Sunday, October 23, 2011

Festival of lights: A human pilgrimage

By Sanjib Banerjee

When the summer begins to taper off and oaks and maples get ready for the color change, I can hear the drum beats of Durga Puja in my heart. And sighting of Halloween decorations perks open my nostalgic window to the memory of the festival of lights, Diwali which is celebrated as Kali-puja in Bengal.

It is truly amazing to watch how the cultures from geographically and historically far apart regions weave melodies of similar human vibes transform into color and texture which easily transcend the barriers of religion and politics. When I first came to the USA, Halloween lights in the dark background of the evening warmly reminded me of Kali-puja and Diwali celebration. This also suggested a connection between distant cultures separated by time and space.

Halloween has origin in ancient Roman and Celtic culture of Europe. Some historians traced similarity to Roman festival for the goddess of fruit and seed and goddess of death. But more striking similarity could be noticed to the Samhain tradition of ancient Celtics, meaning the celebration of the end of summer. People believed that during Samhain, the border between the world of living and the world of dead, becomes thin allowing visit by spirits, both good and bad. Spirits of ancestors were honored with lamps and people wore masks and costumes to drive away harmful spirits. Similarly, ancient Britons practiced tradition of Calan Gaeaf (pronounced Kálan Gái av) on November 1^st. They believed spirits were out at that time, and so people avoided graveyards, crossroads and churchyard. Often families built fires outside to drive away spirits. In a related tradition, during Samhain, Celts built bonfires outside and put off all other lights. Then each family would light their hearth from the bonfire. In the evening of puja, which also is the 3^rd day of Deepavali, in many parts of North India, people lit a bundle of sticks from the main stove of the kitchen and brought out the burning stick bundle outside the home. Legend is, by doing this one drives out Apalaxmi so that Goddess Laxmi could enter the home. Bonfire would keep out the harmful spirits as well. These traditions are a clear parallel to those of Celtic Samhain, and can be related to the present day Halloween. It appears that these are largely ancient folk practices which manifest general celebration of human experience during transition from a sunny warmer season to impeding a darker and colder season after the harvest. It does not matter whether one is in Asia, Europe or America, behaves similarly, only the modes and means change.

Thus it was not astonishing to find deep roots of Kali-puja in the tribal cultures of central India and similarity to Samhain and Halloween. Mother Kali, is worshipped in large parts of India, but more so by Bengalis. The most popular form of Goddess Kali has four arms, holding kharga (a kind of a sword) in the upper left hand and a severed demon head in left lower hand, while the right hands have abhaya (fearlessness) and varada (blessing) mudras (hand postures). The kharga represents divine knowledge and severed head represents Ego, which is severed by the divine knowledge. She is naked because she is beyond the covering of Maya and Prakriti (Nature). She is very pure and represents un-manifested ultimate energy (Adi Shakti). Her eyes are dark red because of rage and her red tongue is sticking out. Some consider the depiction of tongue represents rajas (element of energy & creation) and tamas (destruction) controlled by sattava (spiritual element of preservation). She is portrayed as very dark. Philosophy of this is very nicely captured in the statement of Bengali saint Ramakrishna: “My Mother is the principle of consciousness. She is Akhand Satchidananda;indivisible Reality, Awareness, and Bliss. The night sky between the stars is perfectly black. The waters of the ocean depths are the same; the infinite is always mysteriously dark. This inebriating darkness is my beloved Kali.” Often she is portrait as wearing a skirt of severed hands (earthly desires?) and a garland of 51 or 108 severed heads (of demons?). Undoubtedly she is represented as Goddess in a most terrible form. The 6^th century mythology, Devi Mahatmayan, described that she emerged from Goddess Durga after extreme rage to vanquish the dreaded demon Raktabija who was clonally multiplying from each drop of his blood. So it was necessary not only to kill him but drink every drop of his blood before it could hit the earth and duplicate into many Raktabijas. Hence Kali is the ultimate protector and Blissful Mother. And worshipping of this Mother form of Kali was popularized in Bengal by Raja Krishnachandra and his descendents in 18^th century. However, in many other parts of India Goddess Kali is venerated in several forms such as Bhadrakali, Dakhsinkali, or Mahakali etc.

Story says that in the joy of victory over Raktabija, Kali began an uncontrollable dance threatening destruction of universe, until Lord Shiva laid down on her path and Kali stopped when she unknowingly stepped on him, her husband, and her tongue stuck out in shame. This feature of Mother Kali is uniquely captured in the Tantric philosophy. Here, Shiva is the absolute form of consciousness (Brahman), beyond all names, forms and activities. Kali symbolizes Shakti, representing potential and manifested dynamic consciousness from which names, forms and activities are continuously emerging. The Tantric influence is very strong in worshipping of Goddess Kali. Traditionally, Kali-puja is done in the 1st moon of Aswin month (late October-early November). Often the backdrop of the Idol is decorated with features of human skeletons, spirits, ghosts and jackals which suggest that Mother Kali protects her devotees from harmful influence of spirits. Some believe Kali-puja has drawn influence from goddesses of hunters and death in the tribal population of central India which also has a resemblance to some Roman Goddesses.

Thus, there is an abstract thread of continuity of human cultural heritage which attempts to connect people of diverse believes and traditions. More we understand these overlapping features of diverse cultures, easier it would be to overcome the trivial differences that often threaten existence of our societies. In this context it is not very hard to envisage the embedded message in all celebrations involving lamps and lights, be it Shab-e-barat, Halloween, Kali-puja, Diwali, Hanukkah, Kwanza or Christmas- defeat the darkness of ignorance with the eternal light of knowledge and spread the sweetness of universal empathy across man-made boundaries.

(reprinted from our January edition this year)

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