Legend has it that on the day of Dashami around 500 years ago, a massive storm killed several people and destroyed houses and standing crop on large swathes of land.
Since then, in order to propitiate the gods and to pray for safety of the people, villagers of Khadimpur in Raiganj in North Dinajpur district began the Balai Chandi Durga Puja. And as per tradition, the Puja started yesterday, while the “Dashami” will be marked on Sunday. Around 7,500 members of 1500 families observe the Puja with much fanfare and rituals. “Like the rest of the state, villagers here also buy new clothes for the Durga Puja, but they wear them while observing the Balai Chandi Durga Puja in the village,” a villager said.
According to the secretary of the Balai Chandi Durga Puja Committee, Sreekant Barman, their forefathers introduced this form of Durga Puja around 500 years ago
“On the regular Dashami day, a natural calamity like a big storm hit the village, killing people and destroying houses and crops. Our forefathers started this Puja ever since that incident, seeking the well-being of the village,” he said.
The Durga that they now worship has four hands instead of the usual 10, while there are no Mahisasur and the buffalo with the idol. “However, there are Lakkhi, Saraswati, Ganesh and Kartik. We do not immerse our idol, but it stays in our old temple under a banyan tree. The idol is immersed a day after Biswakarma puja,” Mr Barman said.
The president of the Puja Committee, Fulkanta Barman, said that they also organise cultural programmes every day during the Puja. “The Yatra will be held for two days, while folk songs like ‘Khangun’ and ‘Baul’ are sung for the entertainment of the villagers,” he said.
As local residents eat lunch from Saptami to Dashami in the puja pandal, artisans and priests, whose families are associated in the Puja through generations, make the idols and perform the puja following strict rituals.