Keep twelve Bengalis together in a room, and within a few hours all you will have is a Durga Puja, so they say, or so I say. There is no point discussing this but the point is that if there are Bengalis, there is a Durga Puja nearby. And as Bengalis are all over the world, there is a Durga Puja all over the world. These are my observations regarding the Durga Pujas in and around Manchester.
- The Durga Pujas are not of convenience, but done with real religious intentions. Unlike in the US (or other places), the pujas here are not done on a convenient weekend, but follow the actual dates and timings as prescribed in the famous Panjika. So, you have everything from bodhan, to everyday puja, aarti and pushpanjali, to Sandhi puja, even Kumari Puja. It is nice to see a lot of people involved and it actually feels no different from back in India. I guess some pujas in India are not as much dedicated.
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| JCC Puja |
- Though the morning rituals are different according to the days, the evening rituals are almost same, puja, aarti, pushpanjali, prasad distribution, then dinner. Back in Kolkata too, I have never offered puja on all the days. I think here it is more about the devotion and the puja, rather than the entertainment back in Kolkata. We have people working very hard every day, and then we have the people sponsoring the complete dinner for each day. Advertisements are rare, but present, and mostly range from restaurants, to sari shops, to jewellery shops.
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| JCC Puja |
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| Bolton Puja |
- Three pujas are organised around Manchester. Two in Manchester and one in Bolton (which is about 15 miles from Manchester). There is one in Liverpool too. The first one I went to is organised at the Gandhi Hall (Post Code M20 4QB). This is actually a Radha Krishna Temple (http://www.radhakrishnamandir.co.uk/). The other Manchester Durga Puja (http://www.mcrdurgapuja.com/ ) is organised at the Jain Community Centre (Post Code M12 4QE). The Bolton Durga puja is organised at the Bolton Ramakrishna Vivekananda Centre (http://www.rvmukcentre.com/ ), the location is Bridgeman St Bolton BL3. The Bolton puja might appear a bit of a private affair, but all the pujas are welcoming to everyone, Bengalis, non-Bengalis alike. Just as in Bengal, I could see people from all cultures at the venue, from Chinese to British.
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| Gandhi Hall Puja |
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| Hi-tech Pandit at Bolton |
- All the pujas have the same idols over the years, as you can understand that it is very costly to get new idols every year flown-in from India. It is actually impossible to make them here in UK. But then the idols are just an icon, and the actual puja is great, much better than the pujas in Kolkata where the main objective is to draw a huge crowd and get lots of sponsorship. I do not really resent that ideology as it also promotes art and artisans. The summary is that the pujas here in Manchester are more about the puja and the associated devotion rather than the outwardly show and celebrations. All these places also celebrate the Lakshi puja and the Kali puja with equal devotion.
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| Bouquets offered |
- The food is just awesome. And yes, it is completely vegetarian (Bengalis can survive with vegetarian food). All the places serve full dinner after the puja, which is a complete vegetarian meal, with starters, two vegetable/paneer curry, a daal, pulao, puri, salad and sweets. Though the cuisine will be little bit Gujarati rather than Bengali, but it is many times better than the usual oil/fat laden food you get in the so-called Indian restaurants here in Manchester.
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| Sandhi Puja lights |
Hope this post acts as a guide to all those Bengalis missing their home during the festive times.
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