My family and I recently celebrated a very important festival in my community. Durga Puja is observed for ten days in the lunar Hindu calendar month of Ashvin, the months of September/October of the Roman calendar. It is one of my favorite times of the year for bonding with family, celebrating the victory of Good over Evil, and inviting the Goddess into our lives and our “harvests” with color and sounds—from the metaphorical seeds come the fruit.
This year—as I deepen my faith and simultaneously spread my wings as a Boston Bridges Fellow—I am inspired to reinterpret The Tale of Durga (Amar Chitra Katha), which I have been reading since my first Durga Puja in Kolkata around seven or eight years old. I am inspired by my daughter’s favorite authors, who each reinterpret traditional tales from Sanatan Dharma: Sayantani Dasgupta of the Princess Kiranmala trilogy and Roshani Chokshi of the Aru Shah trilogy. (See Kiranmala and the Kingdom Beyond Series and Aru Shah of the Pandava Series.)
It strikes me that while the written worlds in these stories are more equitable and less ableist, there still is a lack of holding hands and sharing strengths across borders of faith. As I just end the celebrations for one of the dearest festivals in my culture and faith, that of Durga Puja, I hope you will weave dreams with me as I reinterpret this seminal story in my life. I am called to take on this creative task as a way of bringing forth new interspiritual narratives that can seed a better future.
There was once a man named Mahishasura who, through his good deeds on TV shows that exhibited his philanthropy and changemaking, was given a boon from the Divine democracy of the People to run their land. Little did they know that he could also shapeshift.
After gaining the Power of the People, he turned into his demonic form and spread the evils of disconnection and separation. The People realized that he could not easily be removed from the power that they granted him. His acts of violence increased as well as his support of others’ acts of violence beyond his lands.
The People who granted this power to Mahishasura realized they needed help, as the tried-and-true methods of a patriarchal system no longer worked. They returned to She who created Life—Shakti—to recreate new systems that were empowering, embracing, and returning to Her way. Her way is that of knowing by expanding the senses and healing by embracing the physical body and beyond.
Each day, over ten days, a new woman embodying Shakti and Her way joined the fight. On the tenth day, galvanized by the culmination of Her ten hands, a battle of Good versus Evil was ultimately won.
Her way is that of knowing by expanding the senses and healing by embracing the physical body and beyond.
On the first day of this epic battle stands the Newlywed Bride. She fights for her right to marry whomever she chooses. She fights for her right to embody partnership in whichever way feels right.
On the second day of this epic battle stands the Brave Girl. Young and unmarried, she leaves her parents to travel long distances and emerge on foreign shores to fight for future generations. She reminds us that the children are the future.
On the third day of this epic battle stands the Liberator of color and class. She gives names to the tools of injustice, imbalanced patriarchy, and supremacy to upstand changemakers—to embolden those who desired a better world. With her words and actions, she unleashes beauty and brilliance.
On the fourth day of this epic battle stands the Fierce Competitor, who trains as any Body and achieves the greatest levels of Art in the forms she chooses—whether Dance, Martial Arts, or Weaponry. She is one who can destroy and create with one movement of Her limbs.
On the fifth day of this epic battle stands the Grandmother. She, who has seen it all, holds knowing in her eyes and hands. Her love is boundless and her grace unparalleled.
On the sixth day of this epic battle stands the Transformer. She has had to change her body to match her Spirit, to change her name, and to challenge her environment to accept that alignment.
On the seventh day of this epic battle stands the Joy Giver. She can hear joy in any moment and replicate it in herself and others to spark vibrant life and full living.
On the eighth day of this epic battle stands the Quiet One. She listens and supports Her other forms and speaks into the silence with Her own. She does not need volume to be heard, and loudly.
On the ninth day of this epic battle stands the Storyteller. She can capture hearts and minds with her words and her knowledge of old politics and old organizations to weave the new ways.
On the tenth and final day of this epic battle stands the Uniter. She utilizes the maha aarti (great fire ceremony) to mark the joining of forces, as we are all needed in this fight. And in this unification, the ten hands join and defeat the demon Mahishasura on this day. Shakti becomes Mahisasuramardini, the Annihilator of the Buffalo Demon.
After ten days of fighting and winning the epic battle of Good versus Evil, Shakti does not return to her heavenly abode as she had in years before. This time, she continues to reside on her earthly throne, in her rightful place, visiting alongside the People—who now respect and honor her Power—their relatives and friends to give and receive blessings for a new Age.
This is the tale I reinterpret as I reminisce about our celebrations of Ma Durga. I invite the collective of Shakti across these vast manifestations to come together in you and usher us into what is next.
Photo by Tim Marshall on Unsplash
Excellent interpretation. Turns something that we have enjoyed as a holiday and festival into something profound. Hope that this is a beginning of more thought provoking articles to come.
Love this!! Thank you.
I am fascinated by the progression over ten days to what seems to be a gradual transformation into a beautiful wholistic person.