Durga Puja and Dussehrha in Taipei, 2020
Gladly invited by Bikash sir, I had my first-time experience to observe the Bengali’s tradition of Durga Puja!
I’ve heard about this reputed regional celebration for a long time, but normally I was too lazy to go to Nangang. Nevertheless, this time there’s one thing about this event appealing to me the most than ever, which is about the venue itself, like, how can a Hindus religious ritual take place in a Taiwanese Tao/Buddhist Temple? What the cultural fusion and the inclusivity it is! So there I go — My first Durga Puja and first-time close observation of Bengali festival.
The temple is located in the allies of a residential community in Xizhi, which is around 15 minutes walking from Nanggang Exhibition Hall station, also in the neighborhood of Academia Sinica, which provides the convenience for the students/researchers to visit. The altar is set at the veranda of the temple with the small grassland around, which enables kids to play around while parents are conducting the puja.
I arrived around the evening. In the dim light of night, the Chinese Lanterns hung along the passway led me to the end of the road, which is the temple with the visiting goddess and its followers. The exquisite statue set made by famous artist Subol Pal is shipped all the way from Kumartouli, Kolkata. The icons of Lord Durga with its children are also mostly seen in West Bengal only — Lakshmi (Goddess of Wealth), Saraswati (the goddess of knowledge and music), Ganesha (the god of good beginnings), and Kartikeya (the god of war) — These 4 Hindus Deities in Bengali and Odia traditions are considered to be Durga’s children, and Durga puja is believed to commemorate Durga’s visit to her natal home with her children. So the statue is also another highlight of this event for me.
Initially, when I hadn’t put on my glasses, I found myself totally strange to everyone here and felt a bit awkward. Shortly, friends recognized me — thank you, sweeties— These multi-talented girls have the diva aura when they perform on the stage, also known as the stars of the Indian function of each university! That is the moment when I just realized how many talents I know are actually from the East, so happy to have your company, which made this day even more special.
In the opening of the evening activities, there was some ritual going on, and here I would like to share one special thing I observed, and later Google told me, which is Ulūludhvani ((उलूलुध्वनि; Ululu). It is not pan-Indian custom but followed in Bengal, Assam, and Odisha. As a Bengali religious ritual, this specific noise of melodious chorus is especially produced by women on auspicious occasions, which is usually preceded by the trumpeting of the conch shell (this is also can be seen in the video). Ululu is believed to drive away negativeness and bring inauspiciousness. How lucky I’m here to observe these regional special practices in Taiwan!
The puja lasted for the entire day but the cultural programs started from the evening only. Participants shared songs, dance, poetry, and articles consecutively. Some mesmerizing dances are presented, especially Bikash sir’s talented daughter, both classical and folk style are covered in her two dance performances, which beautifully highlighted the regional specialty of this event!
As the only Taiwanese at the event, I was also requested to give one performance as entertainment — Without much time preparing, I chose my all-time favorite Hindi songs from my fav actor, Ayushmann Khurrana (Sadi gali aaja & Pani da rang) despite my poor pronunciation. No matter how bad it was, I was really grateful to be able to sing these songs in public — the songs way before my debut performance on Indian cultural functions, which was totally out of passion, haha.
Again thanks Bikash sir and the team so much for all the efforts in this wonderful event. May Goddess’ bless goes to every participant and hope one day we will have the dedicated Hindus temple for greater scale of the celebration!
