Mahalaya - A sneek peek

October 14, 2023

This article is dedicated to the Divine Mother and all women out there who are manifestations of the Divine Shakti.

Maa Sarada (Oh Mother You are the only beacon of light in this vast darkness of samsara. I Bow down to You, You Who is the Supreme Mother of all the Worlds) and my mother because of whom I have taken this human form and see the light of this world.

Ruchira ( Just like the divine mother, tor ashar khobor batash niye ashe je boye, bolar chilo kothar pahar kintu tor shamne shobde ra jai hariye. Hyderabad e to mohalaya hoi na, hajar bochor aadhar chilo tumi aalo diecho jele.) Sorry for disturbing you in your work schedule but Kolkata te na hoe toke ettu mohalayar informative ebong nostalgic feel dewar cheshta nimityo matro korlam.)

It fills my heart with joy unspeakable to reiterate one of the lines I hear from my childhood "As the different streams having their sources in different paths which men take through different tendencies, various though they appear, crooked or straight, all lead to Thee o mother ".

Mahalayar din ta ekta celebration er din noi shadharon bhabe. Celebration ta ke ki kore amra toiri korte pari eta bharatbarshar theke ar keo bhalo janena. This ability of taking a biroher tithi to a stage of celebration has a very deeper meaning hidden in our culture.

Keno boli, khyal kore dakh je amra pitri shraddho kori, matri shradhho kori, haan shokh thok shob holo, tarpore kintu je mocchomukhi hoi , tokhon dekhbi je abar shob kichu ekta khawa dawa celebration er jaigai giye dariechee, je amra abar doinondin jibon e phire aschi. Kajei celebration ta toiri kora bharat borshor riti je ora jane je " manush jonmile morite hobe, amor ke kotha robe."

Mahalaya hocche pitri pokhher shesh din. Ei din ta pitri der nibedon korar jonno hocche most shubho din, aajkal ei din ta opobroghsho hoi durga pujor starting hoe gache, but in reality durga pujor starting is not mahalaya.

Amar ekhono mone ache je chotobaleye GEC companir radio te bhor bala Birendra Krishnar Bhadrar Mahishashur Mardini cholto, Birendra krishna bhadra started recording mahalaya from 1931, eta proman kore ko tokhon theke manush bhulte shuru koreche je mahalaya is the last day of sorrow and from the next day debi pokkho starts ( the universe welcoming UMA. Matlo je bhubon umar agomone.)

Birendra krishna bhadro kintu mahishashur mardini age shosti ba ponchomi teo try korechilen, but the sudden popularity hit him when he played this on mahalaya. Oi Rabindranather kotha ache na " Logno jodi hoi anukul". Ei shomaye thekei mahalaya got poularised as debir agomon not as a day which is auspicious for shraddho and tarpan.

Mahalaya tarpan eta keno? etar dui dik theke ortho ta kora jae. Maha mohan sankhya dorshon jokhon tar obyokta prakriti theke byokta prokriti tori hoi orthat jokhon shrishti hoi; Shrishtir mule jini prothom " the first evolute" sheta ke bole mohan . Ar jokhon ei mohan evolve kore feelings like Ego (that I exist) , I ness etc come forward, and mrityur shomaye all these indriyo feelings get merged with mohan again. etar mane mausher er indriyo gulo abar "loy" hoya. That's where the term Mahaloy comes from.

Ei mohalayar dine bola hoi je that your pitri ( Ancestors) come in very close contact with this material world. So due to this closeness it becomes very easy to pray for their mukti from samsara. That's why on this day pitri tarpan is considered so auspicious.

The lines we say during Mahalaya in sanskrit :

Devam Manushya pasobho boyangshi (For the devas, for the animals and for the humans)

Siddha shajaksho rago daytyoshonga ( For the enlightened ones, For the jakhyas, snakes, demons)

preta pisacha toroboshyo somosta ( For pretas( Means the people who have left) for the toru(Trees))

pipilika kita potingaadya bubhukshika karmabondha ( We offer food to ants insects who are in this birth due to their karmic cycle)

jecham namichyanti maya pradaptam ( On this auspicious day of mahalaya we leave no one hungry, we embrace everyone)

The General story line on mahalaya goes like this : due to increasing cruelty of the demon king Mahishasura against the gods, the Gods pleaded Vishnu to annihilate the demon. The Trinity of Brahma, Vishnu and Maheswara (Shiva) come together to create a powerful female form with 10 arms – Maa Durga or Mahamaya, the Mother of the Universe, who embodies the primeval source of all power. The Gods then bestow upon this supreme creation their individual blessings and weapons. Armed like a warrior, the goddess rides a lion to battle with the Demon Mahishasura. After a fierce combat the Durga is able to slay the asura king with her trident. Heaven and earth rejoice at her victory.

Passing down from generation to generation like a priceless treasure, the tradition of Mahalaya is a sheer gift that stays in every Bong heart till the last breath and may be beyond. Some families flock around the radio to listen to the famous voice of Birendra Krishna Bhadra over a cup of hot tea; some prefer to cherish the trail of memories, thoughts and emotions evoked by the regal notes of Mahalaya in solitude. But the vibrations of the notes from every household radio, wafting through the silent 4 o’clock morning and joining with the tea stall owner’s radio nested miles away, is a surreal feeling. So, no matter which part of the world you are in, if there is a Bengali neighborhood

in the vicinity, there is a fair chance of you hearing the faint notes of Mahalaya if you lay your ears while passing by. And no matter how many generations passes by, those bylanes of Kolkata will resonate with the vibrations of Mahalaya on this very day at four in the morning. The radio might be replaced with mobile phones and the loud resonance of the tracks might get a little faint with time but it will never die.