Sindoor khela

Durga Puja

Sindoor Khela

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Sindoor Khela: Durga puja is the biggest festival for any Bengali who waits all year long for the five days of festivities. Vijaya Dashami, being the last day of the festival, it hence a sombre occasion when Goddess Durga is bid adieu for a year. It’s a day when people feel sad and an emotional scene can be seen all around, there is a special group of people religiously waits for the day. Women wait for this day and it is they who gets the chance to show their love and affection towards Maa Durga. Generally, all the puja traditions are done by the pandits, this chance to bid farewell to Maa Durga makes the common folks connected and happy. After the “Ghat Visarjan”, a symbolic immersion of Durga declaring the end of the Puja rituals, women apply sindoor, on the forehead and feet of Goddess and offer sweets to Maa Durga and her family. After that begins sindoor khela, then women among themselves playfully smear sindoor on each other’s face. Sindoor khela is celebrated by Bengali women. Traditionally this ritual is meant for married women who are supposed to follow a set custom and protocol while playing sindoor khela. This is believed to bring good luck for them and a long life for their husbands. As a part of the ritual Bengali women usually wears white saree with red borders, first perform Davi Baran, bidding farewell to the Goddess. After that married women greets each other by applying sindoor on each other forehead and parting of their hair, followed by Shakha, Pola, and Noa. Finally, they offer sweets to each other as prasad. If we, want to take about the origin when did this tradition began we don’t have that in any records. Some say or it is believed that the tradition is as old as the festival of Durga Puja itself, which dates back around 400 years. Some believed the traditions started around 200 years ago from the household of the Zamindars (Landlords) who organized Durga puja at their home. The ritual can be compared to Holi but only for married women. Traditionally the ritually has always been considered beautiful and pious, but it was not inclusive of everyone in the society. As the ritually has always been meant for women with living husband. Young girls, women who have never been married and widows are not supposed to be part of this celebration of matrimony and sisterhood. Now we see change in this tradition too. As many of the puja committee have started including all women, irrespective of their marital status, to be part of the celebration.