।। ত্রিতাপহারিণী ২০২০।। T3 শারদ সংখ্যায় Pankhuri Sinha

Durga–the people protecting goddess
Riding a roaring tiger
She commands the enemy army
Prevails over the unholy war
And captures Mahisasura
The leader of the demons
Lies at her feet
Beside the tiger
Injured, defeated, bleeding
Her trishul, the triple faced weapon
Piercing through the demons chest
Redness of blood
Warm and gushing
Stopped in its flow
Captured in the statue maker’s art
The Moment of victory
Frozen in a mud fresco
Being worshipped
For ten days
In the festival of durga puja or Navratra!
A colourful, musical, auspicious time
To visit India!

The western state of Gujarat
Dances to the tune of Garba
Clicking dandiya sticks in
Rhythmical steps
And though celebrated nation wide
The décor of the Bengali pandals
Cloth tents decorated with flowers
Sea shells, vendors, musicians
Has earned fame, far and wide
Worshippers, devotees, visitors
All stand infront of the diety
Hands folded
Faith, awe, imitation
All human emotions
Acknowledged by the goddess
Say the believers!
Her idol, and that of the demon
The tiger, and the weapons
The cousin gods and sisters
Children gods and their consorts
Each endowed with miraculous power
To bless and curse!
Kind though, the sages say
All made up of mud and clay
Exhibiting the hindu philosophy of life
At once, fragile and eternal!

The earthen gods
All brought to the altar
On the first auspicious day
Special prayers chanted to
Make them come alive!
Goddess Durga descends from the heavens above
During these days
Each year, on a different vehicle
An elephant, a horse, or a palenquine
Carried by heavenly creatures!
The goddess descendes to meet
And be greeted
Not in pomp and show
But by honest, simple hearts
She comes to see about
The welfare of
All children of gods
And talk to mother nature herself!
Let us hope this year
The dialogue will be calming
For the humans
Dealing with an epidemic
They simply failed to control!