Chapter 129: Durga Puja, Dussehra and the Regional Goddess: Eastern and Northern Interpretations of Victory

Research expansion: evidence, interpretation and regional comparison

Editorial note: This expanded edition distinguishes textual evidence, regional observation and later interpretation. Claims are deliberately qualified where the sources do not support a universal statement. References are linked to academic or institutional records so readers can inspect the evidence behind the discussion.

1. Durgā in the textual tradition — a source-critical reading

A careful reading begins with the evidence itself. The Devī Māhātmya presents the Goddess as a powerful agent against disorder; later Durga Puja traditions draw on this symbolic world without being reducible to the text. The point is not to turn a regional practice into a universal rule, but to ask what kind of evidence supports the description: a ritual manual, an inscription, an ethnographic observation, an oral account, an institutional archive, or a modern community representation. These sources answer different questions. A textual prescription may tell us what a learned author thought should happen; an ethnography may show what participants actually did in a particular place and period. Keeping those levels separate prevents a common error in writing about Sanātan traditions: treating an idealized textual formulation as if it were a timeless description of every household. [1]

Historical interpretation becomes stronger when chronology is kept visible. The Devī Māhātmya presents the Goddess as a powerful agent against disorder; later Durga Puja traditions draw on this symbolic world without being reducible to the text. Religious practices that look ancient today may have changed substantially through patronage, urbanization, migration, print, mass media or the growth of pilgrimage networks. Conversely, a practice that appears “folk” or local may preserve older institutions even when its present form is relatively recent. The responsible formulation is therefore usually layered: identify the documented form, identify the period for which the evidence is strong, and then distinguish later interpretation from earlier evidence. This allows continuity to be discussed without inventing an unbroken line for which the sources do not provide proof. [1]

2. The Bengali image — a source-critical reading

Historical interpretation becomes stronger when chronology is kept visible. Clay images and temporary pandals turn neighborhood space into a ritual environment; immersion gives the installation a deliberately temporary life cycle. Religious practices that look ancient today may have changed substantially through patronage, urbanization, migration, print, mass media or the growth of pilgrimage networks. Conversely, a practice that appears “folk” or local may preserve older institutions even when its present form is relatively recent. The responsible formulation is therefore usually layered: identify the documented form, identify the period for which the evidence is strong, and then distinguish later interpretation from earlier evidence. This allows continuity to be discussed without inventing an unbroken line for which the sources do not provide proof. [2]

Regional comparison is especially useful here because it exposes assumptions. Clay images and temporary pandals turn neighborhood space into a ritual environment; immersion gives the installation a deliberately temporary life cycle. A reader who knows one regional tradition may unconsciously treat its vocabulary as the standard for all others. Comparison shows why that is risky. Similar ritual actions can carry different meanings, while very different outward practices can answer similar religious questions. The analytical task is therefore to compare at the level appropriate to the evidence: calendar, institution, theology, social organization, performance, material culture or ecological setting. Similarity is evidence of relationship or shared structure only when the historical record supports that conclusion; resemblance alone is not proof of common origin. [2]

3. Household and public puja — a source-critical reading

Regional comparison is especially useful here because it exposes assumptions. Family pujas and community pujas preserve different forms of patronage, memory and participation, and both belong to the history of Durga Puja. A reader who knows one regional tradition may unconsciously treat its vocabulary as the standard for all others. Comparison shows why that is risky. Similar ritual actions can carry different meanings, while very different outward practices can answer similar religious questions. The analytical task is therefore to compare at the level appropriate to the evidence: calendar, institution, theology, social organization, performance, material culture or ecological setting. Similarity is evidence of relationship or shared structure only when the historical record supports that conclusion; resemblance alone is not proof of common origin. [3]

Material culture deserves equal attention. Family pujas and community pujas preserve different forms of patronage, memory and participation, and both belong to the history of Durga Puja. Objects are not passive illustrations of belief. Images, vessels, lamps, dolls, painted scrolls, tools, foods, clothing, processional vehicles and temporary structures organize participation and memory. They also have biographies: an object may be made, consecrated, used, inherited, repaired, moved, immersed or retired. Studying these processes helps explain why religious life persists even when texts are not read by most participants. It also makes visible the work of artisans, cooks, musicians, decorators, transport workers and household members whose contributions are often missing from elite textual histories. [3]

4. Rām līlā and Dussehra — a source-critical reading

Material culture deserves equal attention. UNESCO documentation identifies Ramlila as a traditional performance of the Ramayana associated with the autumn Dussehra season, illustrating a different narrative center for the season. Objects are not passive illustrations of belief. Images, vessels, lamps, dolls, painted scrolls, tools, foods, clothing, processional vehicles and temporary structures organize participation and memory. They also have biographies: an object may be made, consecrated, used, inherited, repaired, moved, immersed or retired. Studying these processes helps explain why religious life persists even when texts are not read by most participants. It also makes visible the work of artisans, cooks, musicians, decorators, transport workers and household members whose contributions are often missing from elite textual histories. [ramlila]

The social dimension is equally important. UNESCO documentation identifies Ramlila as a traditional performance of the Ramayana associated with the autumn Dussehra season, illustrating a different narrative center for the season. Festivals and household rites create relationships as well as worship. Invitations, meals, gifts, processions, collective labor, pilgrimage and performance can renew ties between families and neighborhoods. At the same time, participation is not always equal: caste, gender, class, occupation and institutional authority can shape who cooks, who performs, who leads ritual, who controls funds and whose interpretation is treated as authoritative. A serious account should therefore describe both community-making and the unequal structures through which community life is organized. This avoids romanticizing “tradition” while still recognizing its capacity to sustain belonging. [ramlila]

5. Eastern regional networks — a source-critical reading

The social dimension is equally important. Bengal, Assam and Odisha contain overlapping but non-identical goddess, Vaiṣṇava, temple and folk traditions; regional comparison should preserve those distinctions. Festivals and household rites create relationships as well as worship. Invitations, meals, gifts, processions, collective labor, pilgrimage and performance can renew ties between families and neighborhoods. At the same time, participation is not always equal: caste, gender, class, occupation and institutional authority can shape who cooks, who performs, who leads ritual, who controls funds and whose interpretation is treated as authoritative. A serious account should therefore describe both community-making and the unequal structures through which community life is organized. This avoids romanticizing “tradition” while still recognizing its capacity to sustain belonging. [5]

The chapter should also resist a false opposition between tradition and modernity. Bengal, Assam and Odisha contain overlapping but non-identical goddess, Vaiṣṇava, temple and folk traditions; regional comparison should preserve those distinctions. New technologies, urban venues, diaspora associations, television, social media and contemporary art can change the scale and style of a ritual without eliminating its religious significance. A modern temple may preserve an old deity while introducing new management structures; a diaspora festival may shorten a ritual sequence because of work schedules while intensifying its role in cultural education. These changes are historically meaningful. Rather than asking whether a practice is “authentic,” the better questions are: who changed it, why, under what constraints, and which elements participants themselves regard as essential? [5]

6. Local protective mothers — a source-critical reading

The chapter should also resist a false opposition between tradition and modernity. Village goddesses may be linked with Durgā through processes of identification and Sanskritization while retaining local names, specialists, songs and ritual obligations. New technologies, urban venues, diaspora associations, television, social media and contemporary art can change the scale and style of a ritual without eliminating its religious significance. A modern temple may preserve an old deity while introducing new management structures; a diaspora festival may shorten a ritual sequence because of work schedules while intensifying its role in cultural education. These changes are historically meaningful. Rather than asking whether a practice is “authentic,” the better questions are: who changed it, why, under what constraints, and which elements participants themselves regard as essential? [6]

There is also an important methodological lesson about absence. Village goddesses may be linked with Durgā through processes of identification and Sanskritization while retaining local names, specialists, songs and ritual obligations. The survival of a practice in oral or domestic settings does not mean that it lacks history simply because the archive is thin. Conversely, the existence of a textual reference does not prove widespread practice. Scholars therefore triangulate: compare texts with inscriptions, material remains, ethnography, regional language sources, oral histories and institutional records. When evidence is incomplete, the chapter should say so. Phrases such as “in some regions,” “in documented traditions,” or “scholarship suggests” are not weaknesses; they are signals that the author is respecting the limits of the evidence. [6]

7. Art, labor and civic identity — a source-critical reading

There is also an important methodological lesson about absence. Durga Puja involves artisans, organizers, performers, food workers and neighborhood institutions, making the festival simultaneously religious, artistic and civic. The survival of a practice in oral or domestic settings does not mean that it lacks history simply because the archive is thin. Conversely, the existence of a textual reference does not prove widespread practice. Scholars therefore triangulate: compare texts with inscriptions, material remains, ethnography, regional language sources, oral histories and institutional records. When evidence is incomplete, the chapter should say so. Phrases such as “in some regions,” “in documented traditions,” or “scholarship suggests” are not weaknesses; they are signals that the author is respecting the limits of the evidence. [1]

Finally, the subject is best understood as a living field rather than a museum. Durga Puja involves artisans, organizers, performers, food workers and neighborhood institutions, making the festival simultaneously religious, artistic and civic. Communities reinterpret inherited forms because social conditions change, but they also use inherited forms to make sense of those changes. The result is neither pure continuity nor total rupture. It is an ongoing process of selection, translation, memory, innovation and negotiation. This is why regional study matters to a broader history of Sanātan Dharma: it shows how a civilizational vocabulary becomes concrete in particular landscapes and households, while also showing how local practices continually reshape the wider tradition. [1]

8. Contemporary public culture — a source-critical reading

Finally, the subject is best understood as a living field rather than a museum. Modern public puja can function as worship, cultural heritage, artistic competition and neighborhood identity at once; none of these dimensions automatically cancels the others. Communities reinterpret inherited forms because social conditions change, but they also use inherited forms to make sense of those changes. The result is neither pure continuity nor total rupture. It is an ongoing process of selection, translation, memory, innovation and negotiation. This is why regional study matters to a broader history of Sanātan Dharma: it shows how a civilizational vocabulary becomes concrete in particular landscapes and households, while also showing how local practices continually reshape the wider tradition. [2]

A careful reading begins with the evidence itself. Modern public puja can function as worship, cultural heritage, artistic competition and neighborhood identity at once; none of these dimensions automatically cancels the others. The point is not to turn a regional practice into a universal rule, but to ask what kind of evidence supports the description: a ritual manual, an inscription, an ethnographic observation, an oral account, an institutional archive, or a modern community representation. These sources answer different questions. A textual prescription may tell us what a learned author thought should happen; an ethnography may show what participants actually did in a particular place and period. Keeping those levels separate prevents a common error in writing about Sanātan traditions: treating an idealized textual formulation as if it were a timeless description of every household. [2]

References and further reading

1. [1] Simmons, Caleb. “Navarātri (Navarātra).” Oxford Bibliographies in Hinduism, Oxford University Press, 2022.
2. [2] McDermott, Rachel Fell. Revelry, Rivalry, and Longing for the Goddesses of Bengal: The Fortunes of Hindu Festivals. Columbia University Press, 2011.
3. [3] Sarkar, Bihani. Heroic Shāktism: The Cult of Durgā in Ancient Indian Kingship, chapter “Navarātra: The Festival of the Nine Nights.” British Academy/Oxford, 2017.
4. [4] UNESCO. Ramlila, the traditional performance of the Ramayana. Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, 2008.
5. [5] Simmons, Caleb, Moumita Sen and Hillary Rodrigues, eds. Nine Nights of the Goddess: The Navarātri Festival in South Asia. SUNY Press, 2018.
6. [6] Hüsken, Ute, Vasudha Narayanan and Astrid Zotter, eds. Nine Nights of Power: Durgā, Dolls, and Darbārs. SUNY Press, 2021.