Jagaddhatri Puja celebrated with reverence at Patna’s Kalibari

Patna: Nearly a month ago, the city celebrated the arrival of Goddess Durga with grand festivities and bid her farewell with the hope that she would return next year. But, surprise! In just a month's time, she is back — not as Durga, but in a new form, Goddess Jagaddhatri, the one who, it is believed, holds the world.Unlike Goddess Durga, who is depicted with 10 arms, Ma Jagaddhatri is portrayed with four, and instead of a lion, her vahana (vehicle) is a horse. While Jagaddhatri Puja is celebrated on a grand scale in West Bengal's Chandannagar and other parts of Hooghly district, Patna's Bengali community also observes the festival, though with a modest grandeur.Patna Kalibari, located on Mandir Road in Yarpur, has been celebrating Jagaddhatri Puja for the last 30 years. While several Bengali households in Patna perform Jagaddhatri Puja during the month of Kartik (mid-October to mid-November), on the ninth day of Diwali (Navami), Patna Kalibari is the only organisation in the city to hold a community puja.This year, Navami (Nov 10) saw a large gathering at Patna Kalibari where devotees came from across the city to offer their prayers. Ashok Chakraborty, the general secretary of Kalibari, said, "Jagaddhatri Puja is famous in Chandannagar and other parts of West Bengal, but our convener thought of starting the puja here in 1995. Since then, there has been no looking back. We begin preparations along with Durga Puja when a joint budget for Kali and Jagaddhatri Puja is prepared. We even keep our Durga Puja pandal intact until Jagaddhatri Puja." Chakraborty added that although the idol is made by local artists, the dhakis (drummers) are brought from Bengal while a local priest performs the rituals.There are some differences in how the rituals are observed between Durga Puja and Jagaddhatri Puja. While both follow similar procedures, Kalibari and other households in Patna perform the rituals for all three days — Saptami, Ashtami and Navami — on the ninth day itself. In contrast, places like Chandannagar and Krishnanagar (Nadia district) celebrate Jagaddhatri Puja across five days, starting with ‘Bodhon' (awakening of the Goddess) on Shasthi."In Patna, the puja begins with the Saptami rituals, followed by Ashtami and Navami — all on one day. There are three separate puspanjalis (floral offerings), ‘bhog,' ‘aarati,' and ‘yajna.' For Saptami ‘bhog,' we offer rice, ‘sukto' (a Bengali vegetable dish), seven kinds of fried vegetables, sabzi, ‘chatni,' and ‘payesh' (rice pudding). For Ashtami, it's khichdi with eight kinds of fried vegetables, two sabzis, ‘chatni,' and ‘payesh.' For Navami, we offer pulao ‘bhog' with eight fried vegetables and the usual accompaniments."After the puja, the khichdi and pulao ‘bhog' were distributed among the visitors while the final Navami pushpanjali was held in the evening, followed by ‘aarati.' On Monday, Dashami puja will be performed, followed by the ‘boron' (farewell) and ‘visarjan' (immersion) of the idol. After the immersion, ‘shanti jal' (peace water) will be distributed among the devotees on the Kalibari premises.
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