PUNAR-AGAMANAYA-CHA ...... [ part 1 ] Agamani / Agomoni songs of Durga

During the months of October , Bengal celebrates its famous Durga puja . To the Bengali populace the festival does not remain restricted within its religious origins but grows to acquire the status of a socio-cultural extravaganza . Agamani songs are just one aspect of the phenomenon called Durga puja .

The deities of goddess Durga are made with soft clay which can be found in abundance in the delta region of Bengal . And after the ritual gets over they are ceremonially immersed in water bodies . This creates a feeling of the mother actually 'leaving' her people . With the visarjan also comes the end of week long festivities . It signals the restart of the same old monotonous lifestyle for everyone . Perhaps this "saddest thought" of man gave rise to the "sweetest songs" in form of agamani . Durga pujas are also the time to break the rules and join in limitless merrymaking and carnival . thus every Bengali waits the entire year for these few days . Schools , colleges and offices remain closed for a month at this time of the year . Working men return to their homes to meet with their wives and parents . Gifts such as new clothings are showered on children . This and many other factors have made a Bengali identify the Durga pujas as the time for ultimate enjoyment , a time of sweet emotions and heartfelt love . Together they have all contributed to the growth of Agamani songs .

The primeval goddess Parvati was incarnated as Uma in the house of Himalaya ( Giriraj meaning king of mountains ) and his wife Menaka or Giri-rani (queen of the mountain) . Uma grew up within the comforts of Himalayan palace and finally got married off to Shiva when she reached puberty . Once every year she returns back to Himalayas on earth from her heavenly abode in Kailash where she lives with her husband and children , to meet with her parents and childhood friends . This is the basic settings of agamani songs .

But they have also extensively taken inspiration from the socio cultural conditions prevailing in the 18th , 19 th and 20th centuries . In those times children were given young in marriage . Little girls often had to leave their parents and resettle in her new home with her husband and in-laws . In that patriarchal society there was little say of the girl's parents . Her well being were solely entrusted to her in-laws rather than her own parents . Consequently the girl only got to see her parents once a year . Her parents too would pine away in seperation from their little daughter . Added to this were the existing problems of dowry which made the situations very tense . All these are nicely reflected in the lifestory of Shiva , Uma and Menaka as envisioned in the agamani songs .

The term agamani comes from the word 'agaman' which in Sanskrit , Bengali and many other Indian languages means to approach or to come . Since these songs heralds the coming of mother Durga they are known as agamani . These songs are also an ultimate triumph of devotion and bhakti . Religion begins with the fear of god and ends in love of god . In the perfectional stage we see our deities as our closest persons . We see them as humans with humanistic qualities . In this bhava there is no fear of god . We see that the composers of agamani songs have easily attained that stage through their songs .

Though Durga puja has been there in Bengal for a millenium , agamani songs grew in popularity in the last few hundred years . It contains elements of Hindustani classical , padavali kirtan and Bengali folk .

Corresponding to the agamani songs are the lesser known vijaya songs . Durga puja officially ends in the auspicious day of Vijaya dashami . This genre draws its name from the word 'viajaya' . These songs are always of a sad tone . Mother Menaka laments that she is unable to keep her daughter in her home for long . And Uma cries before leaving her parents at the start of her journey back to Kailash .

Agamani is not a just devotional songs . It is the living documentary of social life of yester years and a fantastic tale of human emotions and love . The music in which gods turn to humans and humans to god . Loosing themselves in each other to witness the indivisible advaita anubhuti .

jai maa ..........................

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[stls123]

the soul with which these songs have been sung make me emotional!!!!! wow!!!.....irreplaceable

[halleygoswami]

@stls123  thanks a lot friend . god bless . jai maa

[vinayakkharat]

beautiful!!!!!!!!!

very nicely composed videos,the paintings are realy superb!!!!

keep it up!!!

[halleygoswami]

@vinayakkharat thank you . keep watching . :)

[dswaroop1001]

@rikesh40 Devi Ma is inacceseble for Shiva. Or else why would people have called Her Durga?

[halleygoswami]

@rikesh40 well , the songs were mainly composed in 18th 19th and early 20th century --- at a time when young girls were given in marraige to older husbands and were often left to suffer .the songs portray the society of those times and attempts to strike a chord between us mortals and divine beings . read the info of the video and you will see what i mean.the anguish of menaka is nothing but a poetic reflection of the seperation and sorrow that a bengali feel for their beloved annual festival .

[mrinmoy98]

Hi,I want to buy this album,can u tell plz the name of the singer and and album,,,plz reply me soon,,as i m going to calcutta ...i love this song so much,,,Rony_Bangkok

[chaula1]

yes durga puja coming great video jai ma durga