Page:Durga Puja - With Notes and Illustrations.djvu/51

 on the ninth day of the dark fortnight of Asvina the Devi is to be awakened with great pomp and eclat. This is called the Bodhana or the arousing. The Bodhana may also be commenced on the sixth day of the waxing moon of Asvina. The Bhavishya Purana says, on the sixth the goddess is to be aroused in the Vel tree, and the evening prayer offered with devotion. The Kalika Purana says, on the sixth, the Devi is to be awakened on a branch of the Vel tree and on a pair of its fruits, on the seventh, the same being collected She is to be worshipped thereon; on the eighth, on the same twig She is to be worshipped with some peculiar ceremonies, and the worshipper is to watch the whole night with vigilance, and in the dead of night to offer a sacrifice; on the ninth, with numerous sacrifices She is to be worshipped and to be meditated with the Durga mantra; and on the tenth the idol is to be consigned to water, and the jubilee concluded with the time-honored custom of kolakuli or embracing. From the above it would appear, that the commencement of the ceremony of arousing the goddess may be deserved on either the ninth day of the dark fortnight preceding the Durgotsava, or on the sixth day of the waxing fortnight. These two are the days of Bodhana or