Laha Bari Durga Puja In North Kolkata – Miracles - History – Story – Unique Rituals – Ramakrishna Connection

Laha house Puja, Laha Bari Durga Puja in North Kolkata, has a history of more than hundreds of years and also numerous miracles are attached to the Durga Puja. Goddess Durga herself appeared in numerous forms to guide the members of the house. Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa drew the eyes of Goddess Durga here once.

Laha Bari Durga Puja In North Kolkata – History – Story

An ancestor of Laha house, Dharmadas Laha was a bitter battle in the court when he had a dream. Dharmadas Laha is walking, drenched in sweat, trudging across the field. Their lawsuit has reached the Chinsurah (Chuchura) court. Today is the final day for the land dispute case. If the verdict goes against him, he will be ruined.

Reaching Chinsurah, the elderly man sat down for a while under a tree. His worried, sleepless eyes closed against his will. And that's when he saw that strange dream.

A small girl seemed to have come and stood under the tree. She said, "You will win the case. What will you do after that?" Dharmadas Laha could not find any answer. He stared blankly. The girl said again, "You will perform my worship in your house. Restart the closed worship of your ancestors. I am sending two image-makers (potua) from Khanakul. They will go and start making my idol."

The dream broke. Dharmadas saw that the sun was overhead. He quickly appeared in court. Incredibly, he won the case. In his joy, the memory of the dream had slipped his mind. Returning home happily with a gift, he saw two strangers. Surprised, Dharmadas asked, "Who are you?"

They recounted the rest of the dream. A small girl had come to their house and told them, "Durga Puja will be held at Laha Babu's homestead in Kamarpukur. You two go, go make the idol." That is why they had come here. Everything came back to Dharmadas. The Goddess herself had made the connection.

Approximately four hundred and fifty years ago, Sri Jagannath Laha first started this Durga Puja. After the Puja ran for a very long time, it had been stopped for 20-25 years amidst various complications. The Goddess had become displeased because of that. The worship was restarted following the divine command revealed in the dream.

The Puja started, but Dharmadas found himself in a great dilemma. There is a tradition of animal sacrifice (bali-protha) in Durga Puja. He was a devout Vaishnava. How could he perform the animal sacrifice ritual? After much thought, he set off for Midnapore, to his Guru. If his Guru Gosain would show him the way, he would follow the path shown by the Guru.

On the way, he came across the large canal of Satberia. He was standing there to cross the canal. He met an elderly woman. They struck up a conversation. The old woman asked about the worries in his heart, just like a mother would ask her child. In the course of their talk, Dharmadas confided his inner conflict to the old woman.

The old woman said something very surprising. "Would a mother ask for the sacrifice of her child? She would only want the worship to be done properly. Nevertheless, go to your Guru and take his directive."

Reaching his Guru, the Guru Gosain exclaimed, "What have you done! Where the Goddess herself has spoken, what can I say? Perform her Puja exactly as the Goddess has instructed." Since then, the Laha Babu's Puja in Kamarpukur has continued for 250 years.

Ramakrishna Connection Of Laha House Puja

In 1848, a boy with great wonder painted the eyes onto the idol of Goddess Durga (Chakshudan). With the eyes painted by the boy, the clay idol (Mrinmayee Devi) shone as the living, conscious Goddess (Chinmayee). At that time, that boy was only Gadai. Later, he became Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa Deva. Yes, the Laha family's Puja is such a worship where Sri Ramakrishna himself performed the Chakshudan. He was a student at the open-air school (pathshala) on the porch (atchala) of this Laha house.

Pujas And Rituals Of the Laha house Puja

The tradition of the Laha house Puja is that the frame of the idol is worshipped on the day of Vipattarini Puja (Saturday after Jagannath Rath Yatra). And the sacred pot (ghat) is installed from the day after Mahalaya, i.e., from Pratipad. The recitation of the Chandi begins at the house from this day. Not only that, but Jatrapala (folk theatre) is performed for eight days, from Mahalaya until Shashthi. People come from far and wide to watch this Jatra. The courtyard of the house and its surroundings almost take on the form of a fair.