Bringing Goddesses Down to Earth
by Bandana Purkayastha
This chapter presents a reflection on the intersections between spiritual imageries, environment, sustainability, and actual practices within changing socio-political contexts. I focus on a Bengali Hindu religio-cultural celebration—Durga Puja—that symbolizes some of the deepest values of sustainability while I discuss the interface between symbolisms and practice. The meaning of sustainability that guides this chapter is about the harmony of humans (and their actions) with a larger universe. Sustainability is not merely about human actions to improve the current environment and initiate long-term change, though sustainability certainly includes such action. Sustainability is attained through consciousness and action that reflects the indivisibility of humans-animals-plants-inanimate objects within a holistic universe; at the same time the message highlights the importance of diversity and heterogeneity. This idea of sustainability is closely linked with deep environmental messages as long as we understand the environment to be a part of us, not something that exists apart from us, that we can thoughtlessly control or destroy without destroying ourselves.
The chapter is divided into two parts, the first focuses on the symbolism of Durga puja, especially its focus on a mother goddess and the deep environmental messages that are presented through this celebration. The second part focuses on actual practices and the changes in practice that simultaneously undermine and uphold some of environmental Durga Puja’s messages in today’s world. I end the chapter by linking this celebration and its message to sustainability in today’s world.
It is important to point out a few caveats at the beginning of this chapter. Most spiritual terms in Hinduism cannot be wholly translated to English because it simply does not have terms to convey the social imaginaries (Chandran 2009). I have tried to provide the nearest term that describes the principle I am attempting to translate. Equally important, there are very few, if any, Hindu celebrations that are celebrated in exactly the same way across the Indian subcontinent. In this chapter draws upon some beliefs and practices with which I am most familiar: a Kolkata-Bengali form of Durga puja.
Durga Puja: The tableaux of imageries.
The mother goddess, Durga, who is worshipped in Bengal, India and across the world by Hindu Bengalis, is most often presented as the central figure in a tableau of five goddesses and gods along with their attendant animals and plants, and a prone male figure near her feet. This tableau provides an interesting array of imageries that emphasize some core principles of sustainability: a conscious appreciation of the indivisible connection of humans to a larger universe, an understanding that principle of indivisibility that is maintained through actions that preserve life forms while resisting forces of wanton destruction, and, ultimately, an emphasis on everyday action to transcend entrenched separations and promote inclusive-ness.
Though there are many versions of the meanings of Durga puja, the mythological story that I am most familiar with is of Durga as a slayer of Mahisasur. According to this story, Mahisasur or Asur--sometimes described as a demonic male--had acquired significant powers through a boon granted by god Brahma. Asur then used his untrammelled powers to terrorize, subjugate, and wreck havoc on heaven and earth. The gods recognized that Asur had to be stopped from disturbing the harmony of the universe. Yet, individually, they failed to stop Asur. So the gods -- Agni, Siva, Vishnu, Indra, Varun, Surya, Yama, Vayu, Himalaya—bestowed their choicest weapons on Goddess Durga. Armed with formidable weapons in her ten hands, life-preserver Durga headed off to confront Asur. She defeated him after a prolonged battle (see e.g. Calcuttaweb 2014).
The imagery of mother Durga, holding the powerful weapons of the gods in her ten hands, certainly emphasizes the power of females (“Shakti or strength”) because she alone can defeat Asur. Yet, there is also a deeper message about the need to go beyond simple binaries. Durga includes the power of the male gods, she is at once life preserver and asur-slayer. Similarly asur cannot be reduced to a simple evil demon (opposite to god). He has received his powers through his disciplined worship of god Brahma. The popular tableau depicts the moment when Durga’s trident has pierced the body of Asur, who is shown near Durga’s feet to symbolize his defeat. Numerous images of Durga are now available on the web, Graner’s (2013) blog provides an interesting set of images for non-iniatited readers. While each image differs in the details and artistry, most depict the moment of triumph. This aspect indicates a core principle of sustainability—the need to confront and defeat the powers of destruction in order to restore the harmony of the universe.
How is this harmony conceptualized? In the tableau, the images of Durga’s children are juxtaposed against the central images of Durga and Asur who are engaged in battle. The children are not engaged in the battle but simply appear on either side of their mother as a larger statement about an universe which is filled with conflict and calmness (as reflected in the postures of the children). On Durga’s left is her daughter Saraswati, the goddess of learning, next to her appears Durga’s son Kartik, the god of war. On Durga’s right appears Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth and on Lakshmi’s right, Durga’s son, the elephant-headed Ganesh, the bestower of wishes. Durga’s children, invested with distinct powers of learning, wealth, conflicts and benign-ness represent the constellation of forces that have to be balanced continually for the larger harmony on earth. The tableau of the mother and her children and the array of animals and plants emphasize another aspect of sustainability: a unity composed of a diversity of roles, powers and abilities of diverse life-forms within one family. This diversity is the basis of harmony and interrelationships in the universe.
This tableau of Durga and her children emphasizes several messages about an interrelated universe. Durga and her children are attended by plants, animals, and birds. This array underscores the message of the indivisibility of humans and these life-forms. These animals and birds are not pets, i.e. maintained according to human terms within homes. These are “bahan,” i.e. they carry, attend, and support the goddesses and gods freely. There is an explicit message about understanding these life forms as a part of us, and an additional message not to embark, like Asur, on the path of wanton destruction of these interrelated life-forms.
Durga is shown astride a lion, which represents her regal valour and power. The indivisibility of the goddess and lion is emphasized as the lion is engaged in the battle (and therefore a part of the message of life preserver). Saraswati, the goddess of knowledge and learning is depicted with a manuscript (“puthi”) and a veena (a stringed musical instrument) in her hands. These symbolize different types of knowledge and learning. Saraswati is shown with a lotus and a swan. In Bengal (and elsewhere), the beautiful lotus blossoms appear above the mud and waters of the ponds in which the plant is rooted; the petals appear to be impervious to all that would tarnish the blossoms. Similarly the graceful swan is popularly attributed with the ability to filter muddy water within its mouth, and separate the valuable from the dross. The message is that learning and knowledge are not simply about books and music or the arts, it is about the ability to link learning-music-beauty to discernment and to develop the ability to create beauty and harmony amidst earthly limitations.
Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth and prosperity, is also shown with a lotus (to accentuate the same message about creating beauty and harmony, but now with wealth). Her attendant is an owl, a bird that can see clearly through darkness. In other words, prosperity is depicted as a good thing as long as it does not get shrouded in the darkness of selfish acquisitiveness. As the bahans of Saraswati and Lakshmi, the swan and the owl have attained a type of “culturally protected” species status; most Bengalis would not eat these creatures. Durga’s son Kartik, the god of war, is shown with a peacock--a bird that dazzles with its beautiful colors, but has a harsh voice. We can draw upon a message about the superficial glamour vs. the harsh realities of war. The other son Ganesh is shown with an elephant head. Ganesh is the remover of all obstacles, the benefactor, and a good-natured, wise figure. His embodiment challenges conventional ideas of “beauty,” cand calls attention to the blurred boundary between humans and animals. Ganesh is worshipped first--before his mother and siblings--to emphasize the importance of the message he embodies. Ganesh’s attendant, the lowly mouse depicts the critical importance of the lowliest creatures within a larger environmental chain. The veiled figure next to Ganesh—an actual banana plant draped in a sari—is a depiction of greenery and the ultimate source of all life forms. These imageries of Durga puja encapsulate, in a single tableau, the key values of sustainability--acknowledgement and deep understanding of human-animal-plant life forms along with an appreciation of the beauty and harmony of the universe. It also emphasizes justice, discernment, ever-expanding knowledge and learning, goodwill, and responsibility as part of a plan for practice.
Durga puja is widely celebrated as a sarbojanin puja, i.e. a puja held in public spaces, in temporary edifices—called pandals--that are dismantled after the puja. As the images on the web show, these pandals are works of unparalleled craftsmanship. Since the puja occurs in public spaces, it is open to everyone irrespective of class, caste, religion, gender, age or other social hierarchies. The “pandals” or edifices are elaborate and intricate. The images are adorned in a million different ways. The whole endeavour—the annual creation of the images and pandals, and the celenration—has sometimes been described as the greatest open-air artfestival in the world. Durga puja is celebrated in autumn, a time when the summer rice has been harvested in rural Bengal, a time of plentiful food. The heat and rain of the previous months have given way to milder temperatures and clear blue skies. With the harvest completed, in rural areas, this has been a season of family visits: migrant workers returned home from cities, married daughters returned to their natal families with their children for their annual visits. After the fourth day of this puja, people visit each other renewing family and community bonds as a reigniting of human relationships to a period of celebration. At present, all over Bengal, in cities and rural areas, schools and offices are closed for several days during the Durga Puja.
For those who celebrate the puja, the pujas remind them of the one-ness the universe and their position as part of this one-ness. As part of the puja ritual, the priest ‘raises’ the goddess from deep within himself and ‘invests’ the image with life. Similarly the worshipper is expected to understand this principle: the goods and goddesses are part of us, the images have no significance apart from the values and principles associated with Durga, Saraswati, Lakshmi, Kartik and Ganesh. The images of Durga are created each year, the images are consigned to rivers at the end of the puja. The annual cycle of creation, investing these images some values and then letting go of the props, further underscores the permanence of the messages, with or without the images. Along with the recognition of Durga as an invincible goddess, she is also a presented as a beloved daughter of the house. She returns—and is worshipped and loved—as an intimate, a daughter who has returned home each year to her own family. A group of married women ritually adorn the Durga image during the pujas and ‘feed’ her sweets as part of the puja. The worshipper and the community is “the home;” they have to welcome her by making her one of their own. So this second layer of messages—emphasizing intimate everyday loving relationships—show these values are not distant esoteric principles that are practiced by ascetics, but are meant to be part of everyday living.
Social Practice and Sustainability.
While the lessons of sustainability are apparent in the symbolism, have these lessons translated to practice? The meanings of several practices have changed over time, nonetheless, the puja has been a pivot of many collective practices that emphasize the interconnections of humans and other life forms.
A core principle of sustainability is the need to defeat unrestricted powers of destruction in order to restore the harmony of the universe, and the evolution of Durga puja into a sarbojanin puja, is reflective of practices that reflect these principles. It encapsulates a social history of resistance as well as one of inclusiveness. Radha Kumar (1990) reminds us that the practice of this particular form of community Durga puja gained widespread popularity during the late 19th and early 20th century amidst the rapid expansion of British colonial power in India (beginning first with the area of Bengal where the British had their capital city: Calcutta). The British used the imagery of the effeminate, traditional Bengali (and, later, Indian) men to justify the need for the upright, rational British to rule and civilize Bengal (and later, India). This discourse about effeminacy, traditionalism, and general civilizational backwardness of Bengalis, was used both by the political machinery and the section of Christian missionaries who wished to convert Hindus so they worshipped the “true (male) God” that they espoused (Burke 1983, Purkayastha and Narayan 2009, Rolfson 2005).
In Bengal, the cultural and political resistance that developed against the British addressed both of these discourses (Sinha 2000, Kumar 1990). The worship of Durga--and Kali—gained great popularity as the Bengalis. Confronted by the masculinist discourse of the state and state-supported Christian missionary efforts, Bengalis resisted British colonialism culturally, socially, and politically by revitalizing the worship of Durga and goddess Kali (Kumar 1990, Narayan and Purkayastha 2009). The strong mother imageries were used to draw boundaries between the cultures of the British (and the valoroization of male gods only) and the Bengalis (for whom gods were neither male nor female and could be worshipped in the female forms as embodiments of power). It also acted as a form of resistance to the British charge that the powerless Bengali (Indian) women had to be rescued by the British from their men (Sinha 2000). Seen from this vantage point, asur could be interpreted as religio-cultural representation of British power, a colonial power that had to be defeated. In practice, it became a fulcrum of a religio-cultural-political movement that encouraged people to resist political and social subjugation within their everyday spheres of life (Kumar 1990).
As cultural rennaissance intensified during this period, the worship of Durga adopted other interesting features that are important for this discussion of sustainability. A key tenet of sustainability is inclusiveness. By the early 20th century Durga puja began to be organized widely as sarbojanin puja, in order to break down the barriers of religion, caste, gender, age, class and all other boundaries that are codified into buildings and spaces that herald a particular religious lineage. The location in public space makes it easier for people to join in, as worshippers or simply spectators and mingle with a variety of people.
The idea of links between places, people and life forms near and far are further emphasized through the rituals. Durga puja rituals require water, earth, and fire. The water used in this ritual practice is a collection of waters from five great rivers from different parts of India, highlighting the links between the local puja and the distant places from which the waters are collected. The earth that is used for the rituals has to similarly combine earth from different sources. One source stands out: the puja requires the earth from the doorstep of a prostitute. Here again, the people who are shunned in daily practice are ritually included in the performance of the puja. Whether most people have followed these lessons of inclusion in everyday life, is ofcourse, an open question.
However, other materials required for the puja actively include diverse people. The food offered to the goddess was traditionally reliant on what was available locally—the newly harvested paddy, the fish, and meats were raised locally, the sweets prepared by local artisans. As a result the producers are inevitably people of different religions and castes, so the puja is based on material networks that spanned many sections of society. Each puja is surrounded by crafts and food fairs providing further avenues of income locally. Similarly, the images were traditionally built of straw and clay or shola (the pith of a banana plant) by skilled local craftsmen. So the material for the puja is drawn from the local context acting as a stimulus to the local economy while emphasizing the work of different strata of people in the community. At the same time, the immersion of the images each year, and the creation of images from the silt of rivers contributed to the idea that we would now describe as reusing and recycling.
These key ideas, organizing sarbojanin Durga pujas featuring the tableau and messages of sustainability that I described above, continue till today. The pujas are celebrated in fall, and include the same rituals to promote inclusiveness. However, the scale of the pujas have gotten bigger and in the next section I present the dilemmas of balancing sustainability in the era of neoliberalism.
Reflections.
While the puja emerged in its current form through the material and historic circumstances I described above, the altered material, social, political environment has led to some changes.
A key change is in the creation of the images. As the pace of life has increased manifold from the early 20th century, craftspeople who make the images are simply not able to keep up with the demand for the highly artistic images. Earlier the images were made from clay (typically gathered from rivers) and the clay was used to create the face, the arms, legs and parts of the body that would be visible. These were then decorated. During the early 20th century in Bengal, as part of the political boycott of British made goods, artists turned to indigenous sources to create their own paints. Most of these were made from local products, the majority of the paints were of plant based origin and consequently biodegradable. When the images were immersed in the water, they became a part of the rivers water and silt, a ritual return to the origin.
If we stop and think of what exactly this image making entails, it will be clear that image-making combining spirituality and creativity. The artist-craftsmens’ “dharma” (essential purpose, and or religion) was to create images that expressed the quality of the goddess or god. The degree of skill required for this task can be best explained with an analogy. Many museums in North America and Europe now house stone images of Buddha from the earliest times. For anyone who looks at the images in historical sequence, it is apparent that it took a few centuries for artist-craftmen to create the image we are most familiar with: the meditative yet benignant Buddha. It is not easy to capture that expression. So too with the Durga images. Even though these images are made each year, it is not easy to create images that encapsulate the qualities of each goddess or god. It requires very highly skilled artists/craftsman. The skills for this type of “high art” have required lifetime practice and were traditionally imparted through the generations within families.
However, this practice can only survive when the person’s skill is also the source of high status and relative poverty did not detract from this status. The parallel in a rural community would be of Brahmins who enjoyed very high status because of their position in a caste hierarchy but were normally poor. In contemporary times, the skilled image-makers have to earn a living that reflects the type of skills they bring to their work. In practice, this has meant that many image makers, have turned to “mass production” that is they create mould of images and use plaster-of- paris to create the body parts of the images. The paints they use are commercially available synthetic paints. While some images continue to be made the traditional way, these are expensive. So a significant number of pujas rely on the less expensive images. As a result of this shift, the immersion of images that emphasize deep environmental messages have, ironically, become a significant source of environmental pollution (e.g. Mishra 2009).
Another significant change at least in large metropolises like Kolkata, is that the larger sarbojanin Durga pujas are mostly sponsored by corporations. When Durga puja became poplar in Bengal the society was still mostly rural. So “community” meant local communities (even as the rituals attempted to draw attention to the links with the wider world). When I was young and lived in Kolkata, the money for each celebration was gathered through donations of people who lived in an area. The idea of “community puja’’ was maintained through these donations and people often spoke about “our” puja, even though these community donations were supplemented through advertisements by businesses in a brochure. As children our task in September was to keep pushing our parents to promise to take us to many of the biggest pujas, just so we could tell our friends we had been there. (They usually resisted going to too many because of the time and energy it took to navigate the vast crowds at the bigger pujas). The idea of the use of “local” products had changed by then so that “local” products were brought from the vast area that served as the catchment of the metropolis.
So what are the implications of sarbojanin Durga pujas that are not longer reliant either on the local community or local produce? Not surprisingly, the central idea that these pujas are celebrated in public spaces has allowed the puja to flourish in ways that combine the spiritual and the non spiritual, the religious and the secular. The pujas are mesmerising displays of artistry and skills that are hard to imagine especially if we remember these are only created for a very short period of time. The pujas also reflect commercial extravaganzas. Intricate pandals are created; many are so elaborate and beautiful that they rival more permanent world famous buildings of brick and stone. Huge amounts of electricity are consumed to light up numerous pandals and adorn the streets. The images are even more intricately adorned than before. Where music is allowed, the noise blasted through speakers is significant. Not surprisingly the pujas have become formal tourist attractions. It is not clear whether all the messages of the puja are evident when one looks in from the outside as a tourist and only sees the images. Nonetheless the main tableau is there for everyone to see.
Sustainability as Everyday Practice.
Despite the changes in form and scale, I would conclude by emphasizing that the central message of the pujas endures. Since the tableau does not change the most evident message about Shakti the life preserver and the beloved daughter continues to be a relevant social message. For people, who actually participate in these pujas, especially away from the tumult of the big pujas in the larger cities, this is still the time to stop the routine of everyday life and focus on the messages and celebrations. It is a time to renew oneself and reflect on the universe. People celebrate: they eat different types of food each day of the puja. They use different kinds of flowers and adornments. They visit family and friends and pay homage to their elders. They go to public spaces to celebrate, then they celebrate within homes with friends and family again.
Even though I described a Hindu religious practice, the message of this puja does not have to be narrowly religious. Indeed, the development of sarbojanin puja was meant to address those narrow socio-religious boundaries. As I have written earlier, the boundaries between “sacred spaces” and secular ones (temples vs. school or church halls), between who is Hindu or Muslim or Christian or Jew, who is Brahmin and who is not, is diluted in this form of doing religion. At this level it one more way of promoting inclusiveness. Equally important, the images that are likely to evoke questions in people’s minds about the presence of non-human life forms as part of a puja tableau open up opportunities to discuss the indivisibility of the universe. In the end, I don't think the message of the puja needs to be tied to one specific faith: the principles are open for everyone to practice whichever way they please, including strengthening or expanding their spiritual practice by renewing their attention to sustainability principles.
Spiritual practices rarely exist apart from their socio-political contexts. Each year some Durga puja creates asur in the image of some contemporary character who is seen as a force of evil. Thus the use of a spiritual image to promote social messages is not extinct. Equally important, with a swing away from globalization and homogenized cultural practices in India, at leasyt among some sections of society, there is a renewed questioning of the “modern” form of the Durga image—especially the potential to pollute the rivers. So there is a renewed attention to the environmental principles of the puja: the need to constantly pay attention to our impact on a wider universe and be responsible about preserving life instead of destroying it.
The imageries of Durga puja emphasize the values that have been key to secular understanding of sustainability Sustainability values reflect the consciousness of an interconnected universe. Such an interconnected universe has to be understood through discernment (through knowledge and appreciation of its beauty), enjoyed through prosperity (but a prosperity that goes beyond the prosperity of some at the expense of others), where the objective of action is to remove obstacles to benignant practice and work towards harmonious and just existence.
A conscious appreciation of the indivisible connection of humans to a larger universe, an understanding that principle of indivisibility that is maintained through actions that preserve life forms while resisting forces of wanton destruction, and, ultimately, an emphasis on everyday action to transcend entrenched separations and promote inclusive-ness.
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