agamani sangeet-bengali devotional songs to durga

sambya · March 30, 2009

medieval bengali literature contains an amazing collection of what is known as vaishnav padavali . basically it is bengali poems depicting the pastimes of radha and krishna in a noted graphic way . notable writers in this genre included vidyapati , chandidas , govindadas etc. this tradition of writing heavily influenced the bengali culture and continued from 11th century till 17th century . with the rise in modernism this trend gradually became extinct . a comparatively new trend with its origin in 15th century gained momentum and is still under continuation in modern day bengal . these songs depict the pastimes of durga or kali and are called as shakta padavali -- following the footsteps of its vaishnav predecessors .

however this shakta padavali differs from its vaishnav counterpart in a few ways . the former is mostly in form of small songs while the latter very often comes in form of organised book or play . the former consists of songs describing the sadhana procedured or contains an appeal to the mother to appear before the eyes , while the latter describes the lilas of radha krishna .

however one branch of shakta padavali is called agamani which is purely descriptive in nature and graphically depicts the lilas of durga as a small daughter of himalayas -- uma . its called 'agamani' because it heralds the 'agaman' or homecoming of the mother in the annual durga puja .

in order to taste the beauty of these songs it is essential to understand the reason for it being sung . the bengal belt in the only place in the subcontinent where gods were worshipped in form of clay images extensively . this was so beacuse highly soft clay from gangetic delta was readily available all over as the bengal landmass is literally crisscrossed with rivers ( ganga brahmaputra delta) . and these images were submerged back to the river after the end of the festival . such practice grew in popularity over millenias and provided the locals with the thought that the gods arrive to take the pujas and then depart . this was not possible in other parts of india in same intensity because worship there was usually done on stone installed deities or yantra or stones etc which stayed on permanantly .

this gave rise to the concept of devi's homecoming on every october . uma is the daughter of himalayas and queen menaka who was the consort of himalayas . after marraige with shiva uma went off to stay at her husbands home in kailash away from her parents . shiva is an wandering ascetic least concerned about his family . so uma has to lead a tough life battling all odds of her family . finally the seperation from her daughter becomes too much for menaka who then repeatedly requests himalaya to bring home her daughter . finally the king of mouintains agrees and goes to kailash to plead with shiva . shiva allows him to take home his daughter only for a few days . those few days are the much celebrated navaratri or durga puja as it is known in bengal area.

agamani songs have very strong spiritual and yet secular appeal . it graphically brings out human emotions and times of diificluty in a common man's day to day struggle for existence . here are a few examples from the agamani song literature .......................

words of queen menaka (uma's mother ) --

1 :

" oh giriraj (king of mountains -himalayas) , i wont allow uma to go back this time . i'll confine her in our palace . i know that would not conform to social norms , for a married daughter is not supposed to stay at her parents place for long . but alas ! what can i do ?

this time when son in law (shiva) comes to take her home i shall quarrel with him and deny that he is my son in law .

this is simply too much to bear , my son in law roams about the cremation grounds without ever caring for my uma's family. "

2 :

" how can you stay away from us , my child uma ?

didnt your heart think of your morosed mother even for a while ?

being the daughter of stone(himalaya) have your heart also turned as such?

it's been one full year since you went and we've been crying for you ever since . we couldnt sleep at night and spent the days with grief and tears.

seeing the full moon at night sky made me remember of your beautiful face and i cried out again and again.

sometimes in sleep i would dream that you have turned into kaali out of hunger and poverty at shiva's family , and i would instantly rush out to the streets and call out to strangers " please bring me back my uma , please!! "

some songs bring out the anxiety of mother menaka .....

words of mother menaka --

3 :

" o giriraj (himalayas) !!

last night i had a really bad dream !

i saw that my golden complexion uma has turned all black .

she's roaming about the cremation pyres.

her hair's all flowing wildly and she's bursting into mad laughter.

frightfull and naked with three feiry eyes and the moon on her head .

she has turned into kaali . "

in some of the songs we see that uma is angry on her parents because no one went to kailash to bring her for almost a year ---

4 :

" hugging the neck of her mother uma broke out into tears and said

' did you ever think of going there to bring me back ? not only my father is stone hearted , so are you !! i had to come here all by myself , unable to bear the seperation any long. i wont stay for long , now that you have never thought of bringing me here . i'll stay for a day or two and then leave for my husbands home in kailash .' "

5 :

" do you ever think mother( menaka ) what i have to face at kailash from my neighbours ? you and father dont even care to meet me up or ask for my well being for an entire year . meanwhile back in kailash all my neighbours keep on asking me 'dont you have parents , uma ? ' . i have to suffer all that humiliation all by myself . i have to make up an excuse that my father did come to take me home but my husband (shiva) didnt allow that to happen. and the rest of the days i spend crying .............."

shiva is an wandering ascetic who meditates in cremation grounds , half naked and covered with ashes . he spends time in samadhi and has the least concern for family matters .uma has to look after the maintenence of the family all by herself amidst extreme poverty and difficulties . this tragic news reach the palace of himalayas and mother menaka falls in grief . how can her daughter who is a princess survive in such abject poverty ? after a gap of one year when uma finally comes menaka realises her sad condition .

words of mother menaka --

6 :

" i remember the last time when she (uma ) came and stood near the main door silently .

i took her up in lap and asked " how is my shiva doing , my child ?" .

uma answers " he's fine " and covers her eyes with her saree trying to hide those tears by saying " something fell in my eyes ! oh! whats there in my eyes ? "

i realised all and the need to cover her eyes ...

hearing the words of shiva the tears that were inside her are now dropping to ground . "

in some of the songs uma describes the wealth she has now in her home in kailash .its not like what her mother meneka thinks . after marriage shiva is quite settled and now they have a nice family ..........

words of mother menaka--

7 :

" the other day i was hearing from uma how rich and affluent they have become .

my child is now the annapurna of kashi (varanasi) and our son in law is vishwanath rajrajeshwar himself .

shivani(uma) comes in and says ' o mother ! the sad days of shiva is finally over . the one that you called mad has kuber himself as his treasurer . '

i thought shiva was a beggar and shivani her companion , but now i have come to know otherwise . "

some songs provide us with a beutifull description of uma's homecoming ...........

words of the neighbours and confidantes of mother menaka--

8 :

" get up , get up o queen ! why do you sleep so late ?

your husband (giriraj himalaya) is coming home from kailash with ishaani (another name of devi) .

your daughter is already here with the two sons in her arms ( kartika and ganesh ) .

as she's approaching the palace she eagerly asking to all " where is my mother ? how is she ? "

believe us o queen , never before did we see such a beauty !

how fortunate you are to have maheswar shiva as you son and hara-mana-mohini ( one who enchantes shiva's mind) herself as your daughter !!!

then comes the last day of durga puja , the day of ashwin shukla navami . the next morning on vijaya dashami uma would go back to her abode and leave her parents and neighbours in tears . queen menaka is stricken with grief .....she is prayin to navami night not to leave the earth ............

words of mother menaka--

9:

" o navami night !

dont leave us queen menaka is praying to you of this favour .

if you leave us then the next morning would snatch our daughter from us . why cant you stay for eternity ?

we shall die if you leave us now .

how shall i bid her farewell ?

o shiva , my son , coudnt you wait for a few more days ?

why do you have to be so impatient to take uma home .

is your love really that strong ? cant you stay alone for a few more days ?

why doesnt anyone understand the plight of a mother's heart ?

why doesnt this night listen to my repeated requests ?