Durga Puja celebrations at Ara centered around Devisthan, Durga Bari

Speed Post News Network

Ara : Durga Puja celebrations at Ara, headquarters of Bhojpur district, are centered around two old spots of the town — the Aranya Devi at Devisthan and at Durga Bari in Babu Bazaar area. Devottes throng these two places in every year.

Aranya Devi, known as one of the  Siddh peeth’ in the country, is located on the junction of old and new Ara town and dates back to ancient times. It is said that Pandavas during their wandering had offered prayer at this temple. It has two idols—the longer one is called Mahakali whereas the shorter one is called Mahasaraswati. The people from different parts of the country visit the town the whole year particularly during Dussehara. Devotees are given ‘halua’ and ‘khir’ as prasad from Saptami to Navami.

Durga Bari Puja in the heart of the town is famous for traditional forms of community Puja and it is about 200^th year of Durga Puja celebrations here. As per Soma Chatterjee, her great grandfather, Dr Herambnath Mukherjee of Kharda in West Bengal migrated to Ara in 1808 and built this Durga Bari. She said an idol of Ashtabhuji Devi made of pure gold and a ‘shivling’ were kept in the 50 feet high temple. She said Durga Puja is performed amidst playing of dhak, dhunuchi and dhuna dance.

Soma Chatterjee said after the murder of her eldest sister Dr Chanda in the year 1993, police locked the whole Durga Badi and so Durga Puja could not be performed for 20 years.  Meanwhile, the idol of Goddess Durga was stolen. She said after getting possession in 2012, a new idol of Goddess Durga was installed in the year 2013 and puja started in true sense of Bengali culture