Saraswati Puja Warms Souls [better late than never *lol*]

[Guest guest]

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. (March 1, 2005): The temperatures might have been

freezing outside, but the atmosphere couldn't have been warmer at

the celebration of Saraswati Puja, held at the Grace Methodist

Church. The church's social hall was filled with multicolored saris,

the sweet smell of incense, and the murmuring hum of people

socializing and catching up with each other. Over a hundred members

of Bangla-O-Biswa, a predominantly Bengali organization, had

gathered for a puja of the goddess Saraswati.

 

People began slowly filtering in at midday for the Feb. 19 event

that lasted well into the evening. In addition to the puja itself,

the afternoon and evening were filled with traditional singing and

dancing, as well as a sumptuous feast of traditional foods that

included desserts sweet enough to appease the most winter-chilled

spirits.

 

The Saraswati Puja is one of the most important pujas in West

Bengal, second only to the Durga Puja that is held in October.

Saraswati is depicted as a great beauty with a milky white

complexion, who sits astride a swan or water lily and plays the

veena. Appropriately, she is the goddess of music as well as poetry

and knowledge. And being best known for this last characteristic,

it's no surprise that she holds a special significance for those

still traversing the path to learning.

 

"This celebration is especially important for children and

students," affirmed Shrey Chakrabarti, a senior at Bentley College

who entertained the gathering during the cultural program.

 

"I'm hoping Saraswati will help me with my grades," added eighth-

grader Debanjan Mukhopadhyay. Indeed, the multi-generational crowd

included many tykes, teens, and young adults who may have had

similar thoughts on their minds. Their participation was something

that pleased Bangla-O-Biswa's cultural secretary, Nishit

Mukhopadhyay.

 

"Events like this are very important for the younger generation that

was born and raised in this country," said Mukhopadhyay. "It helps

keep them in touch with Indian culture." Mukhopadhyay explained that

the Bengali community in New England numbers about 2,000 and that

Bangla-O-Biswa is one of three major Bengali groups in the Boston

area.

 

The guest of honor, a statue of Saraswati draped with a flower

garland, stood on a pedestal by one wall. And as priest Tapan

Bhattacharya explained, the term "guest" in this case is not just

used figuratively.

 

"When we invoke the spirit of the deity, it is treated as any other

guest in your home would be treated," said Bhattacharya. The

offerings of welcome were spread round Sararswati's statue: sundry

trays of food that included fruit, rice, yogurt, nuts, and homemade

sweets; scented water for bathing the feet; feathered fans; and

incense and flowers that perfumed the air.

 

"It is necessary that the smells from the incense and flowers be

sweet for the goddess," said Anita Bhattacharya, president of Bangla-

O-Biswa. She was also responsible for preparing the multitude of

foods that were first presented to Saraswati as prasad and then

served at lunch following the ceremony.

 

The ceremony itself was led by Anita's husband Tapan, who, sitting

cross-legged and clad in the traditional white dhoti and punjabi

shirt, began the puja by chanting mantras on his own to invoke the

spirit of Saraswati. Other members of the group then joined in the

chanting, led by Bhattacharya. The ceremony was enlivened by the

sound of brass gongs and the blowing on conch shells, the rhythms of

which help raise the consciousness of the worshippers. Offerings of

flowers, "pushpanjali," and food were made, and at the end of the

ceremony, small preschoolers practiced writing with chalk on a small

blackboard before Saraswati's statue to bring blessings from the

goddess as they get ready to enter their school years.

 

The Bangla-O-Biswa group hosts about a half dozen events a year,

including pujas, picnics and cultural programs. As former Bangla-O-

Biswa president Benroy B. Paul explained, the group has its roots in

the Tagore Society (named after the Indian Nobel laureate

Rabindranath Tagore), which Paul helped found in the 1960s. Paul

also stressed the inclusive nature of the present group (Bangla-O-

Biswa means "Bengal and the world") and all interested peoples are

welcome to join in upcoming festivities which can be found listed on

the group's website: www.banglaobiswa.org.

 

SOURCE: India New England

URL:

http://www.indianewengland.com/news/2005/03/01/Community/Saraswati.Pu

ja.Warms.Souls-893733.shtml