Mahalaya is just around the corner and people have already started preparing to welcome Goddess Durga to her homeland. It marks the beginning of the season of festivals, celebrated among Hindus, particularly Bengalis, including the most awaited one – The Durga Puja. It is believed that on this day, Goddess Durga officially begins her journey from Mount Kailash — where she dwells with her husband Lord Shiva— to her maternal home on Earth accompanied by her children— Ganesh, Karthik, Lakshmi and Saraswati. On this day, all the eager Bengalis, who hold on their excitement throughout the year, wake up at 4 am and listen to a collection of songs and mantras called ‘Mahishasur Mardhini’, the most famous among them being ‘Jago Tumi Jago’ in the melodious voice of Birendra Krishna Bhadra. Initially, it would only be played on radios, but with growing modernization and evolving technologies, ‘Mahishasur Mardhini’ has started being telecasted on TVs where the fierce act of Maa Durga in bringing justice by demolishing a demon— Mahishasur, with her power, is portrayed. The role of Goddess Durga is played by various well-known actresses.
Here is a list of some very talented and well-known actresses who played the role of Maa Durga in Mahalaya on television—
Mimi Chakraborty
Mimi will be seen playing the role of goddess Durga in Mahalaya this year on a renowned TV channel, Star Jalsa. Besides being busy with her film projects and political career, she chose to give Mahishasur Mardhini a chance and her fans are eagerly looking forward to watch her in the form of Maa Durga.
Koel Mallick
Koel was seen playing Maa Durga multiple times on television. She is the first Mahisasur Mardini of Zee Bangla Mahalaya which was played on 2007 and later again on 2015. She was also seen in 2011, in a TV programme ‘Durga Durgotinashini’ telecasted on Star Jalsa on the day of Mahalaya. Fans were stunned by her dedicated performance.
Indrani Haldar
Indrani is one among the many main stream actors whose performance as Durga has made the maximum impact. She portrayed the role for Mahishasur Mardhini on Doordarshan some years ago. Later she was again seen on Zee Bangla’s Mahalaya special show. Her skills in dancing and appropriate looks have made her more prominent.
Subhashree Ganguly
Subhasree debuted her role as Maa Durga in 2010 on television, following her reappearance in 2017 for the immersion carnival in Kolkata. She last played in 2019 where she truly seemed like the goddess. The actress later shared that representing Durga on screen was a dream come true.
Srabanti Chatterjee
Despite of having an angelic face, Srabanti managed to enact the fierce role of goddess Durga. She bears the effortless ability of slipping under the skin of her character. She was seen playing Durga on a Mahalaya program titled “Durga Durgotinashini” telecasted on ETV Bangla.
Hema Malini
Not many are aware of this, but the ‘Dream Girl’ has also portrayed Maa Durga
