Soil from prostitutes in making idol of Maa Durga
Idol of Maa Durga is considered to be incomplete without the soil from prostitutes door steps.
Idol of Maa Durga is almost ready. Most of the idols are made from soil, although in some cases different items are used to make the idol. Normally we see that on the structure of the idol, mud from bank of Ganga is used.Soil and other mixture used in making the Durga idol
In Hindu ritual mud from the banks of the Ganga, cow dung and cow urine is mixed with handful of soil from the nishiddho pallis and the final mixture is used to make the idol. This tradition is going on year after years. From where soil is collected to make Durga idol
The Pujari goes personally to nishiddho pallis , for Kumartuli it is Sonagachi on a special day just before the potters begin to start work on idols, to collect dust from the doorstep of prostitutes. The method of collecting the dust is also very dramatic. The Pujari would beg for dust from a prostitute and the prostitute would give it.Why soil from Prostitutes are taken to make Durga idol
The reasons behind this custom are still unknown. There is a belief that every man who enters a prostitutes home leaves all his purity and virtues behind. So the mud there is considered pure and virtuous. It may be also to include them in the festival who are totally excluded from our society. Is it so that our forefathers considered them as Maa Durga who are 'killing daily the demon', 'Kaam' from our society? But this theory does not stand as they are made goddesses once a year and the rest 364 days they are whores in our society.
