Durga Puja in Berlin

This year in 2024 we had come to Europe to be with our daughter for few months. While staying in Poland, our daughter got an invitation to join Durga Puja festivities in Berlin. 

While in Germany, Berlin is the city where Durga Puja is celebrated by the Indians residing there. The Ganesh Hindu Temple in Berlin is the venue where the last four days of the festivities is held.

From Poznań, Poland where we were put up we took a Euro Flix Bus for Berlin. Within three hours on the famous German autobahn we reached Berlin.

Near the famous historical site, The Brandenburg(Tor) Gate we had booked our stay at an Apartment block for a couple of days.

After freshening up and changing to new clean clothes we left our apartment to go to the Durga Puja venue.

Walking on the street we felt exhilarated. It was just past afternoon. The sun was still overhead as sunset is past seven in the evening. It was a beautiful autumn afternoon with traces of cloud.

When we had got down from the bus at the Berlin Sudkreuz Station it was raining. But now there was no clouds in the sky.

We walked some distance past smart and tidy apartment blocks we went underground to take the metro. Our station was Brandenburg Tor. From there we took the U8 train and after four stations we got down at a station named Alexanderplatz. At this station we changed and hopped on to a crowded train under U5 route.

After crossing about six stations we got down at Hermanplatz Station.

Then we came above ground and after walking just 50 metres we reached our venue The Berlin Ganesh Hindu Temple.

Adjacent to the Temple was a big park with undulating topography and grassy knolls and many trees. It was a beautiful spot.

The Ganesh Hindu Temple is a temple dedicated to many hindu deities from Lord Ganesh, Ram, Hanuman, Balaji, Mata Vaishno Devi etc. A big hall is there which graces the temple to a

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ccommodate the devotees. At one side is a stage.

This stage we saw was dedicated to Durga Puja. An image of Goddess Durga with her sons and daughters namely Gods Ganesh, Kartik, Lakshmi and Saraswati was adorning the stage. Goddess Durga was poised on the back of her vehicle the Lion and fighting the demon king Asura.

We saw our familiar Goddess Durga in all her regal splendour as we are habituated to see back home in Kolkata and other parts of India during this period.

The priest and his assistants were getting ready for the Saptami evening Arati. Saptami is the seventh day of the Navratri festival. The music of the traditional dhak was being played on the music system. Then with religious pomp and show accompanied by spiritual overtones, the Arati began.

We were transformed to our previous years puja celebration feeling back home in India.

After Arati we got the Goddess 's offering or prasad.

The next day was Ashtami or the eighth day. We had kept fast. So we gave pushpanjali to the Goddess or our flower offerings. After this we broke fast by taking Bhog Prasad or the food blessed by the Goddess.

After this we took part in the Sandhi Puja or the Puja that is conducted on the confluence of Ashtami and Navami, the ninth day.

Even situated thousands of kilometres away from home we were observing that Durga Puja was being celebrated with the same fervour and devotion if not more. We were enthralled.

Then we saw Kumari Puja. This is worshipping a girl child symbolising as the living Goddess Durga. This is an important ritual of Durga Puja. But I had never imagined to observe it a Puja venue far away from Kolkata at Berlin, Germany.

Overall our surprising Puja celebration at a faraway place of Berlin, Germany was just superlative and unbelievable.

Three cheers for the organisers of the Durga Puja at The Ganesh Hindu Temple, Berlin, Germany.