Basanti Puja: The Chaitra Durga Puja initiated prior to the more famous Akal Bodhon

Basanti Puja, also known as the Chaitra Durga Puja is the Durga Puja that began in the ancient times. However, with time Sharadiya Durga Pujo or Akal Bodhon became more famous and today, Akal Bodhon is celebrated widely.

Very few people know that Durga Puja is celebrated twice every year, once in the month of Chaitra and the other in the month of Ashvin. Durga Puja celebrated in the month of Chaitra or during the spring season is known as Basanti Puja which is the actual Durga Pujo which was initiated prior to the more famous Akal Bodhon. The festival derives its name from Bosonto, which means spring season.

Akal Bodhon; ‘akal’ means untimely and ‘bodhon’ means worship. The word refers to the untimely worship of Maa Durga. When Sita Maa was abducted by Ravaan, Lord Ram worshipped Maa Durga so that he could win the war against Ravaan. This came to be known as Akal Bodhon and with time, this came to be widely celebrated across the globe. This was much later than the initiation of Chaitra Durga Puja. People living outside of West Bengal only know Sharadiya Durga Puja to be the only Durga Puja and also the biggest festival for Bengalis.

The rituals for both Chaitra Durga Puja and Sharadiya Durga Puja remain the same. Both of the festival fall during the celebration of Navratri. Maa Durga is worshipped from the sixth day of Chaitra to the ninth day which is also known as Ram Navmi. On the tenth day, people bid farewell to the goddess, also known as Dashami. Today, Basanti Puja is celebrated in traditional Bengali homes, unlike the Shardiya Durga Puja which is more of a sarvajanik puja.

The mention of Basanti Puja can be found in the Markandeya Purana which says that King Surath was the first one to worship Maa Durga in the month of Chaitra. Since then, Maa Durga was worshipped in the month of Chitra until Lord Ram worshipped Maa Durga in the month of Ashvin.

King Surath was the ruler of Vanga Kingdom, a devotee of Maa Durga and also the one who preached about the goddess to the dharti niwasi (earth dwellers). After King Surath lost in a war, he was cheated by his family and other members of the royal family. He then left the capital city of Bolipur, present-day Bolpur. The king met Vaishya Samadhi, who too was in a similar situation and the two of them met Sumedhas Muni. Sumedhas Muni then advised them to worship Maa Durga.

This is when King Suratha and Vaishya Samadhi worshipped the goddess and this also marked the first Durga Puja. King Suratha and Vaishya Samadhi regained whatever was lost after worshipping the goddess and the King returned to Bolipur. Since then, he started worshipping Maa Durga every year during Bosonto. This later came to be known as Basanti Pujo or the Chaitra Durga Puja.