Happy Mahalaya

Mahalaya marks the end of Pitri Paksha (the fortnight of the ancestors) and the beginning of Devi Paksha (the fortnight of the Goddess), falling on the new moon day in the lunar month of Ashwin, about a week before Durga Puja begins. The word comes from Sanskrit, Maha (great) and Alaya (abode), often read as “the great abode,” and is sometimes linked with laya, or dissolution, suggesting the closing of one phase and the start of another. The day carries a double significance: families perform Tarpan, offering water, sesame seeds, and food to their departed ancestors, often at riverbanks like the Ganga, and it also celebrates the descent of Goddess Durga, who, according to the Devi Mahatmya, was created from the combined energies of the gods to defeat the buffalo demon Mahishasura. In Bengal, the occasion is marked by Chokkhudaan, when artisans paint the eyes on Durga’s clay idols to bring them to life, and by the pre-dawn radio broadcast of Mahishasura Mardini, a blend of Sanskrit chants and devotional songs first aired in 1931 and made iconic by Birendra Krishna Bhadra’s voice. Together, these traditions make Mahalaya a moment of both remembrance and celebration, honoring those who came before while welcoming the Goddess as a symbol of the triumph of good over evil.