Every year during Durga Puja visitors throng the Bhattacharya family’s residence in Canning, in South 24 Parganas district adjacent to Kolkata. A major attraction of this almost 450-year-old Puja at Bhattacharya house is that the burnt form of Goddess Durga’s idol is traditionally worshipped by this family. There is a unique legend associated with this centuries-old Durga Puja, where Goddess Durga is worshipped in the form of ‘Pora Mukhi’ (burnt face).
Also, unlike the regular Durga idol which is accompanied by Kartik on the left and Ganesha on the right side, Goddess Durga in Bhattacharya residence is accompanied by her sons Ganesha on the left side and Kartik on the right.
Why this unique form of idol worship?
Unlike traditional Maa Durga idols which have a complexion of Golden-yellow, orange or pink colour, the Goddess’ face at Bhattacharya residence is pitch black! If a person catches fire, just as the skin turns black, Goddess Durga’s idol bears that complexion in this Puja. There is a very old story behind this.
The Bhattacharya family of Canning originally hailed from the village of Bikrampur Bainkhara in Dhaka in undivided Bengal, which is in present day Bangladesh. Their family puja is 441 years old. It is said that initially the face of the Durga idol of this family was not black and the skin colour was not bright copper. However, about a hundred years after the puja initiated, an accident took place at the residence during the festival.
The temple of Goddess Manasa was located next to the Durga tempe of the house. One day, when the priest was going to perform Durga puja after performing Manasa puja, he saw a crow flying away with the burning wick from the ghee lamp at the Manasa temple! The wick caught in the crow’s beak fell on a heap of rice stored at the Durga hall. As a result, the Durga hall caught fire and in no time was reduced to ashes. Even the idol of the goddess was burnt!
Goddess instructed Bhattacharya family to worship her ‘burnt’ idol
This accident left Bhattacharya family terrified. They feared that the mother might not be willing to accept the puja from them anymore. Therefore, the family members decided to stop Durga puja. But on the same night, head of the family, Ramakant Bhattacharya, received a message from the Goddess in his dream. The goddess appeared in his dream and said that her puja should not be stopped. Rather, she said that from now on the family should worship her idol with ‘burnt face’! Since that incident, Goddess Durga is worshipped in this special form by the Bhattacharya family.
Animal sacrifice replaced by fruits sacrifice
Earlier, it was the custom to sacrifice a goat and a buffalo in this puja. However, now that custom is celebrated symbolically. Instead of animals, fruits are sacrificed. Every year on Janmashtami, the idol making for Maa Durga begins.