Author: TNN
Publication: The Times of India
Date: September 6, 2010
URL: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/kolkata-/Puja-workshop-to-help-priests-stick-to-tradition/articleshow/6503000.cms
With less than six weeks to go for Durga Puja,
several erstwhile zamindar families of the city are organising training camps
for priests to bring authenticity into community pujas.
While the old family pujas still follow tradition
rigorously, right from the making of the kathamo or the wooden structure to
visharjan, when it comes to community pujas, the general complaint is that
the piety gets drowned in merrymaking and that even priests take it easy.
The training camps are trying to bring back
authenticity to community pujas. One such camp is on in full swing at the
Daw family mansion at Girish Park. The camp is being conducted by Sanskrit
scholars like Murari Mohan Bendanto Tirtha and Jayanta Kushari.
"Most priests of community pujas just
parrot the mantras without understanding their real meaning. On the other
hand people only concentrate on the merry making and feasting part, instead
of the serious side of the pujas," said Bedantotirtha.
When TOI reached the camp on Sunday evening,
training was on in full swing. At least 150 priests were being instructed
why they should not take tea breaks in between the pujas and how to get the
Sanskrit accents right. "The magic of the mantras lies in the diction.
The right mantras will make you feel the presence of the divine, they are
so powerful," said Kushari.
The priests were told why 108 lotuses are
used for Durga Puja. "It is not the lotus alone that is a must in Durga
Puja. All the yantrapushpas flowers denoting the different organs of the goddess
are required. So, you also need belpata, rakta karabi, rakta bak, jaba and
blue aparajita to worship Durga. Lotus depicts the breasts of the goddess,
rakta karabi and aparajita, the yoni, and jaba the face."