Durga Puja Observation - 882 Words

Durga Puja I attended Durga Puja on Friday, September 29 at Monrovia High School. The event was put on by the Bengali Association of Southern California. I had no background information of Durga Puja before I arrived, so I learned by experience. Professor Arnab Banerji was one of the individuals organizing the event, and he requested that my Theatre History class attend Durga Puja for one evening so that we could observe first hard the similarities between religious rituals and performances. I arrived alone to Durga Puja at around 7:30 PM. As I was entering the festival, I immediately noticed the beautiful sarees the women were wearing. I felt like I stood out tremendously because even though I was dressed nicely, I was not wearing a†¦show more content†¦Most notably he deciphered the Brahmi script on the stone edicts of the Ancient Indian ruler, Emperor Ashoka. Prinsep also restored temples, improved the drainage systems, introduced uniform coinage, and reformed the Indian system of weights and measures. Prinsep is a major figure and due to his architectural abilities a ghat was erected in India to honor his memory. At this specific Durga Puja festival the puja mandap was erected to resemble the Prinsep Ghat as a way of honoring his memory. In the center of the puja mandap was a striking Durga statue. She had ten arms, long, black hair, and a bindi on her forehead. There were other smaller statues of other women that are representations of Durga’s other forms, but it was clear that Durga was the main focus. In front of the puja mandap were vases of flowers seated on fabric that resembled a rug. I believe people were leaving flowers on the rug as a sign of worship to Durga. The rest of the gym’s floor space was taken up by many rows of black chairs. Floor space was only present in the aisles, and in front of the puja mandap. In the gym, I observed many people walking up to Durga, whispering a quick prayer, and then take a picture before exiting the gym again. After the festival Professor Banerji explained the purpose of Durga Puja. He informed me that Durga Puja is a Hindu festival/ritual that honors and celebrates Durga as the mother of life and creation. The festival marks the battleShow MoreRelatedHinduism : An Indian Religion1265 Words   |  6 Pagesculturally and regionally embedded religion compared to other religions. Hinduism indicates the amalgam of spiritual traditions originating in South Asia (Esposito, 310). For this report, I visited the Durga Temple located in Fairfax to observe the temple s prayer hall, the statues of deities and puja. I also had an opportunity to interview one of the congregants from the temple named Nikki about Hinduism, the myth of liberation, symbols, traditions and rituals, and the impact of the modernity. Read MoreEmployee Compensation3762 Words   |  16 PagesDescriptions may be developed for jobs individually or for entire job families. †¢ Job Analysis: The process of analyzing jobs from which  job descriptions  are developed. Job analysis techniques include the use of interviews, questionnaires, and observation. †¢ Job Evaluation:  A system for comparing jobs for the purpose of determining appropriate compensation levels for individual jobs or job elements. There are four main techniques:  Ranking,  Classification,  Factor Comparison, and  Point Method.Read MoreEmployee Compensation3771 Words   |  16 PagesDescriptions may be developed for jobs individually or for entire job families. †¢ Job Analysis: The process of analyzing jobs from which  job descriptions  are developed. Job analysis techniques include the use of interviews, questionnaires, and observation. †¢ Job Evaluation:  A system for comparing jobs for the purpose of determining appropriate compensation levels for individual jobs or job elements. There are four main techniques:  Ranking,  Classification,  Factor Comparison, and  Point MethodRead MoreMarketing Management130471 Words   |  522 Pagesenvironmental influences and why marketing proactive To assess the impact created by each influence on the organizations has to be 3. MARKETING ENVIRONMENT: Environmental scanning helps in assessing the impact the environment could create the business. Observation played a minor, but non-negligible role. Visits to the premises, including the factory plants in some cases, meals in the canteens of some of the organizations, attention paid to the way-of-doing-things in the several companies - how visitors were