Canada soaks in the festive spirit of Durga Puja

Decked up in elegant Indian attire men, women and children braced the cool temperatures to attend the ongoing festivities during the long Thanksgiving weekend.

The trait of worshiping the idol of the Goddess Durga in a conventional way still continues among the community, despite being distanced from their homeland.

Like many other immigrant communities, Bengalis are adhering to the principle of commemorating and preserving their cultural identity in Canada which is famous for its multi-cultural diversity.

It is not only Bengalis who participate in this festival, but people from various places of India, enjoy the festivities together, as Durga puja is not just a mere idol worship but a celebration to welcome the homecoming of a married daughter and her family to her parent’s place.

Whether its Winnipeg or Montreal, Edmonton or Ottawa, Calgary or Halifax, Toronto or Vancouver the festivities continued in different parts of the country as people flocked in groups to mark the four days of celebration.

In Greater Toronto Area (GTA), alone there were over six separate cultural Bengali organizations celebrating the Goddesses arrival on earth.

Over thousand people flocked in to offer their prayers in the Toronto Kalibari in Mississauga on Sunday.

Similarly, the puja organised by the Bangladesh Hindu Cultural society in Dohme Avenue in East York, too had a footfall of over thousand people, joining hands together to offer their prayers.

31-year-old Shubhalaxmi Lokhande, celebrated her first Durga Puja with her family in Toronto. She says, “Although I have never attended the Durga Puja earlier, as I am not a Bengali, but I am amazed by the hospitality, warmth and love of the people around. It just makes me feel am in India.”

However, for Abir Ghosh, a technology professional, “I never feel like am missing Kolkata pujo anytime over here in Toronto. Apart from missing my extended family back home, Pujo is the same here in Toronto. We enjoy all delicacies, have our ‘adda’, sing songs, enact plays, have competitions with the dhaak as well as with the dhunuchi naach.”

Apart from the worshiping part, the celebration is another way of networking, thinks Suman Ghosh, a tax professional based in Toronto. “We get to meet lot of people here, new and old. You get introduced, then build relations and that helps to get businesses running too,” he says.

Lata Dey and her husband Ujjal Dey, had a small store set up in one of the temples, celebrating the festivity. Lata says, “I import a lot of sarees every year when I go to Kolkata, and this was the first time I actually had a plan to set the stall up and sell the sarees that I brought from home. People here love to wear the 12 yard, but unfortunately don’t get the best from Kolkata all the time. So I had a good business over the weekend and also have received several orders to bring in more.”

Whether its commercial, cultural or religious reason that united people together, the Durga Puja did bring in lot of people closer in Canada.

The weekend long festival is scheduled to be over on October 11 evening in many parts of the country, while some have concluded it over the long weekend.

(Reporting and Image by Debarati Mukherjee)