Mahalaya- The Auspicious Day!

Yesterday was Mahalaya. As usual we woke up at 4 am with the great 'Mahisashura Mardini' on All India Radio :). This presentation is a legend in the true sense of the term. All Bengalis feel the emotions, songs, and all the related associations of childhood - while listening to the programme.

A pious day indeed! End of Pitripaksha and the beginning of Devipaksha. The ritual of the 'tarpan' of the ancestors are also done on this day.

After the completion of Mahisashura Mardini on radio, almost all the tv channels presented 'Mahalaya' in some way or the other. On this day, I love to watch all the programmes/ dance/ drama offered by all the channels. I keep on watching all of them by changing the channel frequently :). This day has an unique charm, which conveys itself through all these enactment of the glories of Ma Aadi Shakti.

Here I am giving the list of programmes aired today on various channels-

* Star Jalsha- 'Abhaya Mangal' ( Stories from Chandi Mangal)

* Zee Bangla- 'Maatri Rupena' (covering the stories of- Kali

                                                                            Shatakkhi

                                                                            Chaamunda

                                                                            Durga

                                                                            Parvati

                                                                            Kaushiki

                                                                            Annapurna

                                                                            Chhinnamasta

                                                                            Kaalraatri

                                                                            Mahisashuramardini)

                 - 'Dugga Ma er Chitra Katha' (animated short film for children)

* DD Bangla- 'Mahisashuramardini' (dance)

                - 'Shokal Shokal' (Guest Raja Bhattacharya discussed many stories related to Durga Puja and sang related songs. He also sang famous stotras like - 'Na Taat Na Maat' and 'Nirvaanshatak' by Adi Shankaracharya)

* Aakash Bangla- 'Raat Phalo Shaarod Praate' (very unique attempt by the channel- discussion/ adda throughout the whole previous night to the dawn of Mahalaya, i.e.- 11 pm - 7 am, with many eminent artists :) )

                     - 'Good Morning Aakash' had Sriradha Bandhyopadhyay and Srikumar Chattopadhyay as guests.

* Star Ananda- 'Mahalayae Mahisashuramardini' ( Discussion/ Adda with many famous personalities)

* News Time Bangla- 'Gouri Esho' ( Discussion and Songs by guests)

* Chobbish Ghonta-  Dance on Mahisashuramardini with Chhou and Kathakali artists, Tamnay Bose was also seen in the music team)

* Zee Bangla Cinema- 'Nabarupe Nabadurga' (presentation of the nine forms of Aadi Shakti. Dance - Koel Mullick and anchored by Aditi Munshi. Re telecast of last year's Mahalaya dance programme of Zee Bangla, which was very good in its content.)

* Colors Bangla- 'Gonudada'r Durgapujo' (animated programme for children)

                    

                     - 'Durga Durgotinashini' [this one presented a family reunion story-  where a Saadhika (Rimjhim Mitra) comes to a house and brings joy with her- also, with the main Mahisashuramardini story, through narration and dance]

Also all the news channels were airing Live telecast of the 'tarpan' ceremony or any other religious ceremonies being performed on the banks/ ghats of Ma Ganga. I enjoyed all those images.

Last year Mahalaya was on 12 October. I was remembering that I could not write a post last year on this day, so just mentioning some of those programmes in this year's post :). Last year we watched Mahalaya on Zee Bangla, Colors Bangla, Rupashi Bangla, DD Bangla, CTVN and so on. Also we watched the animated programme – ‘Chhotoder Dugga Thakur’. Programmes were there in almost every channel. All of them were very nice. Only Star Jalsha presented the story of Ramayan - the incident of 'alaakbodhan' by Shri Ram. That was very unique :), as most of the other channels focused their programme on Mahisashura Vadh by Ma Durga.

Truly a blissful day :), which always makes us look forward to Durga Puja :)

Joy Maa Durga!