, Jains observed Michchhāmi Dukkaḍaṃ (मिच्छामि दुक्कडम्) and 10 days later the Digambar Jains end this period with Kshamavani. This period of Paryushan is for daily fasting, inner reflection and confession — when they greet all saying: “Please forgive me with your full affection.

On the 8th of September this year, Jains observed Michchhāmi Dukkaḍaṃ (मिच्छामि दुक्कडम्) and 10 days later the Digambar Jains end this period with Kshamavani. This period of Paryushan is for daily fasting, inner reflection and confession — when they greet all saying: “Please forgive me with your full affection".

Thiruvonam represents the peak of the ten-day celebrations of Onam in Kerala and by Malayalis of all communities, all over the world. It is more than a festival of joy for it represents the core of the great reconciliatory heart of India wherein all religions have pooled in.

Of all the Hindu deities, Shiva may be the most complex but Lakshmi is certainly one of the most amorphous — when one attempts to capture her within a definitive framework. She is undoubtedly one of the oldest deities and one can claim, quite confidently, that she has survived for three full millennia,

I remember the tremendous tension that I went through as SDO nd Magistrate in charge of “Muharram” at Loha Gate in Agarpara in 1978 — as oceans of frenzied humans went all around me, lashing and bleeding themselves with whips, chains and fighting dangerously swords — crying "Ya Hasan, Ya Husain"! It continued through the evening and night. Though there were grievous and other (self-inflicted) injuries, I could report early in the morning, that it was “peaceful” and “law and order under control”.

রাঢ় অঞ্চলে অবস্থিত সমগ্র বর্ধমান (পূর্ব এবং পশ্চিম), পার্শ্ববর্তী পুরুলিয়া, বীরভূম এবং বাঁকুড়ায় বেশ কয়েকটি ন্যাংটেশ্বর শিবমূর্তি পূজিত হয়। এগুলি প্রকৃতপক্ষে জৈন তীর্থঙ্করদের দিগম্বর মূর্তি। এগুলি প্রাচীন এবং মধ্যযুগে জৈনধর্মের সঙ্গে এই অঞ্চলের যোগাযোগের প্রত্যক্ষ প্রমাণ।

মহাবীর জৈন ধর্মে প্রবর্তক। কিন্তু এই বাংলার সঙ্গেও যে রয়েছে তাঁর গভীর সংযোগ, অনেকে তা জানে না। মূলত, বাংলার পশ্চিমাঞ্চলের সঙ্গে তাঁর সংযোগের কথা মনে করিয়ে দিতে চাই, যা প্রাচীনকাল থেকে 'রাঢ়' নামে পরিচিত।

Today, as we celebrate the Mahavira Jayanti, I am reminded of his association with the western tract of Bengal, known since ancient times as the Rarh or Radh. When I served as the Additional District Magistrate of the Asansol-Durgapur belt of Burdwan (now known as Paschim Barddhaman district) in 1980-81, I had visited the ruins of a famous Jain temple at Punchra.

মোদিজি হয়তো এটা দেখে খানিকটা বিস্মিতই হয়েছেন যে, জানুয়ারি মাসে রামমন্দির নির্মাণকে কেন্দ্র করেই হোক, কিংবা এই এপ্রিলে রামনবমীকে ঘিরেই হোক, বাঙালিকে তেমনভাবে উৎসাহিত হতে দেখা গেল না। উত্তর ও পশ্চিম ভারতে এসব নিয়ে যেমন উৎসাহ-উদ্দীপনা দেখা গিয়েছে, পশ্চিমবঙ্গের ছবি তদ্বিপরীত। বঙ্গ-বিজেপি চেষ্টার খামতি রাখেনি। খোলা তলোয়ার প্রদর্শন থেকে শুরু করে আগ্রাসী শোভাযাত্রা, বাদ ছিল না কিছুই।

As a normal human being who prefers not to jog or climb unless compelled to, it was rather foolhardy to agree to my wife’s persuasion to visit Amaranth. Once trapped, I did a bit of reading and panicked when I learnt that it is one of the most strenuous treks, with unnecessary exertions.

When PM Narendra Modi sent out his closest bureaucrat, Nripendra Misra, from the PMO to Ayodhya to head the Shri Ram Mandir Construction Committee in February 2020, he was clearly signalling that Ram Mandir was his highest priority.

As we head to the last day of Navratri it may be good to observe how Hinduism brought together dissimilar customs and rituals in harmony and mutual respect — with no single theme thrusting itself on any. All Hindus agree on the same nine days and ten nights in autumn, but after that, the observances in different regions contrast quite a lot — as the ‘local’ adjusts itself within the ‘universal’.

Durga in her present form incorporates different streams, like Simha Vahini (the goddess who rides the lion), the Mahishasura Mardini (one who slays the Buffalo-Demon) and the Dashabhuja or ten-armed goddess. They evolved in different stages and ages.

Few can deny that India is seared right through, over several vexing issues, among which is whether the two sacred epics, the Ramayana and the Mahabharata, are actually history or just myths. There is hardly any middle ground, as rationalists and left- liberals are absolutely certain that the epics are only myths, while a large section of Hindus refuse to believe they are not historical.

When Prime Minister Modi addressed a highly publicised meeting in Bali recently and remembered ever so fondly that Indians from Odisha had gone to Bali several centuries ago to spread “Indian civilisation”, he was actually admitting more than he meant.

Two recent news stories about Ram from two extremes of India, Ayodhya and Ram Setu, would have caught one’s attention. Where Ayodhya is concerned, the Pandora’s box had actually been opened long ago, in December 1949, when KKK Nair, the not-so-secular district magistrate of Faizabad, facilitated the sudden ‘appearance’ of Ram-Sita images inside Babri Masjid.

Bengalis have to be different. On Diwali, for instance, while much of India prays to the fair goddess Lakshmi with millions of dazzling lights, to seek wealth and prosperity, the Bengali Hindus pray to their dark goddess on the darkest night of the year, to seek some much required strength. After all, they have completed their tryst with Lakshmi several weeks before, right after Durga Puja.