Express Research: Why Goddess Durga is key to understanding Bengal

Express Research

EXPRESS RESEARCH

Dear reader,   With state elections round the corner in West Bengal, a central argument made by the ruling TMC against the BJP is that the latter does not understand Bengal. This debate played out recently when West Bengal state BJP president Dilip Ghosh, at a media event, made a comment comparing Lord Ram and Goddess Durga. The TMC was quick to pick on the issue to once again push the ‘outsider’ status against the BJP and claim that the party does not get the cultural fabric and the essence of religiosity in the state.    The Brahmanical religion in Bengal is indeed different from the kind of Hinduism practised in the Hindi heartland of the country. The worship of the feminine form, and in particular that of Goddess Durga has deep historical roots in the region. Durga in fact seeps into Bengali psyche in many different ways and is key to understanding the state. She is the embodiment of Shakti, the ten-armed demon slaying Goddess. She is also personal, the endearing, protective mother in the company of her four children. Yet she is also political, providing legitimacy to succeeding rulers, zamindars, freedom fighters and more recently to Mamata Banerjee’s government in Bengal.    In this piece, we dug deep into the religious spirit of Bengal to understand why goddesses are of prime significance in this region. We also spoke to eminent scholar of religion Kunal Chakrabarti who explained the complex way in which Durga became the central focus of religion in Bengal. Historian Tapati Guha-Thakurta, who has been researching contemporary cultural politics in Durga Puja explained the long history of extravaganza associated with the festival for political reasons. And, finally, we tried to unravel the ways in which the Mamata government has been deeply invested in Durga Puja.    A large body of research exists on goddess worship in Bengal and the politics around Durga Puja. Historian Kumkum Chatterjee in her exhaustive account, ‘Goddess encounters: Mughals, Monsters and the Goddess in Bengal' tracks down Durga worship from pre-Vedic times to that under the Mughal rulers of Bengal. Chakrabarti’s ‘Religious processes: The Puranas and the making of the regional tradition’ is an excellent read on the interaction between Brahmanism and the indigenous social traditions in Bengal.    Wishing you a pleasant weekend ahead.   Sincerely,   Adrija Roychowdhury

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