Durga Puja Festival

The composite and rich cultural heritage of India preserved in one splendid location with around 4.5 lakh population cannot be witnessed in any part of the country. This is notably visible only in this sacred land of mother Indian – the Andaman and Nicobar Islands aptly described as ‘Mini India’. Almost every festival of India is celebrated with traditional gaiety and fervor in this remotest part of India without any dent in the cultural fabric, setting a perfect example to be emulated by the rest of the country. Durga Puja follows the ritual of worshipping the Goddess Durga, the female form in Shakti. In Andaman, this Hindu festival is observed mainly in Port Blair and North & Middle Andaman during October, in the month of Ashwin according to Hindu calendar. Transcending all communal boundaries, people of all races, cultures, religions, castes, creeds take part in the enjoyment and programmes related to this puja.  The demographic character of Andaman and Nicobar Islands shows that the population of the Bengalese are more than any other. That’s why Durga Puja in Andaman receives a special treatment and organized in pompous way. There are more than one Bengali clubs which arrange grand programmes for this festival. Besides them, Tamilians, Keralites, Maharastrians and people from other region of mainland India, living there, participate in the arrangement and enjoyment. The islands of festival, Andaman, is more populated and inhabited than Nicobar, the puja is celebrated in different locations of Andaman only, especially in Port Blair. Junglighat, AtulSmriti, MES Haddo, Marine etc in Port Blair execute the festival in their own various ways. Along with these places, people in Rangat Bazaar, Chouldari Village, Bakultala, Kerala Samajam etc. observe the festival too.  People worship the goddess with utmost devotion by creating her idol along with her children’s Ganesh, Saraswati, Laxmi and Kartikeya and their pet and carrier lion, mouse, swan, owl and peacock respectively. The islands are decorated with ribbons, pandals, lights, flowers and other decorative things. Everyone goes out to visit the pandals, taste foods of different cuisine, enjoy the festive mode floating in the air and all of these looks so colourful and happy. The enthusiasm in this Indian archipelago for Durga Puja celebration is nothing less than that in the Indian peninsula.