MANGALDAI, Oct 28 - Durga Puja in the State has just got over. The devotees bid a tearful farewell to Goddess Durga on the day of Bijoya Dashami for the next one year. But a few Durga Puja celebrations in the State are not simply a celebration of the festival but a slice of history itself.
Observing �Dar Puja� after the rituals of Bijoya Dashami by the Royal Koch family here is one such act of history. �Dar Puja� has special significance in the Royal Durga Puja as it is associated with worshipping of power or strength.
While talking to this newspaper at the time of this year's �Dar Puja� at Mohanpur Howly on Monday afternoon, Samarendra Narayan Deb, a senior member of the dynasty of Koch king Boli Narayan said that �Dar Puja� in the Darrangi colloquial dialect means worshipping of arms and thus �Dar Puja� is connected to offering prayers to the stocks of metallic arms and ammunition used in wars. �The very existence of our present Royal family is judged only by this Durga Puja celebration. The �Dar Puja� is a historic part of the Royal Durga Puja celebration. Here, there is a tradition of worshipping the instruments of warfare including the golden crown and the pots on the top of the victory bars. However, with the changing times and due to security reasons, these valuable objects cannot be taken out of the bank lockers and now the rituals are observed in a symbolic manner surrounding the piece of historic �Khanjari� or �Khukri�, a small sharp weapon presented to Bir Chilarai by the King of Gour,� the veteran film maker Deb added.
The �Dar Puja� is observed in the residential campus of the Royal family instead of the main puja mandap. It is worth mentioning that even though Durga Puja is celebrated separately in all the three Raja Howlis of the Koch king Boli Narayan, the traditional �Dar Puja� is prevalent only in Mohanpur Howly.
