Durga Puja in West Bengal

The worship of Durga in the autumn Shrot is the years largest Hindu festival of Bengal. Durga Puja is also celebrated in Nepal and Bhutan according to local traditions and variations. Puja means worship, and Durgas Puja is celebrated from the sixth to tenth day of the waning moon in the month of Ashvin Ashshin, which is the sixth month in the Bengali calendar. Occasionally however, due to shifts in the lunar cycle relative to the solar months, it may also be held in the following month, Kartika. In the Gregorian calendar, these dates correspond to the months of September and October.In the Krittibas Ramayana, Rama invokes the goddess Durga in his battle against Ravana. Although she was traditionally worshipped in the spring, due to contingencies of battle, Rama had to invoke her in the autumn akaal bodhan.Today it is this Ramas date for the puja that has gained ascendancy, although the spring puja, known as Basanti Puja [One of the oldest sabeki Basanti Puja is held every year at spring in Barddhaman Pal Bari at Raniganga Bazar, M.K. Chatterjee Rd near Karjon Gate], is also present in the Hindu almanac. Another famous portrait of Basanti Puja, can be found in Tangra Rakhal Chandra Das Bari, which is more than half and a century old. Since the season of the puja is autumn, it is also known as Sharodia.