Colors, Celebrations & a cheerful mood all around! Well, that is what defines an Indian Festival. For me, it is a time to connect with my roots, spend quality time with family, find reasons to laugh my heart out for silly reasons, and above all offer gratitude to that higher power for the blessings that have been bestowed upon me. Like most of us, I and my family pray for peace, courage & prosperity in all realms of life in future times as well. Being an Odia, Durga Puja holds a special place in my heart, where mankind worships the divine feminine energy ( the Adishakti ). The entire city is decked up in myriad colors and the mood is just upbeat!
This cheer, this charismatic energy, I guess, is the reason for happiness all around. Does this mean our problems lessen when festivals arrive? Certainly No! But still, somehow, this jubilant mood is so infectious that hope and faith just feel like our friends. And tell me what would be life without hope & faith? Void. Right? just like life would be without friends? So, I feel this friendship kind of gets strengthened during festivals. Somehow, there is a new vigor in all of us to tide through the murky waters that appear on our life paths from time to time.
And moreover, it is not just joy that unites us all. Every festival in India is so interconnected with our culture that we feel it is an inevitable part of our lives. As for us, Maa ( Maa Durga is referred to as Maa ) ascends to our lands during the Puja and it feels so personal that we feel as if our most beloved has come back to us after a long gap! The divine idols are adorned with Gold & silver filigree jewels which is a unique craftsmanship of Odisha ( especially of the silver city of Cuttack in the state ). There is a competition among the neighborhoods ( ‘Sahis’ as we call in our language Odia ) to win the trophy for making the best idol as well. Another aspect is the design of gates, the intricate depiction of the Pandals, the grandeur of the chandeliers hung inside these makeshift decorations, and the creativity that this festive air unleashes is just something to watch out for. The entire city is out on roads all night to soak in this festive vibe. In recent times the celebration of Navaratri and the Dandiya nights have also found their way into the authentic style of Durga Puja celebrations of eastern India and it is indeed a welcome merger of the culture & tradition of our country.
And when Maa leaves on the day of ‘Visarjan’, sadness touches each one of us and many bid a teary-eyed farewell to Maa with the strongest hope of meeting HER again the next year! And just a few days after Dussehra, we have Kumar-Purnima, a festival where both the Sun & the Moon are worshipped by unmarried folks who pray to get their best partner in their lifetime. In modern times, with crumbling trusts and dwindling loyalties, this might seem very outdated but within our hearts, we do realize that having a great partner does make one’s life a lot easier. Hence one can still find relevance in such traditions when one understands life from a larger perspective.
Then arrives Gajalaxmi Puja where we believe that Maa takes the form of Maa Laxmi and she arrives to bless us with prosperity. The cities across the state again get a makeover and the local melas bring an opportunity for the deprived lot to earn a little extra these days. Hence, purchasing from these local vendors without any negotiation can be considered as an act of giving it back to society and be able to make that little positive difference in their lives. The children with happy faces, holding colorful spin wheels, and young couples or teenagers screaming with joy from atop the ferry wheel are sights to behold!
Then we all wait for the festival of lights aka Diwali where Maa is worshipped as Maa Kali, the destroyer of evil! Diwali is when every house is decked up with the glitter of diyas and light decorations of various kinds. We all believe that there will be the triumph of light over darkness when we clean our houses and adorn them with Rangolis to welcome positivity.
Now we can keep talking about these festivities in great detail and go on! Because yes, Indian festivals are not just grand but very intricate too! So, what I want to focus on is what personally makes me happy is getting to wear new dresses and how can we forget food! Yes, the best mouth-watering cuisines that are prepared in our homes in traditional homes are my absolute favorite. And not to forget clicking pictures! Yes, one of my hobbies is to click pictures and of course, get clicked too! I love the camera and somewhere even the camera loves me back too. A picture is a moment of life that gets immortalized and hence fascinates me. It is like being able to steal a moment of time and freezing it forever! From the rainbow of colors to gigantic pandals, from the maddening crowd to people praying with all their hearts, I love to capture all of it (a few of my own clicks are listed above as a slideshow for your reference)! In the era of filters and edited propaganda, I love to capture raw, unfiltered and authentic pictures.
I would like to share a few ways to get good pictures :
- The Gadget Edge – Ok to capture high-quality pictures, one obviously needs the right equipment. So having a DSLR or a smartphone with a high-quality camera to give you the best photos is a must. And if you don’t have both, have a friend who owns them (wink, wink)
- The Intention– To click photos one must decide what kind of pictures one wants to click. Whether you want to click the realistic ones or the ones that you edit to make it Instagram-worthy is completely your choice. But clarity in thought can help you get the best collage of pictures at the end of the day.
- Make light your friend– Having the right knowledge as to how to play around with light can in fact give one an upper hand in photography. The perfect light and the angle at which the picture is clicked make a lot of difference.
- A helping hand- Ok selfies may be in trend but to get yourself clicked more than a tripod, you need someone ( a sibling, a friend, a partner, etc.) who not only adores you but understands your moods as well. I guarantee, they end up clicking the best candid pictures of yours and when you scroll that camera, you will end up smiling at your own pictures!
- Match the vibe- Ok Puja or the festivities may sound fun but sometimes they are also about sweaty crowds, insane noise, overenthusiastic relatives, etc., and can at times taste your patience. But matching this vibe and being able to capture this madness is an art and one has to develop that kind of fondness to do so!
Having said all this, festivals for many can also feel otherwise. They can also be about feeling the void of losing a loved one. Or there may be many families with ailing older members who find it hard to survive the madness that grips us all. Hence festivities should also be about kindness and compassion. I feel, it should also be about the right to not celebrate it if one associates it with sadness. And if we find someone around us finding it hard to cope with festivities, the least we can do is be non-judgmental about their choices and keep that kindness alive within ourselves.
Because what is the meaning of even a festival without humanity being a part of it?
To read more click below:
Love,
Chinmayee
This prompt is part of Blogchatterbloghop & is also a part of ‘ Feeling Festive Blog Hop’ hosted by hosted by Manali Desai and Sukaina Majeed.
#EveryConversationMatters
Chinmayee's Creations 
Pictures in the digital age do not need any reason to be clicked from the time camera has come handy. Your tips are easy and can be implemented practically, no harm in trying! Because, who does not want good pictures for social media! 😜
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Ha hahaha So true. We all need those SM ready pics!
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You have nicely captured the spirit of the festivals in pictures and words.
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Thanks a lot for reading !
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What a detailed description of the pujo! Out of all that you said and recommended, one thought touched me, do festivals guarantee that our troubles will be lessened? I loved the way you went on to add how celebration lifts our mood and instills a new energy to carry on.
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Thanks a lot for reading & the appreciation !
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The pandal picture looks awesome. I haven’t seen Odia pandals, so knowing that Gold & silver filigree jewels are used is a new thing for me. I would like to experience this someday.
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I hope you do 🙂 Cuttack is the city where this is celebrated in a massive way and you can see the gold & silver filigree work used massively as well.
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I’ve been to cuttack for a brief period. Would like to go now after all.this info 😍
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Wow ❤️ That would be awesome. Welcome to my state 🤩
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I totally get what you meant when you wrote that our sorrows and problems don’t go away during festivals, but festivals give us a little break. I was looking at all the balconies decorated with lights in Dubai last night and immediately my heart felt lighter.
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I am so glad that you feel this way. Festive seasons are indeed beautiful !
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I feel weird when I see horrible people celebrate a festival. It has no meaning if you’re not kind to other people all year round.
Yup light and angle are important if you want to take a good picture. Good tips.
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Thanks Cindy for the appreciation
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What a detailed and evocative post about this colourful festival! Yes, festivals can be both joyful and overwhelming. I agree that they are also occasions for compassion and kindness as well. Thank you for the effective camera tricks as well!
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Thanks a lot for your appreciation 🙏 💕
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I had many Odia friends in college so I could relate to so many things you’ve mentioned here. Indeed, festivals are our way of keeping sadness to the side for once and enjoy, but also a great way to unite people of all faiths. Your post made me nostalgic. Is the cover pic taken by you? Its beautiful.
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Thanks Janaki, for reading and appreciating ! Yes, all the pics are my own.
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My previous comment didn’t get through, it seems. First of all, Diwali greetings.Let light dispel darkness. Your post is full of light.
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Thanks a lot Sir 😊 for your kind words 🙏
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thanks for sharing tips to get good pictures, and i must say your blog is detailed and descriptive covering insightful aspect of the festivity.
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Thanks a lot. And glad you liked reading it.
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Actually I only recently discovered that Durga Puja was a big affair even on Odisha. Your post gave me a glimpse of the thrill and excitement of visiting Pandals during the festivities.Alos the tips for getting good pictures were very handy.
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Yes, indeed ! It is a grand affair. Thanks for stopping by my blog !
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This was a fun post. I loved reading your experience of the Durga Puja, I can tell you love it dearly. And thank you for the tips on takinggood pictures. When I visited the pandal this year locally, we had a great statue of the god, decked out so bautifully and I had to take a picture, I could not do justice to the beauty I saw with my eyes then on the lens. I just accepted that the magnificent Maa cannot be contained in a measly photo! But I shall try again next year with your tips~
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Thank you so much for your kind words and so glad that you connected with my thoughts. And as you rightly said beauty of Maa is beyond what a Camera can capture !
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I love this post especially to know if a tradition where best idols are chosen. These tips on photography are amazing too
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Thanks for reading and sharing your thoughts !
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As much as I enjoy taking pics of the celebrations, sometimes we do miss out on things because were are seeing it through the phone camera screen. Thanks for sharing the tips. Light plays a huge role for good pics.
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Thanks a ton for reading. Glad you found some tips that could help
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Your post made me relive the good old days in Calcutta. You are absolutely right that festivities should also be about kindness and compassion. Not everyone is celebrating and we should not force it on those who are not.
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Thank you Aunty for reading
Glad this resonated.
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I enjoyed reading this article the way festivals have been chronologically described right from Durga Puja to Diwali. Being someone from Bhubaneswar, I always miss Pandal hopping every year when I am not around my hometown. Your article made a lot of my memories of celebrating festivals with family alive!
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That’s amazing. I am from Bhubaneswar too. Thanks for stopping by.
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Your words beautifully capture the spirit of Indian festivals—the colors, the unity, and the joy that transcends life’s daily struggles. I especially loved how you described the festivals not only as moments of celebration but as times for compassion and understanding, especially for those who may feel the absence of loved ones or find it hard to join the revelry. This sentiment adds such depth to your message, reminding us that festivals are about more than just lights and music; they’re about humanity and connection. Thank you for sharing such a heartfelt piece!
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Thanks a lot and I am so glad this post resonated with you !
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What a detailed post about festivals and how to capture beautiful pics. I too like to capture these festive moments and save them for memories.
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Thanks a lot for reading and sharing your thoughts 😊
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I’m in awe of how cleverly you’ve incorporated the Blogchatter Blog Hop prompt in this post. As always your posts are always a pleasure to read. Keep writing friend 🙂
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Thanks my dear friend 🧡
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what a wonderful take on the Theme of the blog Hop and I love all of the things you mentioned especially foooood. Never get enough of it.
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So glad you liked it. Thanks a lot for reading.
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