What the Bengali’s say…

Uma was the daughter of Daksha and Menoka the king and queen of the himalayas. From her childhood, Uma worshipped Shiva as her would be husband. Shiva, was so pleased with her worship that he came to marry her. Daksha was not impressed by Shiva’s attire of tiger-skin and ash all over the body. He was not agreeable to this marriage. Uma forcefully got married to Shiva but her father prevented her from going with Shiva to Kailash, the abode of Shiva.

Daksha, then, arranged for a 'yagna' called "Daksha Yagna" where he invited everyone except Shiva with the idea of insulting him. Uma, was shocked and ashamed of her father’s behaviour and rude attitude towards her husband. She stopped eating, and finally died. Shiva was enraged when he came to know about this and went to Daksha's house. He lifted Uma’s body on his shoulders and started dancing madly- "Tandava Nitya". So intense and aggressive was the dance that, the World was on the verge of destruction.

Narayana, another God, came forward as the saviour of the world. He used his 'Sudarshan Chakra' to cut Uma’s body into pieces. The pieces were scattered throughout the country. The places where the pieces had fallen are known as the 'Shakti Piths' or energy pits, some of these places being Kalighat in Calcutta, and Kamakshya near Guwahati. Shiva was finally pacified when the last piece fell off from his shoulder.Narayana then gave Uma a new life and she accompanied Shiva to Kailash. Daksha, realised his mistake and was extremely sorry about his misdeeds.He prayed for mercy and was finally forgiven.

Since then, Uma, with her four children, Laxmi ,Saraswati ,Kartick, Ganesh and her two 'sakhis' - Jaya and Bijaya, comes to visit her parent's every year during the season of 'Sharat' or autumn when Durga Puja is celebrated. Thus the other name for Durga Puja is "Sarotutsav".

The Bengali style of the image depicts the ten handed Goddess astride a lion with one of her legs on the Mahishasura, the demon. The spear in her hand is piercing the demon's chest. Each of her ten hands carry a separate weapon, provided to her by the other Gods for destruction of the demon-Mahisasura. The Goddess is flanked by Ganesh and Laxmi on one side and Saraswati and Kartick on the other.

In traditional households Durga Puja is celebrated for ten days. The main part of the Puja is restricted to four days only.