A priest performs puja at Beldih Kalibari. Picture by Uma Shankar Dubey

Jamshedpur, Oct. 11: This time Goddess Durga is making her journey to the earth on a horse. According to mythology, this foretells problems in form of natural calamities, social unrest and political upheaval. The goddess will leave the earth by the same carrier.

Not willing to predict what problems may be witnessed on account of Goddess Durga’s arrival and departure on a horse, Beldih Kalibari Ashram’s Shrimad Brahmanand Shastri hinted that there could a political upheaval.

“Though it is quite difficult to predict the fallout of Maa Durga’s arrival on a horse, I think there could be a political upheaval of some sort,” Shastri told The Telegraph today.

However, he clarified that the mode of goddess’ arrival and departure on a horse would not affect mankind in any way.

According to Shastri, Maa Durga arrives on four types of carriers - horse, boat, palanquin and elephant. “It is not necessary that she will depart by using the same carrier. It all depends on mythological calculations.

According to him, arrival and departure on a horse is called chhatra bhanga. Explaining the religious facets of Durga Puja, Shastri pointed out that the gods stay awake from January 14 (Makar Sankranti) to July 14. After this period, they go to sleep. The gods are then awakened on Mahashasti through various mantras. This is called akal bodhan.

Mankind awakes the gods to pray and gain the power to destroy evil, he pointed out. The gods stay awake during uttarayan and sleep during dakshinayan, he added.

Shastri said that Durga Puja is supposed to be performed according to the Devi, Kali and Brihannandikeshwar puran. But since the past 100 years, the puja has been performed through Kali puran. Lord Ram is said to have performed the puja through “Devi” puran, he added.

Shedding light on the importance of Sandhi puja, Shastri said that according to Markandya puran, it is a puja where the Goddess is invoked to destroy evil on earth.

He pointed out that Sandhi puja is performed on Mahaashtami and Mahanavami. It will be performed on October 14 from 3.09 am to 3.57 am, he stated.

According to Shastri, puja is performed by three vidhis (processes) - Satwik, Rajasik and Tamik. “Nowadays, animal sacrifice is seldom done during puja. The sacrifice nowadays is symbolic, he said.

Kumari puja is performed at Kalibari on Mahanavami.