Durga Puja Was Once Celebrated In This Bengal Village Using Cannon Balls

Radhikapur village, located in the Kaliaganj subdivision of Uttar Dinajpur district in West Bengal, India is currently in the headlines. According to Local 18 Bengal, Durga Puja, a major festival of Hinduism was celebrated in this village in a unique style. The natives living in this village situated on the India-Bangladesh border started celebrating the festival 500 years back.

The Radhikarpur Zamindar Jagdish Chandra Roy Bahadur started organising the puja in the then-undivided Dinajpur. At that time, the puja was celebrated with a lot of enthusiasm by firing cannon balls. However, after the partition, this custom ended. Despite the ending of this unique custom, the locals continue to celebrate the Durga Puja celebrations every year.

Now, there is only a barbed wire fence to mark the border between the two divided Bengals. After the partition of India and Bangladesh, 40 bighas of land in the name of the Durga temple in Radhikapur village were divided. In India, after the partition, there are 13 bighas of agricultural land adjacent to the Goddess Durga temple.

However, the partition of the Bengal could not dampen the spirits of the Durga Puja celebrations in the Radhikapur village. Even today, the Dashbhuja form of the goddess Durga is worshipped devoutly by the villagers in the temple of the village. The idol of the Goddess Durga in the Radhikapur village was made from old materials and was dedicated to Krishna Janmashtami.

The Goddess Durga’s idol is initially immersed in the water, then lifted out of it due to which the clay coating on the idol falls off. Some of the old rituals of this puja ceremony are still observed which includes the special ceremony of mask dance and Chandipath. These practices commenced 500 years ago, and are still held on the four days of the Durga Puja celebrations.

The Local18 Bengal visuals show the artists decorating the goddess Durga and the other idols. As visible in the video, they are taking care of all the minute details of the idols, leaving scope for no mistakes. Huge pandals are also getting erected for the assembling of the guests for the Durga puja celebrations.