Akaal Bodhan ( bn, অকাল বোধন) is the worship of

Durga Durga ( sa, दुर्गा, ) is a major Hindu goddess, worshipped as a principal aspect of the mother goddess Mahadevi. She is associated with protection, strength, motherhood, destruction, and wars. Durga's legend centres around comb ...

—an incarnation of

Devi Devī (; Sanskrit: देवी) is the Sanskrit word for 'goddess'; the masculine form is ''deva''. ''Devi'' and ''deva'' mean 'heavenly, divine, anything of excellence', and are also gender-specific terms for a deity in Hinduism. The conc ...

—in the month of

Ashwin Ashvin or Ashwin or Ashwan (; bn, আশ্বিন; hi, आश्विन; or, ଆଶ୍ୱିନ; Malay/Indonesian: ''Aswin''; Thai: ''Asawin''), also known as Aswayuja, is the seventh month of the lunisolar Hindu calendar, the solar T ...

, an uncustomary time for commencement of the worship.

Etymology

Both the words ''Akaal'' and ''Bodhan'' are Bengali words that descendant from

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominalization, nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cul ...

word ''akālabodhana'' , which are also included in many other Indian languages, such as like

Bengali Bengali or Bengalee, or Bengalese may refer to: *something of, from, or related to Bengal, a large region in South Asia * Bengalis, an ethnic and linguistic group of the region * Bengali language, the language they speak ** Bengali alphabet, the ...

. The word ''Akaal'' means untimed (''kaal''=time and ''a''=not) and the word ''Bodhan'' means worship or invocation. Thus, ''Akaal Bodhan'' means worship or invocation of

in an uncustomary time. It is given this name since the period of this worship differs from the conventional period, which is during the spring ( Boshonto).

Akaal Bodhan

In the ''

Ramayana The ''Rāmāyana'' (; sa, रामायणम्, ) is a Sanskrit epic composed over a period of nearly a millennium, with scholars' estimates for the earliest stage of the text ranging from the 8th to 4th centuries BCE, and later stages e ...

'',

Rama Rama (; ), Ram, Raman or Ramar, also known as Ramachandra (; , ), is a major deity in Hinduism. He is the seventh and one of the most popular ''avatars'' of Vishnu. In Rama-centric traditions of Hinduism, he is considered the Supreme Being ...

goes to

Lanka Lanka (, ) is the name given in Hindu epics to the island fortress capital of the legendary asura king Ravana in the epics of the ''Ramayana'' and the ''Mahabharata''. The fortress was situated on a plateau between three mountain peaks kn ...

to rescue his abducted wife,

Sita Sita (; ) also called as Janaki and Vaidehi is a Hindu goddess and the female protagonist of the Hindu epic, '' Ramayana''. She is the consort of Rama, the avatar of the god Vishnu, and is regarded as a form of Vishnu's consort, Lakshmi ...

, from the grip of

Ravana Ravana (; , , ) is a rakshasa king of the island of Lanka, and the chief antagonist of the Hindu epic ''Ramayana'' and its adaptations. In the ''Ramayana'', Ravana is described to be the eldest son of sage Vishrava and rakshasi Kaikesi. ...

, the king of the Demons in Lanka. Before starting for his battle with Ravana, Rama wanted the blessings of Devi Durga. He learned that the Goddess would be pleased only if she is worshipped with 108 Neel Kamal (blue lotuses). After travelling far flung places, Rama could gather only one hundred and seven of them. He finally decided to offer one of his eyes, which resembled blue lotuses. Durga, being pleased with the devotion of Rama, appeared before him and blessed him. Devi took the form of Chandi to kill demon brothers Chanda and Munda. Chanda and his brother Munda could not be killed in day time or at night so the Sandhi-kshna was chosen to kill them (i.e., the crossover period between

Ashtami Ashtami (अष्टमी ''aṣṭamī'') is the eighth day ( Tithi) of Hindu lunar calendar. Festivals Krishna Janmashtami Krishna Janmashtami or Gokul Ashtami is a Hindu festival celebrating the birth of Lord Krishna, an avatar of Hindu de ...

he next day He or HE may refer to: Language * He (pronoun), an English pronoun * He (kana), the romanization of the Japanese kana へ * He (letter), the fifth letter of many Semitic alphabets * He (Cyrillic), a letter of the Cyrillic script called ''He'' in ...

and

Navami Navami is the Sanskrit word for "nine", and is the ninth day in the lunar fortnight (''Paksha'') of the Hindu calendar. Each month has two Navami days, being the ninth day of the "bright" (''Shukla'') and of the "dark" (''Krishna'') fortnights respe ...

he day after He or HE may refer to: Language * He (pronoun), an English pronoun * He (kana), the romanization of the Japanese kana へ * He (letter), the fifth letter of many Semitic alphabets * He (Cyrillic), a letter of the Cyrillic script called ''He'' in ...

. Ravana was killed on the tenth day,

Dashami Dashami is the Sanskrit word for "ten", and is the tenth day in the lunar fortnight (''Paksha'') of the Hindu calendar The Hindu calendar, Panchanga () or Panjika is one of various lunisolar calendars that are traditionally used in the Indian s ...

. Since the period of this worship was different from the conventional period, this

puja Puja or Pooja may refer to: Religion *Puja (Hinduism), a ritual to host, honor or of devotional worship, or one to celebrate an event * Puja (Buddhism), expressions of honour, worship and devotional attention * Puja, a wooden stick, sometimes lea ...

is also known as ''Akal-Bodhan''; a worship (''Bodhan'') in an unconventional time (''A-Kaal'').

References

{{HinduFestivals Durga Puja Shaktism

Etymology

Akaal Bodhan

See also

References