Durga Puja

What happens

Durga Puja fills five days in Bengal, from Shashthi to Dashami. Its most charged moment is Sandhi Puja, performed at the join between the eighth and ninth lunar days, when 108 lotus flowers and 108 lamps are offered to the goddess. In the Bengali telling of the Ramayana, Rama offered her 108 blue lotuses before his battle, found one missing, and was ready to give his own eye in its place. The season has its own flowers too: fallen shiuli under the trees at dawn, and white kash grass along the rivers.

The flowers

Sacred lotusOne hundred and eight lotuses are offered at Sandhi Puja.Nyctanthes arbor-tristisShiuli, night jasmine, whose scent means the puja is near.

More flowers and customs of Durga Puja

Decoration Alpanaআলপনা Bengali ritual floor art painted with rice flour on festive and religious occasions 🇮🇳 India and 1 more · Carpet or floor pattern Decoration Pujaपूजा The Hindu ritual of offering flowers, light, and food in worship 🇮🇳 India and 2 more · Offering or rite