Pujo means
"worship". It is a religious ritual that Hindus perform on a
variety of occasions to pray or show respect to their chosen
Gods or Goddesses. Pujo basically involves making offerings to a
chosen deity so as to seek their blessings. The offerings
are made with an acknowledgement – “I dedicate to you O God,
what is truly yours.” .The whole Pujo is thus an acknowledgement
of one’s smallness and humility, i.e. performance of Pujo
removes ego, which is truly the only hurdle on the path to
success.
The worship of Durga is done in the autumn (শরৎ Shôrot) and is
considered as the largest Hindu festival of Bengal. Durga's Pujo
is celebrated from the sixth to tenth day in the month of Ashwin
(আশ্বিন Ashshin), which is the sixth month in the Bengali
calendar. Occasionally however, due to shifts in the lunar cycle
relative to the solar months, it may also be held in the
following month, Kartika (কার্তিক Kartik). In the Gregorian
calendar, these dates correspond to the months of September and
October.
In the Krittibas Ramayana, Rama invokes the goddess Durga in his
battle against Ravana. Although she was traditionally worshipped
in the spring, due to contingencies of battle, Rama had to
invoke her in the autumn akaal bodhan. Today it is this Rama's
date for the pujo that has gained ascendancy, although the
spring pujo, known as Basanti Puja, is also present in the Hindu
almanac and is celebrated in various parts of Bengal. Since the
season of the puja is (শরৎ Shôrot) autumn, it is also known as
শরদিয়া Shôrodia.
The pujos are held over a ten-day period, which is traditionally
viewed as the coming of the married daughter, Durga, to her
father, Himalaya's home. It is the most important festival in
Bengal, and Bengalis celebrate with new clothes and other gifts,
which are worn on the evenings when the family goes out to see
the 'pandals' (temporary structures set up to venerate the
goddess). Although it is a Hindu festival, religion takes a
backseat on these five days: Durga Pujo in Bengal is a carnival,
where people from all backgrounds, regardless of their religious
beliefs, participate and enjoy themselves to the hilt.
On the right navifation panel, you can
find different links which goes from the Bengali belief for the
Pujo to a small introduction of each day of the Pujo and some
pictures as we in the Mukerjee family celebrate our Pujo.
(Note part of text has been
inspirations from various sources and are not completly mine. I
would definitely like to give due respect for the contents.)