Sindoor Khela 2022: Date, history, significance and all that you need to know

Sindoor Khela 2022: The end of Durga Puja is here. Every year, the largest festival of Bengalis is celebrated with a whole lot of grandeur and pomp. Durga Puja, around this time of the year, is also known as Akaal Bodhon. According to Hindu Mythology, Durga Puja was performed by Lord Rama during this time to seek the blessings of Durga Maa before going to Lanka to triumph over King Ravana and save Sita from the clasps of Ravana. This ear, Durga Puja started on September 26 and was celebrated till October 5. Durga Puja is the celebration of homecoming of Durga Maa and her four children – Goddess Lakshmi, Goddess Saraswati, lord Ganesha and Lord Kartik to her maternal house on earth from Kailash Parvat.

The festival started on Mahalaya with Debi’r Bodhon. Sindoor Khela is one of the main attractions of the last day of Durga Puja, also referred to as Vijaya Dashami. On the day of Dashami, devotees bid farewell to Durga Maa as she makes her journey back to Kailash Parvat with her children. The idol is immersed in a nearby water body and the wait for next year starts. While we gear up to bid a heartfelt farewell to Durga Maa for this year, let’s have a look at sindoor khela and the rich ritual it follows:

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Date:

Sindoor Khela for this year will be celebrated on October 5. Before the idol immersion, married women play with vermillion. Even though major campaigns have been done to include all women in the festivities with sindoor khela, mainly married women take part in it.

Significance and ritual:

Sindoor Khela is the ritual when married women smear the idol of Durga Maa with vermillion and then play Holi with it by smearing it on other married women. The ritual ends with feasting on sweets and hugs. After sindoor khela, the Debi Boron starts when married women feed the idols of the gods and goddesses with sweets and touch their faces with betel leaves. They also play for the prosperity of their husband and children.

History:

Even though the exact date of the inception of sindoor khela is not known, it is believed that the tradition is as old as Durga Puja itself. Earlier, zamindari houses, in their own Durga Pujas used to have the ritual of sindoor khela, which now has spread to all parts of the world.