From Mayukh Goswami
Mangaldai : Durga puja festival in the state is just over. Devotees have bid tearful adieu to Goddess Durga on the day of Bijaya Dashami for next one year. But there are a few Durga puja celebrations in the state which are not simply a celebration of the festival but a repeat of the history itself. Observing ‘Dar puja’ following the rituals of Bijaya Dashami by the Royal Koch family here is one such repeat of the history. ‘Dar puja’ has special significance in the Royal Durga puja as it is associated to worshiping of the power or strength. While talking to this correspondent at the time of this year’s ‘Dar puja’ at Mohanpur Howly after the Bijaya Dashami , Samarendra Narayan Deb, a senior member of the dynasty of Koch king Boli Narayan said that the Sanskrit word ‘Dar’ means arms and thus ‘Dar puja’ is connected to offering prayer to the stocks of the metalic arms and ammunitions to be used in wars. ” The very existence of our present Royal family is judged only by this Durga puja celebration The Dar puja is a historical part of the Royal Durga puja celebration. Here there is tradition to perform puja to the instruments of warfare including the golden crown and the pots on the top of the victory bars.” “However with the changing time and due to security reasons these valuable objects could not be taken out of the bank lockers and now the rituals have been observed in a symbolic manner surrounding the piece of historical ‘Khanjari’ or ‘Khurki’, a small sharp weapon presented to Bir Chilarai by the King of Gour.” the veteran film maker Deb added. The Dar puja is observed in the residential campus of the Royal family in stead of the main puja mandap. It is worth mentionable that even though Durga puja is celebrated separately in all the three Raja Howlis of the Koch king Boli Narayan, the traditional Dar puja is prevalence only in Mohanpur Howly.
