Birbhum, West Bengal, Oct 4: Far away from the maddening pace of politics in Delhi's corridors of power, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee is presently busy donning the mantle of a priest and performing the Durga Puja rituals in his ancestral village of Mirati near Kirnahar, Birbhum.
On Saptami on Monday, Mukherjee accompanied by his MLA son Abhijit, began the Durga Puja rituals with the traditional kalabou (banana tree) snan (bath) or Nabapatrika early in the morning. This is a tradition which involves bathing the stem of a banana tree in a river or a pond to start the Durga Puja festivities.
Pranab Mukherjee then participated in anjali and aarti. During Durga Puja, he wears the special silk robe known as pattabastra which is worn by priest during the worship of Goddess Durga.
On these days, reports Asian Age, the doors of Mukherjee Bhawan are thrown open to all. Not only the residents of Mirati village, but villagers from several neighbouring hamlets assemble here and all of them are served meals.
The Durga Puja at Mukherjee Bhavan was started by his grandfather Jangaleswar Mukherjee over 116 years ago, says his family.
Like his father Kamadakinkar Mukhopadhyay, the Union Finance Minister is carrying on the tradition, which will be passed on to son Abhijit later.
Mukherjee said; "So far as I know, in these 116 years, only twice Durga Puja was not celebrated in our house. Once in 1956 and again in 1961 or 1962 when the Durga idol was damaged by the floods".
Mukherjee attaches utmost importance to the Durga Puja at his ancestral home. He cut short his US visit in 2010, while attending the annual World Bank-IMF meet, and returned to his village to perform the puja.
With Abhijit's entry into politics, the family Durga Puja is destined to continue here for years to come.
