Why Bengalis Worship Kali During Diwali Instead of Lakshmi

In a diverse country like India, the festival of lights, Diwali or Deepawali, is celebrated in different forms in different regions. From worshipping Maa Lakshmi to Lord Krishna to Maa Kali, different states celebrate Diwali differently as per the region’s mythology.

Diwali is a five-day festival celebrated during the Hindu lunisolar month Kartika, which usually falls between mid-October and mid-November. In Bengal Kali Puja is celebrated generally a day after Diwali in Northern India, depending on the tithi. According to mythology, the festival signifies the spiritual "victory of light over darkness, good over evil, and knowledge over ignorance."

While most of North India worships Maa Lakshmi and Lord Ganesha during one of the biggest Hindu festivals of our country, Kerala worships Lord Krishna and states like West Bengal, Mithila region of Bihar, Odisha, Assam, and Tripura people worship Maa Kali.

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Maa Lakshmi is worshipped as the win of good over evil and to bring prosperity and wealth and Lord Ganesh to overcome obstacles and also because mythology says that Maa Lakshmi adopted Ganesh and declared that all her wealth and prosperity belongs to him as well. While Lord Krishna is worshipped for killing the demon Narakasur. According to some myths, Diwali also marks the return of Lord Ram to his kingdom in Ayodhya, along with his wife Sita and brother Lakshman, after defeating King Ravana in Lanka and serving 14 years of exile.

However, Bengalis worship Maa Kali majorly during the same time and celebrate the Kali Puja festival. In Bengal, Maa Lakshmi is generally celebrated a few days after Dashami (Dussehra), the last day of Durga Puja.

Significance of Kali Puja For Bengalis

As per mythologies, goddess Kali, who is majorly associated with death and darkness, is worshipped on the new moon day called Dipannita Amavasya of the Hindu month Kartik. It is widely believed by Bengalis that Maa Kali had come in the dreams of Tantric scholar Krishnananda Agamavagisha in the 16th century where she instructed him to worship her in this form. While he began worshipping the goddess in the 17th century, the puja became a widespread yearly festival in the 19th century when Kali devotee Shri Ramkrishna Paramahangsha became popular among the Bengalis. The wealthy landowners at the time began patronising the goddess on a grand scale because of him and soon the festival became the second major one for Bengalis after Durga puja. Before this Kali was mostly worshipped as a tribal Goddess.

Formation of Maa Kali Avatar

Hindus believe that when the demons (rakshas) Shumbh and Nishumbh were creating chaos and destruction in heaven and tried to capture Maa Durga in the form of Parvati, a battle took place between King Indra and the demons. In the battle, the gods were defeated, which is when Maa Kalika appeared in this avatar and defeated the demons.

However, even after the battle ended, she lost control and began killing humans as well. To stop her from killing innocent people Lord Shiva laid himself in front of her and as she stepped on his chest her tongue came out in embarrassment.

According to another legend Maa Durga killed Shumbh and Nishumbh, while Maa Kali killed the asura Raktabīja, and proceeded to drink all his blood to prevent him from replicating from each drop. After defeating the demon and most of his army, her wrath turned to all creatures, but a timely intervention by Lord Shiva stopped her.

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Since then, Maa Kali is worshipped in this avatar where her tongue is out in embarrassment, anger filled in her eyes, beheaded heads of demons hanging as a garland around her neck and in her hand, and one foot over Lord Shiva’s chest. In her most modern avatar, especially in Bengal, she is far more domesticated than she is in her earlier avatars; exercising self-control (almost like a mother who got angry with her children) rather than unleashing her fury to destroy and create indiscriminately.

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