Durga Puja literally means ‘Worship of Goddess Durga’. This festival is also known as ‘Durgotsava’ or ‘Sharadotsav’. It generally falls in the month of Ashwin when the Goddess Durga and other deities, Lakshmi, Saraswati, Ganesh, and Kartik, are worshipped with offerings of flowers, rice, banana, sweetmeats, coconuts, and other fruits.

Durga Puja is an important festival for the Hindus and people all over the world celebrate the festival with great enthusiasm

Goddess Durga is worshipped as Maa Shakti as the goddess took various forms to destroy evil forces. One of the evil forms was the demon Mahishasura, who was troubling gods as well as those who lived in heaven. They didn’t know how to free themselves from the clutches of the demon Mahishasura. That is when gods and people of heaven went to Maa Durga and prayed her to take them out of this havoc.

Goddess Durga accompanied by her Vahan (lion) fought against Mahishasura and destroyed the demon. Thus, they celebrate the victory of Goddess Durga over Mahishasura on this day. All people, rich and poor, high and low, enjoy the divine festival with piety and joy. Nowadays, it has become a custom among people in general in different areas of cities and towns to hold a joint worship of Goddess Durga. The Durga Puja celebration includes displaying the decoration of Pandals artistically. This is an occasion for the social get-together where men, women, and children work together. Thus, the event of Durga Puja contributes to the growth of the feeling of the spirit of brotherhood and unity.

Durga Puja festival signifies that no matter how powerful the evil forces are, the ultimate victory will always be in the hands of the righteous. This day marks the victory of Goddess Durga (good) over the Demon Mahishasura (evil). Hence, like many other festivals, this festival also shows the domination of good over bad.