Durga puja is celebrated in the autumn months of September/October. The Hindu solar calendar mention that: it falls on the first nine days of the month of Ashvin. Most of the religions follow either a solar calendar or a lunar calendar. For the Hindus, it is a combination of both. The days are counted on the basis of sun rise and sun set. But timings of all religious functions are based on the lunar month. The lunar month is divided into two halves, the full moon phase and the new moon phase. Therefore the spiritual functions of the Hindu Bengalis are scheduled in sync with the timings of the moon's movement, better known as 'Tithhi'.
The schedule of Durga Puja is also framed on the basis of the 'Tithhi'. The Devi Paksha or the fortnight in which the Puja falls sets in with the auspicious of the Mahalaya, which falls on the New moon. Mahalaya heralds the arrival of the Mother Goddess as the tunes of Agamani fill the air. The four days of Durga Pujas start from the sixth day of the full moon phase that follows the Mahalaya and ends up with the Dashami or the tenth day. Thus Dashami is four days short of the full moon night, called Kojagori Purnima. For, it is on this religious night the Kojagori Laxmi Puja is performed by most of the Bengali households.
Durga Puja Calendar 2014
Durga Puja is the one of the most prominent festivals in the country. It is broadly celebrated in the Northern and Eastern states of the country especially in West Bengal, Bihar, Jharkhand, Orissa and Tripura. In Bengal, the Durga Pooja is celebrated with great pomp and show.
The Durga Pooja is celebrated for ten days including the last day when the idol of the Goddess is immersed in a sacred water body. It is believed that the Mother Goddess descends to the Earth on Shashthi, the sixth day of the Pooja and returns to her abode on Dashmi, the tenth day of the Pooja. The fresh and cool air of the pleasant winters, the clear skies, mildly fragrant Shiuli (a type of flower), the bountiful harvest in the fields and chanting of mantras and shlokas to worship Shakti, all collectively set up the scene for the ten-day long festival of Durga Puja. The preparations are ready long before the festival to clean and decorate homes, buy gifts for fiends and relatives and new clothes for the celebrations and prepare mouth-watering delicacies for the occasion.
This post primarily meant to provide the Durga Puja 2014 dates. The Durga Puja usually begins on the Mahalaya in Ashwin month, a day when Chandi Stotram is recited as an invitation for Goddess Durga to descend to earth. In 2014, Mahalaya is on September 23 (in Bengali Calendars). Durga Puja festivities and rituals start on the Maha Saptami day.