In pre-dawn wake-up call, city households tune in to Mahalaya

Lucknow: It was a call to wake up early for Bengali families in the city on Wednesday as they tuned in to listen to Mahishasur Mardini stotram Chandipath by Birendra Krishna Bhadra on the occasion of Mahalaya.For the Bengali community, the day marks end of pitra paksha (the fortnight dedicated to ancestors) and beginning of Debi Paksha (fortnight devoted to worship of goddess Durga) and signifies beginning of Durga Puja festivities. The day commemorates the mythical moment when Durga was invoked to descend to Earth and vanquish demon king Mahishasura, symbolising triumph of good over evil. While artisans and devotees start preparing for the symbolic arrival of the goddess at least a month before Durga Puja, Mahalaya is the day when eyes on the idol are painted.Families sat together to listen to Chandipath on radio, television, computers and smartphones. Tuhin Banerjee (35), along with his family members, heard the stotram on radio. "We tuned the radio set to the Kolkata channel beforehand to listen to the Mahishasur Mardini Stotram in the morning along with my grandmother, mother, sister, wife and children," said Tuhin.Bitthi Bose (39) said, "We heard the stotram on television, by putting on a Bengali channel and all members of my family sat together for the recital." Sandip Bhattacharya (37) said, "I and my children and wife heard the stotram by Birendra Krishna Bhadra recorded on my laptop, I told my children the story behind the stotra to make them aware about our traditions".Monika Basu (17) who heard the Chandipath on Youtube, said, "I am always excited about Mahalaya as it marks the beginning of the festive season." Devoleena Chatterjee (29), who has come from Delhi to celebrate Navratri and Durga Puja with her family said, "In the morning, we sat together and heard it on computer". Kali Bari Temple, Ghasiyari Mandi, organised ‘Mahishasurmardini, Mahalaya'. The script of Mahalaya was presented in musical form by ‘Geeto Gondo' under the direction of Kaveri Banerjee and shloks were sung by Undrajeet Mitra. President of the managing committee Gautam Bhattacharya explained demon Mahishasur was blessed by Lord Vishnu that no man would be able to kill him in the battle between the devs and asurs, but in the end he was killed by goddess Durga, who came to be known as Mahishasurmardini (the slayer of Mahishasur).