Durga Puja is without doubt one of the most vital and broadly celebrated festivals in West Bengal, the place communities come collectively to honor Goddess Durga with grandeur and devotion. A convention deeply embedded within the pageant is the usage of sacred soil, typically collected from a novel and symbolic place: Sonagachi, Asia’s largest red-light district. This soil, blended with clay from the riverbanks, is believed to carry particular significance, symbolizing inclusivity and humanity. Nevertheless, this yr, a heart-wrenching choice has been made – Sonagachi won’t contribute its sacred soil for the Durga Puja festivities.
In Bengali tradition, the soil from Sonagachi, often called “punya mati”, holds a sacred place within the rituals of Durga Puja. This soil, taken from the brink of a brothel, is taken into account auspicious. It symbolizes the acceptance of all, no matter their societal standing, below the divine mom’s blessings. The soil from Sonagachi has lengthy served as a poignant reminder of Durga’s common embrace, welcoming everybody with open arms, together with these marginalized by society.
The custom challenges societal norms and prejudices. By incorporating soil from a spot related to social taboo, the ritual confronts and seeks to interrupt down the stigmas connected to intercourse staff. It asserts that nobody is past the attain of the goddess’s compassion and blessings.
Why Sonagachi Refused To Present Soil For Durga Puja 2024?
Because the controversy over the RG Kar case continues, rumors have been spreading on social media that the intercourse staff of Sonagachi are refusing to supply soil for Durga idol-making in protest of the incident. Nevertheless, the intercourse staff have made it clear that their choice to withhold the soil has nothing to do with the RG Kar case.
“This isn’t a latest concern. For a few years, the soil has not been offered. We nonetheless don’t have acceptance of intercourse work as a occupation in society. We’ve got lengthy been looking for recognition for intercourse work,” a feminine intercourse employee from Sonagachi instructed the media.
For a lot of intercourse staff, this custom represents a uncommon second of acknowledgment and respect from a society that usually marginalizes them. Their involvement within the creation of Durga idols could be seen as a delicate type of inclusion in a pageant that in any other case would possibly overlook them. Nevertheless, as highlighted by the latest choice to withhold the soil, the hole between symbolic recognition and real-life dignity stays important.
In essence, the custom of utilizing soil from a brothel for Durga idols serves as a potent reminder of the goddess’s all-encompassing love and safety, and it calls on society to mirror on its values of compassion, inclusion, and justice.
(This text is meant to your basic info solely. Zee Information doesn’t vouch for its accuracy or reliability.)
