Barotrauma is physical damage to body tissues caused by a difference in pressure between a gas space inside, or contact with, the body and the surrounding gas or liquid. The initial damage is usually due to over-stretching the tissues in tension or shear, either directly by an expansion of the gas in the closed space or by pressure difference hydrostatically transmitted through the tissue. Tissue rupture may be complicated by the introduction of gas into the local tissue or circulation through the initial trauma site, which can cause blockage of circulation at distant sites or interfere with the normal function of an organ by its presence. The term is usually applied when the gas volume involved already exists prior to decompression. Barotrama can occur during both compression and decompression events.

Barotrauma generally manifests as sinus or middle ear effects, lung overpressure injuries and injuries resulting from external squeezes. Decompression sickness is indirectly caused by ambient pressure reduction, and tissue damage is caused directly and indirectly by gas bubbles. However, these bubbles form out of supersaturated solution from dissolved gases, and are not generally considered barotrauma. Decompression illness is a term that includes decompression sickness and arterial gas embolism caused by lung overexpansion barotrauma. It is also classified under the broader term of dysbarism, which covers all medical conditions resulting from changes in ambient pressure.

Barotrauma typically occurs when the organism is exposed to a significant change in ambient pressure, such as when a scuba diver, a free-diver or an airplane passenger ascends or descends or during uncontrolled decompression of a pressure vessel such as a diving chamber or pressurized aircraft, but can also be caused by a shock wave. Ventilator-induced lung injury (VILI) is a condition caused by over-expansion of the lungs by mechanical ventilation used when the body is unable to breathe for itself and is associated with relatively large tidal volumes and relatively high peak pressures. Barotrauma due to overexpansion of an internal gas-filled space may also be termed volutrauma.

Presentation
Examples of organs or tissues easily damaged by barotrauma are:
 Middle ear and inner ear (barotitis or aerotitis)
 Paranasal sinuses (causing aerosinusitis)
 Lungs may be affected by both under-pressure or, more commonly, overpressure relative to the external pressure
 Eyes (the under-pressure air space is inside the diving mask or swimming goggles)
 Skin (when wearing a diving suit which creates an air space)
 Brain and cranium (temporal lobe injury secondary to temporal bone rupture)
 Teeth (causing barodontalgia, i.e., barometric pressure related dental pain, or dental fractures)
 Genital squeeze and associated urinary complications of P-valve use.
  is caused by over-expansion of gas trapped in the intestines during ascent.

Causes
When diving, the pressure differences which cause the barotrauma are changes in hydrostatic pressure. There are two components to the surrounding pressure acting on the diver: the atmospheric pressure and the water pressure. A descent of 10 metres (33 feet) in water increases the ambient pressure by an amount approximately equal to the pressure of the atmosphere at sea level. So, a descent from the surface to 10 metres (33 feet) underwater results in a doubling of the pressure on the diver. This pressure change will reduce the volume of a flexible gas-filled space by half. Boyle's law describes the relationship between the volume of the gas space and the pressure in the gas.

Barotraumas of descent, also known as compression barotrauma, and squeezes, are caused by preventing the free change of volume of the gas in a closed space in contact with the diver, resulting in a pressure difference between the tissues and the gas space, and the unbalanced force due to this pressure difference causes deformation of the tissues resulting in cell rupture. Barotraumas of ascent, also called decompression barotrauma, are also caused when the free change of volume of the gas in a closed space in contact with the diver is prevented. In this case the pressure difference causes a resultant tension in the surrounding tissues which exceeds their tensile strength.

Patients undergoing hyperbaric oxygen therapy must equalize their ears to avoid barotrauma. High risk of otic barotrauma is associated with unconscious patients. Explosive decompression of a hyperbaric environment can produce severe barotrauma, followed by severe decompression bubble formation and other related injury. The Byford Dolphin incident is an example. Rapid uncontrolled decompression from caissons, airlocks, pressurised aircraft, spacecraft, and pressure suits can have similar effects of decompression barotrauma.

Collapse of a pressure resistant structure such as a submarine, submersible, or atmospheric diving suit can cause rapid compression barotrauma. A rapid change of altitude can cause barotrauma when internal air spaces cannot be equalised. Excessively strenuous efforts to equalise the ears using the Valsalva manoeuvre can overpressurise the middle ear, and can cause middle ear and/or inner ear barotrauma. An explosive blast and explosive decompression create a pressure wave that can induce barotrauma. The difference in pressure between internal organs and the outer surface of the body causes injuries to internal organs that contain gas, such as the lungs, gastrointestinal tract, and ear. Lung injuries can also occur during rapid decompression, although the risk of injury is lower than with explosive decompression.

Mechanical ventilation can lead to barotrauma of the lungs. This can be due to either:
 absolute pressures used in order to ventilate non-compliant lungs.
 shearing forces, particularly associated with rapid changes in gas velocity.
The resultant alveolar rupture can lead to pneumothorax, pulmonary interstitial emphysema (PIE) and pneumomediastinum.

Barotrauma is a recognised complication of mechanical ventilation that can occur in any patient receiving mechanical ventilation, but is most commonly associated with acute respiratory distress syndrome. It used to be the most common complication of mechanical ventilation but can usually be avoided by limiting tidal volume and plateau pressure to less than 30 to 50 cm water column (30 to 50 mb). As an indicator of transalveolar pressure, which predicts alveolar distention, plateau pressure or peak airway pressure (PAP) may be the most effective predictor of risk, but there is no generally accepted safe pressure at which there is no risk. Risk also appears to be increased by aspiration of stomach contents and pre-existing disease such as necrotising pneumonia and chronic lung disease. Status asthmaticus is a particular problem as it requires relatively high pressures to overcome bronchial obstruction.

When lung tissues are damaged by alveolar over-distension, the injury may be termed volutrauma, but volume and transpulmonary pressure are closely related. Ventilator induced lung injury is often associated with high tidal volumes (Vt).

Other injuries with similar causes are decompression sickness and ebullism.

Pathophysiology

Lung overpressure injury
A free-diver can dive and safely ascend without exhaling, because the gas in the lungs had been inhaled at atmospheric pressure, is compressed during the descent, and expands back to the original volume during ascent. A scuba or surface-supplied diver breathing gas at depth from underwater breathing apparatus fills their lungs with gas at an ambient pressure greater than atmospheric pressure. At 10 metres the lungs contain twice the amount of gas that they would contain at atmospheric pressure, and if they ascend without exhaling the gas will expand to match the decreasing pressure until the lungs reach their elastic limit, and begin to tear, and is very likely to sustain life-threatening lung damage. Besides tissue rupture, the overpressure may cause ingress of gases into the tissues through the ruptures, and further afield through the circulatory system. Pulmonary barotrauma (PBt) of ascent is also known as pulmonary over-inflation syndrome (POIS), lung over-pressure injury (LOP) and burst lung. Consequent injuries may include arterial gas embolism, pneumothorax, mediastinal, interstitial and subcutaneous emphysemas, depending on where the gas ends up, not usually all at the same time.

POIS may also be caused by mechanical ventilation.

Arterial gas embolism

Gas in the arterial system can be carried to the blood vessels of the brain and other vital organs. It typically causes transient embolism similar to thromboembolism but of shorter duration. Where damage occurs to the endothelium inflammation develops and symptoms resembling stroke may follow. The bubbles are generally distributed and of various sizes, and usually affect several areas, resulting in an unpredictable variety of neurological deficits.  Unconsciousness or other major changes to the state of consciousness within about 10 minutes of surfacing are generally assumed to be gas embolism until proven otherwise. The belief that the gas bubbles themselves formed static emboli which remain in place until recompression has been superseded by the knowledge that the gas emboli are normally transient, and the damage is due to inflammation following endothelial damage and secondary injury from inflammatory mediator upregulation.

Hyperbaric oxygen can cause downregulation of the inflammatory response and resolution of oedema by causing hyperoxic arterial vasoconstriction of the supply to capillary beds. High concentration normobaric oxygen is appropriate as first aid but is not considered definitive treatment even when the symptoms appear to resolve. Relapses are common after discontinuing oxygen without recompression.

Pneumothorax

A pneumothorax is an abnormal collection of air in the pleural space between the lung and the chest wall. Symptoms typically include sudden onset of sharp, one-sided chest pain and shortness of breath. In a minority of cases, a one-way valve is formed by an area of damaged tissue, and the amount of air in the space between chest wall and lungs increases; this is called a tension pneumothorax. This can cause a steadily worsening oxygen shortage and low blood pressure. This leads to a type of shock called obstructive shock, which can be fatal unless reversed. Very rarely, both lungs may be affected by a pneumothorax. It is often called a "collapsed lung", although that term may also refer to atelectasis.

Divers who breathe from an underwater apparatus are supplied with breathing gas at ambient pressure, which results in their lungs containing gas at higher than atmospheric pressure. Divers breathing compressed air (such as when scuba diving) may develop a pneumothorax as a result of barotrauma from ascending just  while breath-holding with their lungs fully inflated. An additional problem in these cases is that those with other features of decompression sickness are typically treated in a diving chamber with hyperbaric therapy; this can lead to a small pneumothorax rapidly enlarging and causing features of tension.

Diagnosis of a pneumothorax by physical examination alone can be difficult (particularly in smaller pneumothoraces). A chest X-ray, computed tomography (CT) scan, or ultrasound is usually used to confirm its presence. Other conditions that can result in similar symptoms include a hemothorax (buildup of blood in the pleural space), pulmonary embolism, and heart attack. A large bulla may look similar on a chest X-ray.

Pneumomediastinum

Also known as mediastinal emphysema to divers, pneumomediastinum is a volume of gas inside the mediastinum, the central cavity in the chest between the lungs and surrounding the heart and central blood vessels, usually formed by gas escaping from the lungs as a result of lung rupture.

Gas bubbles escaping from a ruptured lung can travel along the outside of bronchioles and blood vessels until they reach the mediastinal cavity round the heart, major blood vessels, oesophagus and trachea. Gas trapped in the mediastinum expands as the diver continues to rise. The pressure of the trapped gas may cause intense pain inside the rib cage and in the shoulders, and the gas may compress the respiratory passageways, making breathing difficult, and collapse blood vessels. Symptoms range from pain under the sternum, shock, shallow breathing, unconsciousness, respiratory failure, and associated cyanosis. The gas will usually be absorbed by the body over time, and when the symptoms are mild, no treatment may be necessary. Otherwise it may be vented through a hypodermic needle inserted into the mediastinum. Recompression is not usually indicated.

Diagnosis

Diagnosis of barotrauma generally involves a history of exposure to a source of pressure which could cause the injury suggested by the symptoms. This can vary from the immediately obvious if exposed to explosive blast, or mask squeeze, to rather complex discrimination between possibilities of inner ear decompression sickness and inner ear barotrauma, which may have nearly identical symptoms but different causative mechanism and mutually incompatible treatments. The detailed dive history may be necessary in these cases.

In terms of barotrauma the diagnostic workup for the affected individual could include the following:

Laboratory:
 Creatine kinase (CPK) level: Increases in CPK levels indicate tissue damage associated with decompression sickness.
 Complete blood count (CBC)
 Arterial blood gas (ABG) determination

Imaging:
 Chest radiography can show pneumothorax, and is indicated if there is chest discomfort or breathing difficulty
 Computed tomography (CT) scans and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) may be indicated when there is severe headache or severe back pain after diving.
 CT is the most sensitive method to evaluate for pneumothorax. It can be used where barotrauma-related pneumothorax is suspected and chest radiograph findings are negative.
 Echocardiography can be used to detect the number and size of gas bubbles in the right side of the heart.

Ear barotrauma
Barotrauma can affect the external, middle, or inner ear. Middle ear barotrauma (MEBT) is the most common diving injury, being experienced by between 10% and 30% of divers and is due to insufficient equilibration of the middle ear. External ear barotrauma may occur  if air is trapped in the external auditory canal. Diagnosis of middle and external ear barotrauma is relatively simple, as the damage is usually visible if severe enough to require intervention.

External auditory canal
Barotrauma can occur in the external auditory canal if it is blocked by cerumen, exostoses, a tight-fitting diving suit hood or earplugs, which create an airtight, air-filled space between the eardrum and the blockage. On descent, a pressure differential develops between the ambient water and the interior of this space, and this can cause swelling and haemorrhagic blistering of the canal. Treatment is usually analgesics and topical steroid eardrops. Complications may include local infection. This form of barotrauma is usually easily avoided.

Middle ear

Middle ear barotrauma (MEBT) is an injury caused by a difference in pressure between the external ear canal and the middle ear. It is common in underwater divers and usually occurs when the diver does not equalise sufficiently during descent or, less commonly, on ascent. Failure to equalise may be due to inexperience or eustachian tube dysfunction, which can have many possible causes. Unequalised ambient pressure increase during descent causes a pressure imbalance between the middle ear air space and the external auiditory canal over the eardrum, referred to by divers as ear squeeze, causing inward stretching, serous effusion and haemorrhage, and eventual rupture. During ascent internal over-pressure is normally passively released through the eustachian tube, but if this does not happen the volume expansion of middle ear gas will cause outward bulging, stretching and eventual rupture of the eardrum known to divers as . This damage causes local pain and hearing loss. Tympanic rupture during a dive can allow water into the middle ear, which can cause severe vertigo from caloric stimulation. This may cause nausea and vomiting underwater, which has a high risk of aspiration of vomit or water, with possible fatal consequences.

Inner ear

Inner ear barotrauma (IEBt), though much less common than MEBT, shares a similar external cause. Mechanical trauma to the inner ear can lead to varying degrees of conductive and sensorineural hearing loss as well as vertigo. It is also common for conditions affecting the inner ear to result in auditory hypersensitivity. Two possible mechanisms are associated with forced Valsalva manoeuvre. In the one, the Eustachian tube opens in response to the pressure, and a sudden rush of high pressure air into the middle ear causes stapes footplate dislocation and inward rupture of the oval or round window. In the other, the tube remains closed and increased cerebrospinal fluid pressure is transmitted through the cochlea and causes outward rupture of the round window.

Inner ear barotrauma can be difficult to distinguish from Inner ear decompression sickness. Both conditions manifest as cochleovestibular symptoms. The similarity of symptoms makes differential diagnosis difficult, which can delay appropriate treatment or lead to inappropriate treatment.

Nitrogen narcosis, oxygen toxicity, hypercarbia, and hypoxia can cause disturbances in balance or vertigo, but these appear to be central nervous system effects, not directly related to effects on the vestibular organs. High-pressure nervous syndrome during heliox compression is also a central nervous system dysfunction. Inner ear injuries with lasting effects are usually due to round window ruptures, often associated with Valsalva maneuver or inadequate middle ear equalisation. Inner ear barotrauma is often concurrent with middle ear barotrama as the external causes are generally the same. A variety of injuries may be present, which may include inner ear haemorrhage, intralabyrinthine membrane tear, perilymph fistula, and other pathologies.

Divers who develop cochlear and/or vestibular symptoms during descent to any depth, or during shallow diving in which decompression sickness is unlikely, should be treated with bed rest with head elevation, and should avoid any activity which could cause raised cerebrospinal fluid and intralabyrinthine pressure. If there is no improvement in symptoms after 48 hours, exploratory tympanotomy may be considered to investigate possible repair of a labyrinthine window fistula. Recompression therapy is contraindicated in these cases, but is the definitive treatment for inner ear decompression sickness, making an early and accurate differential diagnosis important for deciding on appropriate treatment. IEBt in divers may be difficult to distinguish from inner ear decompression sickness (IEDCS), and as a dive profile alone cannot always eliminate either of the possibilities, the detailed dive history may be necessary to diagnose the more likely injury. It is also possible for both to occur at the same time, and IEDCS is more likely to affect the semicircular canals, causing severe vertigo, while IEBt is more likely to affect the cochlea, causing hearing loss, but these are just statistical probabilities, and in reality it can go either way or both. It is accepted practice to assume that if any symptom typical of DCS is present, that the diver has DCS and will be treated accordingly with recompression. Limited case data suggest that recompression does not usually cause harm if the differential diagnosis between IEBt vs IEDCS is doubtful.

Barosinusitis

The sinuses, like other air-filled cavities, are susceptible to barotrauma if their openings become obstructed. This can result in pain as well as epistaxis (nosebleed). Diagnosis is usually simple provided the history of pressure exposure is mentioned. Barosinusitis, is also called aerosinusitis, sinus squeeze or sinus barotrauma. Sinus barotrauma can be caused by external or internal overpressure. External over-pressure is called sinus squeeze by divers, while internal over-pressure is usually referred to as reverse block or reverse squeeze.

Mask squeeze
If a diver's mask is not equalized during descent the relative negative internal pressure can produce petechial hemorrhages in the area covered by the mask along with subconjunctival hemorrhages.

Helmet squeeze

A problem mostly of historical interest, but still relevant to surface supplied divers who dive with the helmet sealed to the dry suit. If the air supply hose is ruptured near or above the surface, the pressure difference between the water around the diver and the air in the hose can be several bar. The non-return valve at the connection to the helmet will prevent backflow if it is working correctly, but if absent, as in the early days of helmet diving, or if it fails, the pressure difference will tend to squeeze the diver into the rigid helmet, which can result in severe trauma. The same effect can result from a large and rapid increase in depth if the air supply is insufficient to keep up with the increase in ambient pressure. On a helmet with a neck dam, the neck dam will allow water to flood the helmet before serious barotrauma can occur. This can happen with helium reclaim helmets if the reclaim regulator system fails, so there is a manual bypass valve, which allows the helmet to be purged so breathing can continue on open circuit.

Pulmonary barotrauma

Lung over-pressure injury in ambient pressure divers using underwater breathing apparatus is usually caused by breath-holding on ascent. The compressed gas in the lungs expands as the ambient pressure decreases causing the lungs to over-expand and rupture unless the diver allows the gas to escape by maintaining an open airway, as in normal breathing. The lungs do not sense pain when over-expanded giving the diver little warning to prevent the injury. This does not affect breath-hold divers as they bring a lungful of air with them from the surface, which merely re-expands safely to near its original volume on ascent. The problem only arises if a breath of ambient pressure gas is taken at depth, which may then expand on ascent to more than the lung volume. Pulmonary barotrauma may also be caused by explosive decompression of a pressurised aircraft, as occurred on 1 February 2003 to the crew in the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster.

Prevention

Diving
Barotrauma may be caused when diving, either from being crushed, or squeezed, on descent or by stretching and bursting on ascent; both can be avoided by equalising the pressures. A negative, unbalanced pressure is known as a squeeze, crushing eardrums, dry suit, lungs or mask inwards and can be equalised by putting air into the squeezed space. A positive unbalanced pressure expands internal spaces rupturing tissue and can be equalised by letting air out, for example by exhaling. Both may cause barotrauma. There are a variety of techniques depending on the affected area and whether the pressure inequality is a squeeze or an expansion:
 Ears and sinuses: There is a risk of stretched or burst eardrums, usually crushed inwards during descent but sometimes stretched outwards on ascent. The diver can use a variety of methods to let air into or out of the middle ears via the Eustachian tubes. Sometimes swallowing will open the Eustachian tubes and equalise the ears.
 Lungs: There is a risk of pneumothorax, arterial gas embolism, and mediastinal and subcutaneous emphysema during ascent, which are commonly called burst lung or lung overpressure injury by divers. To equalise the lungs, all that is necessary is not to hold the breath during ascent. This risk does not occur when breath-hold diving from the surface, unless the diver breathes from an ambient pressure gas source underwater; breath-hold divers do suffer squeezed lungs on descent, crushing in the chest cavity, but, while uncomfortable, this rarely causes lung injury and returns to normal at the surface. Some people have pathology of the lung which prevent rapid flow of excess air through the passages, which can lead to lung barotrauma even if the breath is not held during rapid depressurisation. These people should not dive as the risk is unacceptably high. Most commercial or military diving medical examinations will look specifically for signs of this pathology.
 Diving mask squeeze enclosing the eyes and nose: The main risk is rupture of the capillaries of the eyes and facial skin because of the negative pressure difference between the gas space and blood pressure, or orbital emphysema from higher pressures. This can be avoided by breathing air into the mask through the nose. Goggles covering only the eyes are not suitable for deep diving as they cannot be equalised.
 Dry suit squeeze. The main risk is skin getting pinched and bruised by folds of the dry suit when squeezed on descent. Most dry suits can be equalised against squeeze via a manually operated valve fed from a low pressure gas supply. Air must be manually injected during the descent to avoid squeeze and is manually or automatically vented on the ascent to maintain buoyancy control.
 Diving helmet squeeze: Helmet squeeze will occur if the gas supply hose is severed above the diver and the non-return valve at the helmet gas inlet fails or is not fitted. Severity will depend on the hydrostatic pressure difference. A very rapid descent, usually by accident, may exceed the rate at which the breathing gas supply can equalise the pressure causing a temporary squeeze. The introduction of the non-return valve and high maximum gas supply flow rates have all but eliminated both these risks. In helmets fitted with a neck dam, the dam will admit water into the helmet if the internal pressure gets too low; this is less of a problem than helmet squeeze but the diver may drown if the gas supply is not reinstated quickly. This form of barotrauma is avoidable by controlled descent rate, which is standard practice for commercial divers, who will use shotlines, diving stages and wet bells to control descent and ascent rates.

Medical screening

Professional divers are screened for risk factors during initial and periodical medical examination for fitness to dive. In most cases recreational divers are not medically screened, but are required to provide a medical statement before acceptance for training in which the most common and easy to identify risk factors must be declared. If these factors are declared, the diver may be required to be examined by a medical practitioner, and may be disqualified from diving if the conditions indicate.

Asthma, Marfan syndrome, and COPD pose a very high risk of pneumothorax. In some countries these may be considered absolute contraindications, while in others the severity may be taken into consideration. Asthmatics with a mild and well controlled condition may be permitted to dive under restricted circumstances.

Training

A significant part of entry level diver training is focused on understanding the risks and procedural avoidance of barotrauma. Professional divers and recreational divers with rescue training are trained in the basic skills of recognizing and first aid management of diving barotrauma.

Mechanical ventilation
Isolated mechanical forces may not adequately explain ventilator induced lung injury (VILI). The damage is affected by the interaction of these forces and the pre-existing state of the lung tissues, and dynamic changes in alveolar structure may be involved. Factors such as plateau pressure and positive end-expiratory pressure (PEEP) alone do not adequately predict injury. Cyclic deformation of lung tissue may play a large part in the cause of VILI, and contributory factors probably include tidal volume, positive end-expiratory pressure and respiratory rate. There is no protocol guaranteed to avoid all risk in all applications.

Aviation and spaceflight
To prevent barotrauma, the environmental pressure must be prevented from changing rapidly by large amounts. An effective strategy for preventing barotrauma would include multiple redundant levels of protection against rapid decompression, and systems allowing non-catastrophic failure with sufficient time to allow comfortable equalization of relevant air spaces, particularly the inner ear. A low internal pressure reduces decompression rate and severity in a catastrophic decompression, which reduces the risk of barotrauma but can increase the risk of decompression sickness and hypoxia in normal operating conditions. Outside of a pressurized cabin environment at very high altitudes, a pressure suit is the usual protective measure, and is the definitive protection in decompression and exposure to vacuum, but they are expensive, heavy, bulky, restrict mobility, cause thermal regulatory problems, and reduce comfort. To prevent injury from unavoidable pressure changes, effective equalization techniques and relatively slow pressure changes are required, which in turn require patent Eustachian tubes and sinuses.

Treatment
Treatment of diving barotrauma depends on the symptoms, which depend on the affected tissues. Lung over-pressure injury may require a chest drain to remove air from the pleura or mediastinum. Recompression with hyperbaric oxygen therapy is the definitive treatment for arterial gas embolism, as the raised pressure reduces bubble size, the reduced blood inert gas concentration  may accelerate inert gas solution, and high oxygen partial pressure helps oxygenate tissues compromised by the emboli. Care must be taken when recompressing to avoid a tension pneumothorax. Barotraumas that do not involve gas in the tissues are generally treated according to severity and symptoms for similar trauma from other causes.

First aid
Pre-hospital care for lung barotrauma includes basic life support of maintaining adequate oxygenation and perfusion, assessment of airway, breathing and circulation, neurological assessment, and managing any immediate life-threatening conditions. High-flow oxygen up to 100% is considered appropriate for diving accidents. Large-bore venous access with isotonic fluid infusion is recommended to maintain blood pressure and pulse.

Emergency treatment
Pulmonary barotrauma:
 Endotracheal intubation may be required if the airway is unstable or hypoxia persists when breathing 100% oxygen.
 Needle decompression or tube thoracostomy may be necessary to drain a pneumothorax or haemothorax
 Foley catheterization may be necessary for spinal cord AGE if the person is unable to urinate.
 Intravenous hydration may be required to maintain adequate blood pressure.
 Therapeutic recompression is indicated for severe AGE. The diving medical practitioner will need to know the vital signs and relevant symptoms, along with the recent pressure exposure and breathing gas history of the patient. Air transport should be below  if possible, or in a pressurized aircraft which should be pressurised to as low an altitude as reasonably possible.

Sinus squeeze and middle ear squeeze are generally treated with decongestants to reduce the pressure differential, with anti-inflammatory medications to treat the pain. For severe pain, narcotic analgesics may be appropriate.

Suit, helmet and mask squeeze are treated as trauma according to symptoms and severity.

Medication
The primary medications for lung barotrauma are hyperbaric and normobaric oxygen, hyperbaric heliox or nitrox, isotonic fluids, anti-inflammatory medications, decongestants, and analgesics.

Outcomes
Following barotrauma of the ears or lungs from diving the diver should not dive again until cleared by a diving doctor. After ear injury examination will include a hearing test and a demonstration that the middle ear can be autoinflated. Recovery can take weeks to months.

Epidemiology
An estimate of in the order of 1000 dive injuries per year occur in the United States and Canada. Many of these involve barotrauma, with nearly 50% of reported injuries involving middle ear barotrauma. Diving injuries tend to correlate with trait anxiety and a tendency to panic, lack of experience, advancing age and reduction in fitness, alcohol usage, obesity, asthma, chronic sinusitis and otitis.

Barotrauma in other animals
Whales and dolphins develop severely disabling barotrauma when exposed to excessive pressure changes induced by navy sonar, oil industry airguns, explosives, undersea earthquakes and volcanic eruptions. Injury and mortality of fish, marine mammals, including sea otters, seals, dolphins and whales, and birds by underwater explosions has been recorded in several studies.

It has been claimed that bats can suffer fatal barotrauma in the low pressure zones behind the blades of wind turbines due to their more fragile mammalian lung structure in comparison with the more robust avian lungs, which are less affected by pressure change. The claims that have been made that bats can be killed by lung barotrauma when flying in low-pressure regions close to operating wind-turbine blades, have not been supported by reports of measurements of the pressures around the turbine blades. The diagnosis and contribution of barotrauma to bat deaths near wind turbine blades have been disputed
by other research comparing dead bats found near wind turbines with bats killed by impact with buildings in areas with no turbines.

Swim bladder overexpansion

Fish with isolated swim bladders are susceptible to barotrauma of ascent when brought to the surface by fishing. The swim bladder is an organ of buoyancy control which is filled with gas extracted from solution in the blood, and which is normally removed by the reverse process. If the fish is brought upwards in the water column faster than the gas can be resorbed, the gas will expand until the bladder is stretched to its elastic limit, and may rupture.
Barotrauma can be directly fatal or disable the fish rendering it vulnerable to predation, but rockfish are able to recover if they are returned to depths similar to those they were pulled up from, shortly after surfacing. Scientists at NOAA developed the Seaqualizer to quickly return rockfish to depth. The device could increase survival in caught-and-released rockfish.

See also

References

External links

Diving medicine
Aviation medicine
Medical emergencies
Atmospheric pressure

Barotrauma


"Advertisement for the Waldorf-Astoria" is a two-page poem by Langston Hughes, accompanied by illustrations by Walter Steinhilber, which takes the form of a parody of a magazine advertisement. The poem was first published in The New Masses in December 1931 and later in Hughes's autobiography of that time period, The Big Sea. The poem is considered one of Hughes' most direct indictments of economic inequality of the 1930s.

Structure
The first of six sections entitled "Listen Hungry Ones!" sets up the poem by taking quotes from the Vanity Fair advertisement and addressing those statements to poor people of New York. The second section, "Roomers" gives a description of the menu found at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel to those accustomed to flop-houses and soup-lines. Next in "Evicted Families" the $10,000-a-year apartments are described. The fourth section "Negroes" is written in African-American vernacular and describes the Waldorf with a sarcastic awe. "Everybody," the penultimate section of poem, continues with details about amount of carpets used and addresses directly the very people unable to experience any of the luxuries of the Waldorf. The last section, "Christmas Card," takes the poem in a more directly political direction. The gulf between rich and poor can only be bridged by revolution and the poem ends on such a note: "Listen, Mary, Mother of God, wrap your new born / babe in the red flag of revolution: The Waldorf-Astoria's the best manger we've got."  Surrounding the two-page poem the illustration appears to be a faithful depiction of an advertisement with bold, creative headings, but the caricatures in the large hotel in the center of the poem show people drinking and carousing while a car driving through the picture appears to be riding on a street made of the faces and bodies of other people.

Context
The poem was composed in response to a multi-page advertisement for the new $28 million hotel Waldorf-Astoria hotel in New York. The Great Depression had begun to hit New Yorkers and disproportionately affected minorities in the city.  The disparity between the rich and poor was widening at the onset of the Depression and Jim Crow laws furthered that economic hardship along racial lines. Hughes said of the poem:
"The hotel opened at the very time when people were sleeping on newspapers in doorways, because they had no place to go. But suites in the Waldorf ran into thousands a year, and dinner in the Sert Room was ten dollars! (Negroes, even if they had the money, couldn't eat there. So naturally, I didn't care much for the Waldorf-Astoria.)"

Critical response
The poem is viewed as a response to the economic milieu as well as cultural, racial, and class issues. "Advertisement for the Waldorf Astoria" is frequently grouped together with Hughes's other radical leftist writings of the 1930s. When Hughes first submitted his manuscript for The Big Sea, Carl Van Vechten found that "Advertisement for the Waldorf-Astoria" was "bad economics and bad poetry" but he nonetheless encouraged its inclusion in the collection stating that it was a part of Hughes's "essential history".

When it was published in The Big Sea in 1940 Richard Wright wrote of the poem that it exemplified the toughness of Hughes that he could approach even the solidarity he feels with the working class with "humor, urbanity, and objectivity".

Critics have argued that by parodying a high-priced advertisement for an even higher-priced hotel and juxtaposing those images with the most economically disadvantaged and those who would never be able to take advantage of the amenities offered by the hotel that Hughes was writing with the ideals of worker rights in mind that would later form the basis for the political and social ideals collectively referred to as the Popular Front. In his essay "The Adventures of a Social Poet" James Smethurst argues that "one of the most noted features of Popular Front aesthetics is a conscious mixing of genres and media – of 'high' and 'low,' of 'popular' and 'literary,' of Whitman and Eliot, of folk culture and mass culture, of literary and nonliterary documents." Hughes' use of vernacular mixed with high-brow cultural elements within "Advertisement…" reflects those ideals.

References

1931 poems
Poetry by Langston Hughes
Works originally published in American magazines
Works originally published in political magazines
African-American poetry
American poems

Come to the Waldorf Astoria


Labib Hussein Abu Rokan (, ; born 1911, died 20 November 1989) was a Druze Israeli politician who served as a member of the Knesset for Cooperation and Brotherhood between 1959 and 1961.

Biography
Abu Rokan was born in Isfiya during the Ottoman era. During the Arab revolt in the late 1930s, he was involved in establishing links with Abba Hushi (secretary of Haifa Workers Council) and the Haganah, and was also a member of the Histadrut-affiliated Union of Workers in Eretz Yisrael.

During the 1948 Arab-Israeli War he recruited Druze volunteers to fight in the Israel Defense Forces. Following the war, he helped establish co-operative groups in Druze and Arab villages, including Bustan, which sold vegetables. In 1950 he became head of Isfiya local council, holding the role until 1959, when he was elected to the Knesset. Although the party retained its two-seat strength in the 1961 elections, both Abu Rokan and Yussef Diab lost their seats.

In 1963 he was appointed Qadi of the Druze Religious Court, and in 1980 became a qadi in the Druze Religious Appeals Court.

He died in 1989.

References

External links

1911 births
1989 deaths
Arab people in Mandatory Palestine
Cooperation and Brotherhood politicians
Druze members of the Knesset
Israeli Druze
20th-century Israeli judges
Israeli trade unionists
Members of the 4th Knesset (1959–1961)
People from Isfiya

Labib Hussein Abu Rokan


Alexandre Calame (28 May 1810 – 19 March 1864) was a Swiss landscape painter, associated with the Düsseldorf School.

Biography
He was born in Arabie at the time belonging to Corsier-sur-Vevey, today a part of Vevey.  He was the son of a skillful marble worker in Vevey, but because his father lost the family fortune, Calame could not concentrate on art, but rather he was forced to work in a bank from the age of 15.  When his father fell from a building and then died, it was up to the young Calame to provide for his mother.

In his spare time he began to practice drawing small views of Switzerland.  In 1829 he met his patron, the banker Diodati, who made it possible for him to study under landscape painter François Diday.  After a few months he decided to devote himself fully to art.

In 1835 he began exhibiting his Swiss-Alps and forest paintings in Paris and Berlin.  He became quite well known, especially in Germany, although Calame was more a drawer than an illustrator. He is associated with the Düsseldorf school of painting. In 1842 he went to Paris and displayed his works Mont Blanc, the Jungfrau, the Brienzersee, the Monte Rosa and Mont Cervin. He taught in Geneva, where Adolf Mosengel was one of his pupils.

He went to Italy in 1844 and brought back from Rome and Naples countless paintings, among them one of the ruins of Paestum (in the city museum in Leipzig).  He showed that he was capable of understanding Italian nature; but the Alps remained his speciality.

The glaciers, emerald-green, white foaming mountain water, which split the trees during the storm, and the whipped clouds, the multi-colored rocks, half masked from fog, in the rays of the gleaming sun, are those things, which he knew to be true to nature.  We still call them the Handeckfall from Bernese upper country, in Tirol, Lake Lucerne, the forest tower (in the urban museum of Leipzig), the forest stream (Dresdener gallery) etc.

One of his most ingenious works is the representation of the four seasons and times of the day in four landscapes, a spring morning in the south, a summer midday in the Nordic flatlands, an Autumn evening, and a winter night on a mountain.  He became popular with these large works, and his popularity grew with smaller pieces and lithographies, namely 18 studies of Lauterbrunnen and Meiringen and the 24 sheets of Alpine passes.  These were widespread in France, England, and Germany and are still today used to teach this style of painting.

Calame became a correspondent of the Royal Institute of the Netherlands in 1850, he resigned the next year.

He died in Menton, France, in 1864.

An exhibition featuring more than thirty of Calame's paintings was held at the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute in Williamstown, Massachusetts in 2006.

Selected works

  Blick von Petit Saconnex auf Genf und den Montblanc, 1834, Leinwand, 31×44 cm. (Winterthur, Stiftung Oskar Reinhart)
  Die Tempelruinen von Paestum, 1847, Leinwand, 195×260 cm.(Leipzig, Museum of Art)
   Oak Trees. Philadelphia Museum of Art

References

External links

1810 births
1864 deaths
Swiss landscape painters
Düsseldorf school of painting
19th-century Swiss painters
Swiss male painters
Members of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences
Members of the Royal Academy of Belgium
19th-century Swiss male artists

Alexandre Calame


The Convento de San Marcos was a convent in the city of León, Castile and León, Spain, that is today an operating luxury parador hotel. It also contains a consecrated church and museum, and is one of the most important monuments of the Renaissance in Spain. It is one of the greatest architectural jewels of León, together with the Cathedral, the Basilica of San Isidoro and la Casa Botines. It has a highly ornamental plateresque facade.

The darkest period in the monastery of San Marcos's five centuries of history is concentrated in just four years. During the course of the Spanish Civil War cells, rooms, stables, cloisters, church, choir, museum and every fast corner of the building were transformed into impromptu dungeons or jailers' offices, in what became officially known as "Campo de concentración de San Marcos" (San Marcos concentration camp). Between July 1936 and the end of 1940, up to 7,000 men and 300 women were imprisoned at the same time. It is estimated that, over the entire war and the period immediately following, the number of Republican militia members and political prisoners that passed through its cells totaled some 20,000. In the province of León, around 3,000 deaths are recorded due to the repression, and a good number of these came from the dungeons of San Marcos.

The origins of this building lie in the twelfth century, in the days of Alfonso VII of León. His sister, the Infanta Sancha of Castile, made a donation in July 1152 to construct a modest building on the outskirts of the walled city, on the banks of the Bernesga river, where "the poor of Christ" could stay.  This would be a hospital-temple of shelter for pilgrims travelling the Camino de Santiago. Also, the building was the main residence for the Order of Santiago in the Kingdom of León. In 1176, Pedro Fernández de Castro, the first maestre of the Order of Santiago was elected as the first prior, and in 1184 he was buried in his church.

History of construction

In the sixteenth century, the medieval building was found to be in poor condition, so it was demolished and a new work was carried out thanks to a grant from Ferdinand the Catholic King in 1514. The architects appointed for this work were: Juan Orozco (church), Martin Villarreal (front facade) and Juan de Badajoz el Mozo (cloister and sacristy). However, the new work was not started until well into the reign of Charles I. It is known that the wall of the main facade of the convent was built from the entrance up to the church in 1537, and this was consecrated in 1541. In the following years, Orozco constructed the sculptures of the facade, the choir area was completed, and in 1549 Juan de Badajoz finished the sacristy. Work was suspended in 1566 due to the move of the religious community to Calera and then to Mérida, but the return of the friars to San Marcos in 1602 gave impetus to continue the work. In 1615, the staircase was built, and in 1679 was completed the still missing part of the cloister. Finally, between 1711 and 1715 there was a large expansion of the building, with another wall being raised that went from the main entrance to the river, and ending at the palace tower. This new wall perfectly mimics the one built in the sixteenth century, with any artistic difference between the two halves of the facade being barely noticeable.

Today, it is a hostel belonging to the state-owned Paradores and a church with a museum. It is necessary step in the Camino de Santiago.

See also
Plateresque style
 List of Jesuit sites
 Political prisoners in Francoist Spain

Citations

External links
 Tourism portal of Castille and León: Convento de San Marcos

Paradores
Buildings and structures in León, Spain
Renaissance architecture in León, Spain
Plateresque architecture in Castile and León
Tourist attractions in Castile and León
Francoist concentration camps
Convents in Spain

Convento de San Marcos


According to the evangelist, John 20.17, noli me tangere is a phrase Jesus says to Mary Magdalene, when she recognises him after the resurrection. The phrase is commonly translated as don't touch me. In Koine Greek, the phrase reads Μή μου ἅπτου (mḗ mou háptou), which is translated differently, as cease holding on to me or stop clinging to me. Many artists and painters have been inspired by the phrase.

Text
In the translation of Saint Jerome, the text is as follows:

"11. Maria autem stabat ad monumentum foris, plorans. Dum ergo fleret, inclinavit se, et prospexit in monumentum" - Mary [on the other hand] was near the tomb and wept. While she was weeping, she bent forwards and looked inside the tomb

"12. et vidit duos angelos in albis sedentes, unum ad caput, et unum ad pedes, ubi positum fuerat corpus Jesu.  - And she sees two angels, [dressed in] white, which were sitting, where the corpse of Jesus had been; one at the head, the other at the feet.

"13. Dicunt ei illi : Mulier, quid ploras ? Dicit eis : Quia tulerunt Dominum meum : et nescio ubi posuerunt eum." - They ask her: woman, why do you weep - she answers them: They have taken my lord, and I don't know where they have put him

"14. Hæc cum dixisset, conversa est retrorsum, et vidit Jesum stantem : et non sciebat quia Jesus est." - When she had said this, she turned around, and she sees Jesus standing [there], and she did not know that it was Jesus

"15 . Dicit ei Jesus : Mulier, quid ploras ? quem quæris ? Illa existimans quia hortulanus esset, dicit ei : Domine, si tu sustulisti eum, dicito mihi ubi posuisti eum, et ego eum tollam." - Jesus asked her: Woman, why do you weep? Who are you looking for? - She answered him, thinking he was the gardener: My lord, if it was you who took him, you should tell me where you put him, and I will remove him.

"16:  Dicit ei Jesus : Maria. Conversa illa, dicit ei : Rabboni (quod dicitur Magister). - Jesus said to her "Maria" - she turned around, and said "Raboni", which means master

"17.   Dicit ei Jesus : Noli me tangere, nondum enim ascendi ad Patrem meum : vade autem ad fratres meos, et dic eis : Ascendo ad Patrem meum, et Patrem vestrum, Deum meum, et Deum vestrum. - Jesus told her: Don't touch me, because I have not risen towards my father. Go, to my brothers, and tell them: I rise twords my father and your father, my god and your god.

"18.   Venit Maria Magdalene annuntians discipulis : Quia vidi Dominum, et hæc dixit mihi. - Maria of Magdala comes, and she tells the disciples: I have seen the lord, and that's what he told me.

Art
Latin words and phrases

Noli me tangere


The Kalyna Country ecomuseum is a heritage and eco-tourism district in East Central Alberta, Canada, named after the highbush cranberry plant, pronounced (Ka-lyn-na) in the Ukrainian language. The Ukrainian folklore states: "Without Kalyna, there is no Ukraina".

Location and promotion
Kalyna Country bills itself as the "World's Largest Ecomuseum" at 20,000 square kilometers, or more than three times the size of Prince Edward Island.  Its boundaries stretch across a broad area of Alberta east and north of Edmonton, including nearly all the areas traditionally considered part of Canada's first Ukrainian Block Settlement, the Edna-Star colony.  The area has been described as being to Ukrainian Canadians what Cajun Country is to Cajun culture.  At its peak, the area was the largest settlement of Ukrainians in the world outside Eastern Europe.

Officially, Kalyna Country comprises Sturgeon County, Thorhild County, Smoky Lake County, the County of St. Paul No. 19, the County of Vermilion River, the County of Two Hills No. 21, the County of Minburn No. 27, Beaver County, Lamont County, and Strathcona County and many of the neighbouring urban municipalities, Indian reserves and Metis settlements.

Kalyna berries were a popular source of food amongst the early pioneers, fur traders and natives. Kalyna Country is a year-round playground with culture as diverse as the landscape that offers it. Here the Aspen Parkland and the Boreal Forest converge, split by the scenic North Saskatchewan River Valley, all amidst thousands of hectares of prime agricultural land.

The main attractions include:
 Elk Island National Park known for its work with Bison conservation.
 North America's Church Capital - Lamont County claims this title, with nearly 40 churches declared historic sites, despite the small and thinly spread population.  Tours are available.
 Alberta's oldest remaining Pool Hall, in the Village of Vilna. This attraction still boasts its pool and billiards tables, as well as a barber shop and some food service.
 Ukrainian Cultural Heritage Village - a living history open-air museum showcasing East-Central Alberta's unique culture from 1892 to 1930.
 Vegreville Ukrainian Pysanka Festival - a huge Ukrainian cultural festival held every year in Vegreville and named after that town's giant model of a Ukrainian easter egg or pysanka.
 Great White North Pumpkin Fair and Weigh-Off - the first Saturday of October in the town of Smoky Lake. This is part of the Great Pumpkin Commonwealth, and searches for the largest pumpkin in North America each year.
 Fort Victoria - a former fur-trading post, and missionary centre, home to the oldest building in Alberta.
 Metis Crossing - A celebration of Metis culture in Alberta and home to Alberta's first Zip-Line attraction. Located 2 km from Fort Victoria.

Giants of the Prairies
The area is also famous for the Giants of the Prairies, a series of roadside attractions (usually Ukrainian-themed).

 World's Largest Mushrooms, Vilna
 World's Largest 'Pumpkin Patch', Smoky Lake
 World's Largest Perogy (Ukrainian dumpling), Glendon
 World's Largest Kubasa (Ukrainian garlic sausage), Mundare
 World's Largest Pysanka (Ukrainian easter egg), Vegreville
 World's Largest UFO Landing Pad, St. Paul
 World's Largest Duck, Andrew

Affiliations
The museum is affiliated with: CMA,  CHIN, and Virtual Museum of Canada.

See also
 Ukrainian Cultural Heritage Village
 Open-air museum
 List of Canadian place names of Ukrainian origin

References

External links

 http://www.metiscrossing.org

Museums in Alberta
Open-air museums in Canada
Living museums in Canada
Geographic regions of Alberta
Roadside attractions in Canada
Rural history museums in Canada
Ecomuseums
Ukrainian museums in Canada
Ukrainian-Canadian culture in Alberta

Kalyna Country


Winter's Verge is a pouer metal baund formed in Nicosia, Cyprus in 2004. Winter's Verge is ane o the best-kent baunds frae Cyprus an ane o the few airtists signed tae an internaitional record label an haein participatit in owerseas tours, maist notably wi the Finnish baund Stratovarius.

History

George Charalambous haed been performin for mony years wi his baund Spirits aw ower the island, openin for Nightingale an Antimatter amangst ither achievements. Housomeivver, Charalambous coud anerlie take the baund so far in the geographically restrictive environment. Efter his militar commitments he foond a Nicosia based keybuirdist, Stefanos Psillides, who haed been performin at a local club for a while, playin a style totally different frae the ane he is currently playin wi in the baund. Psillides set tae wirk developin his style an technique tae fulfil the veesion he shared wi George for the project, pouer metal in the vein o baunds like Rhapsody of Fire, Sonata Arctica an Stratovarius. The project wis initially named Lunar Eclipse. Charalambous an Psillides then searched for the richt guitarist that wad meet the requirements o their aims, an efter mony lineup chynges they haed foond Pericles Mallopoulos. Mallopoulos haed been playin guitar an sangin in ither local muisic venues professionally. He decidit tae focus mair on his guitar playin abilities an joined the baund. Larnaca-based drummer Andreas Charalambous wis contactit an, sharin similar muisical tastes, an aa joined the baund. As it wis discovered that the name Lunar Eclipse wis awready uised bi anither project, the baund's name wis chynged tae Winter's Verge.

Alang wi bassist Charis Achilleos, Winter's Verge recordit a 4-track demo, entitled 'Another Life, Another End', which sauld oot vera swith. Achilleos then decidit tae leave the baund due tae airmy commitments an a replacement wis foond in the shape o bassist Miguel Trapezaris, a veteran o the local metal scene an a classically-trained muisicker.

Winter's Verge then entered the studio tae record the first full-length album, entitled 'Another Life...Another End' like the demo, as the 4 sangs on the demo wur re-recordit an modified, alang wi 5 new tracks. The demo album wis distributit tae several labels an owerseas traders, gainin a respectable unnergrund follaein.

In May 2007, Pericles an Winter's Verge decidit tae pairt ways due tae personal issues. The guitarist role wis promptly filled efter a brief search bi Harry Pari, an wirk resumed wi an energetic pace on new material an further developments.

In the simmer o 2007, Winter's Verge received an affer for a record contract frae Limb Music Products. Wi the help o Mystic Prophecy sangster R.D. Liapakis, the sangs on Another Life...Another End wur re-wirked an a few new tracks addit. Being recordit in the Music Factory Studio in Kempten, Germany unner the guidance o R.D. Liapakis an Christian Schmid , the new album entitled Eternal Damnation haed a far superior soond quality tae the demo. The album wis released warldwide on 14 Mairch 2008 tae maistly positive reviews.

The baund supportit Mystic Prophecy on their first Cyprus appearance on 22/03/08.

In Aprile 2008 local Cyprus legend Chris Ioannides replaced drummer Andreas Charalambous, who left the baund for personal an professional reasons. Charalambous continues tae be the webmaster o the baund's offeecial site.

In late Mairch 2009, the baund re-entered the studio in Germany an recordit their seicont album, Tales of Tragedy. On 23 November 2009, Winter's Verge pairtit ways wi Limb Music an signed a new record deal wi German label Massacre Records. Tales of Tragedy wis released on 29 Januar 2010, while the baund wis on the road wi Stratovarius as support for the Polaris warld tour.

Winter's Verge are currently wirkin on new material, wi the as-yet untitled new album tae be recordit in Aprile o 2011.

Influences

The main influences o the baund are uisually citit as pouer metal an progressive metal baunds such as Stratovarius, Symphony X, Rhapsody of Fire, Dream Theater as well as aulder, mair classic baunds such as Metallica, Iron Maiden an Manowar. Faint daith metal influences are occasionally displayed, wi a few groulin vocals passages. The individual members cite a wide variety o influences, rangin frae Pantera an glam metal tae classical muisic an black metal.

Members

Current Line-up

 George Charalambous - Vocals (2004–present)
 Harrys Pari - Guitars (2007–present)
 Stefanos Psillides - Keybuirds (2004–present)
 Miguel Trapezaris - Bass (2006–present)
 Chris Ioannides - Drums (2008–present)

Umwhile Members

 Charis Achilleos Bass (2004–2005)
 Perikles Mallopoulos Guitars (2004–2007)
 Andreas Charalambous - Drums (2004–2008)

Discography

Albums
Another Life...Another End (demo album) (2006)
Eternal Damnation (2008)
Tales of Tragedy (2010)
Beyond Vengeance (2012)
IV (2015)
The Wolves of Tiberon (2017)

EPs
Another Life...Another End (2005)

References

Freemit airtins
Offeecial Wabsteid

Cypriot muisical groups
Muisical groups established in 2004
2000s muisic groups
Pouer metal muisical groups

Winter's Verge


Durga Puja (ISO: ), also known as Durgotsava or Sharodotsav, is an annual Hindu festival originating in the Indian subcontinent which reveres and pays homage to the Hindu goddess Durga, and is also celebrated because of Durga's victory over Mahishasura. It is celebrated all over the world by the Hindu community, but it is particularly popular and traditionally celebrated in the Indian state of West Bengal, and other states like Bihar, Assam, Tripura, Odisha, Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh (eastern parts) and some other countries like Bangladesh, Nepal, and Sri Lanka. The festival is observed in the Indian calendar in the month of Ashvin, which corresponds to September–October in the Gregorian calendar. Durga Puja is a ten-day festival, of which the last five are of the most significance. The puja is performed in homes and public, the latter featuring a temporary stage and structural decorations (known as pandals). The festival is also marked by scripture recitations, performance arts, revelry, gift-giving, family visits, feasting, and public processions called a melā. Durga Puja is an important festival in the Shaktism tradition of Hinduism. Durga Puja in Kolkata has been inscribed on the intangible cultural heritage list of UNESCO in December 2021.

As per Hindu scriptures, the festival marks the victory of goddess Durga in her battle against the shape-shifting asura, Mahishasura. Thus, the festival epitomizes the victory of good over evil, though it is also in part a harvest festival celebrating the goddess as the motherly power behind all of life and creation. Durga Puja coincides with Navaratri and Dussehra celebrations observed by other traditions of Hinduism.

The primary goddess revered during Durga Puja is Durga, but celebrations also include other major deities of Hinduism such as Lakshmi (the goddess of wealth and prosperity), Saraswati (the goddess of knowledge and music), Ganesha (the god of good beginnings), and Kartikeya (the god of war). In Bengali traditions, these deities are considered to be Durga's children, and Durga Puja is believed to commemorate Durga's visit to her natal home with her beloved children. The festival is preceded by Mahalaya, which is believed to mark the start of Durga's journey to her natal home. Primary celebrations begin on the sixth day (Shasthi), on which the goddess is welcomed with rituals. The festival ends on the tenth day (Vijaya Dashami), when devotees embark on a procession carrying the worshipped clay sculpture-idols to a river, or other water body, and immerse them, symbolic of her return to the divine cosmos and her marital home with Shiva in Kailash. Regional and community variations in celebration of the festival and rituals observed exist.

Durga Puja is an old tradition of Hinduism, though its exact origins are unclear. Surviving manuscripts from the 14th—century provide guidelines for Durga Puja, while historical records suggest that royalty and wealthy families were sponsoring major Durga Puja festivities since at least the 16th-century. The prominence of Durga Puja increased during the British Raj in the provinces of Bengal, Odisha and Assam. However, in modern times, the importance of Durga Puja is more as a social and cultural festival than a religious one, wherever it is observed.

Over the years, Durga Puja has morphed into an inseparable part of Indian culture with a diverse group of people celebrating this festival in their unique way while on tradition.

Names
In West Bengal, Odisha, Assam, Jharkhand and Tripura, Durga Puja is also called Akalbodhan (literally, "untimely awakening of Durga"), Sharadiya pujo ("autumnal worship"), Sharodotsab ("festival of autumn"), Maha pujo ("grand puja"), Maayer pujo ("worship of the Mother"), Durga pujo, or merely Puja or Pujo. In Bangladesh, Durga Puja has historically been celebrated as Bhagabati puja. Maa Durga is known as the Goddess of Power (feminine) which represents triumph of Goodness over evil.

Durga Puja is also referred to by the names of related Shakta Hindu festivals such as Navaratri, celebrated on the same days elsewhere in India; such as in Bihar, Jharkhand, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Kerala, and Maharashtra, Kullu dussehra, celebrated in Kullu Valley, Himachal Pradesh; Mysore dussehra celebrated in Mysore, Karnataka; Bommai golu, celebrated in Tamil Nadu; Bommala koluvu, celebrated in Andhra Pradesh; and Bathukamma, celebrated in Telangana.

History and origins

Durga is an ancient goddess of Hinduism according to available archeological and textual evidence. However, the origins of Durga Puja are unclear and undocumented. Surviving manuscripts from the 14th-century provide guidelines for Durga Puja, while historical records suggest the royalty and wealthy families to be sponsoring major Durga Puja public festivities, since at least the 16th-century. The 11th or 12th-century Jain text Yasatilaka by Somadeva mentions an annual festival dedicated to a warrior goddess, celebrated by the king and his armed forces, and the description mirrors attributes of Durga Puja.

The name Durga, and related terms, appear in Vedic literature, such as in the Rigveda hymns 4.28, 5.34, 8.27, 8.47, 8.93 and 10.127, and in sections 10.1 and 12.4 of the Atharvaveda A deity named Durgi appears in section 10.1.7 of the Taittiriya Aranyaka. While the Vedic literature uses the word Durga, the description therein lacks legendary details about her or about Durga Puja that is found in later Hindu literature. A key text associated with Durga Puja is Devi Mahatmya, which is recited during the festival. Durga was likely well established by the time this Hindu text was composed, which scholars variously estimate Durgato date between 400 and 600 CE. The Devi Mahatmya scripture describes the nature of evil forces symbolised by Mahishasura as shape-shifting, deceptive, and adapting in nature, in form and in strategy to create difficulties and thus achieve their evil ends. Durga calmly understands and counters the evil in order to achieve her solemn goals.Durga, in her various forms, appears as an independent deity in the Indian texts. Both Yudhisthira and Arjuna characters of the Mahabharata invoke hymns to Durga. She appears in Harivamsa in the form of Vishnu's eulogy and in Pradyumna's prayer. The prominent mention of Durga in such epics may have led to her worship.

The Indian texts with mentions of Durga Puja are inconsistent. A legend found in some versions of the Puranas mentions it to be a spring festival, while the Devi-Bhagavata Purana and two other Shakta Puranas mentions it to be an autumn festival. The Ramayana manuscripts are also inconsistent. Versions of Ramayana found in the north, west, and south of the Indian subcontinent describe Rama to be remembering Surya (the Hindu sun god) before his battle against Ravana, but the Bengali manuscripts of Ramayana, such as the Krittivasi Ramayana, a 15th-century manuscript by Krttivasa, mention Rama to be worshipping Durga. As per the legend, Rama worshipped Durga in the autumn to have her blessings before defeating Ravana. While he was preparing for the worship of the goddess, Durga hid one of the 108 flowers of lotus, very essential for her worship. Having found only 107 of 108 lotuses at the time of the worship, Rama decided to offer one of his eyes in place of that lostus. When he was about to offer his eye, Durga appeared and told him that she had only hidden the flower in order to test his devotion and she was satisfied with it. She blessed Rama and Rama continued with her worship, which is better known by Akaal Bodhan in the context. According to some scholars, the worship of the fierce warrior goddess Durga, and her darker and more violent manifestation Kali, became popular in the Bengal region during and after the medieval era, marked by Muslim invasions and conquests.

The significance of Durga and other goddesses in Hindu culture is stated to have increased after Islamicate armies conquered regions of the Indian subcontinent. According to yet other scholars, the marginalization of Bengali Hindus during the medieval era led to a reassertion of Hindu identity and an emphasis on Durga Puja as a social festival, publicly celebrating the warrior goddess.From the medieval era up to present-day, Durga Puja has been celebrated as a socio-cultural event, while maintaining the roots of religious worship.

Rituals and practices
Durga Puja is a ten-day event, of which the last five days involve certain rituals and practices. The festival begins with Mahalaya, a day on which Hindus perform tarpaṇa by offering water and food to their dead ancestors. The day also marks the advent of Durga from her mythological marital home in Kailash. The next significant day of the festival is the sixth day (Sashthi), on which devotees welcomes the goddess and festive celebrations are inaugurated. On the seventh day (Saptami), eighth (Ashtami) and ninth (Navami) days, the goddess along with Lakshmi, Saraswati, Ganesha, and Kartikeya are revered and these days mark the main days of worship with recitation of scriptures, puja, legends of Durga in Devi Mahatmya, social visits to elaborately decorated and illuminated pandals (temporary structures meant for hosting the puja), among others.
Durga Puja is, in part, a post-monsoon harvest festival observed on the same days in the Shaktism tradition of Hinduism as those in its other traditions. The practice of including a bundle of nine different plants, called navapatrika, as a symbolism of Durga, is a testament practice to its agricultural importance. The typically selected plants include not only representative important crops, but also non-crops. This probably signifies the Hindu belief that the goddess is "not merely the power inherent in the growth of crops but the power inherent in all vegetation". The festival is a social and public event in the eastern and northeastern states of India, where it dominates religious and socio-cultural life, with temporary pandals built at community squares, roadside shrines, and temples. The festival is also observed by some Shakta Hindus as a private home-based festival.The festival starts at twilight with prayers to Saraswati. She is believed to be another aspect of goddess Durga, and who is the external and internal activity of all existence, in everything and everywhere. This is typically also the day on which the eyes of the deities on the representative clay sculpture-idols are painted, bringing them to a lifelike appearance. The day also marks prayers to Ganesha and visit to pandals temples.Day two to five mark the remembrance of the goddess and her manifestations, such as Kumari (goddess of fertility), Mai (mother), Ajima (grandmother), Lakshmi (goddess of wealth) and in some regions as the Saptamatrikas (seven mothers) or Navadurga (nine aspects of Durga). On the sixth day major festivities and social celebrations start.  The first nine days overlap with Navaratri festivities in other traditions of Hinduism.The puja rituals involve mantras (words manifesting spiritual transformation), shlokas (holy verses), chants and arati, and offerings. These also include Vedic chants and recitations of the Devi Mahatmya text in Sanskrit. The shlokas and mantras praise the divinity of the goddess; according to the shlokas Durga is omnipresent as the embodiment of power, nourishment, memory, forbearance, faith, forgiveness, intellect, wealth, emotions, desires, beauty, satisfaction, righteousness, fulfillment and peace. The specific practices vary by region.

The rituals before the puja begins include the following:
 Paata Puja:  The process of making an idol usually begins with 'Paata Puja', on the day of the Rath Yatra that usually takes place around July. 'Paata' is the wooden frame that forms the base for the idols.
 Bodhana: Involves rites to awaken and welcome the goddess to be a guest, typically done on the sixth day of the festival. The amorphous sight of the goddess is consecrated into a ghata or noggin while the visible sight is consecrated into the murti or idol. These rituals are known as ghatasthapana and  pranapratistha respectively.
 Adhivasa: Anointing ritual wherein symbolic offerings are made to Durga, with each item representing a remembrance of subtle forms of her. Typically completed on the sixth day as well.
 Navapatrika snan: Bathing of the navapatrika with holy water done on the seventh day of the festival.
 Sandhi puja and Ashtami pushpanjali: The eighth day begins with elaborate pushpanjali rituals. The cusp of the ending of the eighth day and beginning of the ninth day is considered to be the moment when per scriptures Durga engaged in a fierce battle against Mahishasura and was attacked by the demons Chanda and Munda. Goddess Chamunda emerged from the third eye of Durga and killed Chanda and Munda at the cusp of Ashtami and Navami, the eighth and ninth days respectively. This moment is marked by the sandhi puja, involving the offering of 108 lotuses and lighting if 108 lamps. It is a forty-eight minutes long ritual commemorating the climax of battle. The rituals are performed in the last 24 minutes of Ashtami and the first 24 minutes of Navami. In some regions, devotees sacrifice an animal such as a buffalo or goat, but in many regions, there isn't an actual animal sacrifice and a symbolic sacrifice substitutes it. The surrogate effigy is smeared in red vermilion to symbolize the blood spilled. The goddess is then offered food (bhog). Some places also engage in devotional service.

  and : The ninth day of festival is marked with the  (fire oblation) rituals and . Some places also perform  on this day.
  and immersion: The tenth and last day, called  is marked by , where women smear  or vermillion on the sculpture-idols and also smear each other with it. This ritual signifies the wishing of a blissful marital life for married women. Historically the ritual has been restricted to married women. The tenth day is the day when Durga emerged victorious against Mahishasura and it ends with a procession where the clay sculpture-idols are ceremoniously taken to a river or coast for immersion rites. Following the immersion, Durga is believed to return to her mythological marital home of Kailasha to Shiva and the cosmos in general. People distribute sweets and gifts, visit their friends and family members on the tenth day. Some communities such as those near Varanasi mark the day after , called , by visiting a Durga temple.

  and :  involves a dance ritual performed with  (incense burner). Drummers called , carrying large leather-strung ,  Dhols and other traditional drums depending on the region, to create music, to which people dance either during or not during . Some places, especially home pujas, also observe , a ritual involving married women carrying  burning with incense and dried coconuts, on a cloth on their head and hands,

Decorations, sculptures, and stages

The process of the creation of clay sculpture-idols (pratima or murti) for the puja, from the collection of clay to the ornamentation is a ceremonial process. Though the festival is observed post-monsoon harvest, the artisans begin making the sculpture-idols months before, during summer. The process begins with prayers to Ganesha and to the perceived divinity in materials such as bamboo frames in which the sculpture-idols are cast.

Clay, or alluvial soil, collected from different regions form the base. This choice is a tradition wherein Durga, perceived as the creative energy and material, is believed to be present everywhere and in everything in the universe. In certain traditions in Kolkata, a custom is to include soil samples in the clay mixture for Durga from areas believed to be nishiddho pallis (forbidden territories; territories inhabited by the "social outcasts" such as brothels).

The clay base is combined with straw, kneaded, and then molded into a cast made from hay and bamboo. This is layered to a fine final shape, cleaned, painted, and polished. A layer of a fiber called jute, mixed in with clay, is also attached to the top to prevent the statue from cracking in the months ahead. The heads of the statues are more complex and are usually made separately. The limbs of the statues are mostly shaped from bundles of straws. Then, starting about August, the local artisans hand-paint the sculpture-idols which are later dressed in clothing, are decorated and bejewelled, and displayed at the puja altars.

The procedure for and proportions of the sculpture-idols are described in arts-related Sanskrit texts of Hinduism, such as the Vishvakarma Sashtra.

Environmental impact

The sculpture-idols for the puja are traditionally made of biodegradable materials such as straw, clay, soil, and wood. In today's times, brighter colored statues have increased in popularity and have diversified the use of non-biodegradable, cheaper or more colorful substitute synthetic raw materials. Environmental activists have raised concerns about the paint used to produce the statue, stating that the heavy metals in these paints pollute rivers when the statues are immersed at the end of the Durga festival.

Brighter colors that are also biodegradable and eco-friendly, as well as the traditional natural colors, are typically more expensive compared to the non biodegradable paints. The Indian state of West Bengal has banned the use of hazardous paints, and various state government have started distributing lead-free paints to artisans at no cost to prevent pollution.

Animal sacrifice, symbolic sacrifice

Shakta Hindu communities mark the slaying of Mahishasura and the victory of Durga with a symbolic or actual sacrifice. Most communities prefer symbolic sacrifice, where a statue of the asura is made of flour or equivalent, is immolated and smeared with vermilion, symbolic of the blood that had spilled during the battle. Other substitutes include a vegetable or a sweet dish considered equivalent to the animal. In certain instances, devotees consider animal sacrifice distasteful, and practice alternate means of expressing devotion while respecting the views of others in their tradition.

In communities performing actual sacrifice, an animal is sacrificed, mainly at temples. In Nepal, West Bengal, Odisha and Assam, animal sacrifices are performed at Shakta temples to commemorate the legend of Durga slaying Mahishasura. This involves slaying of a fowl, pig, goat, or male water-buffalo. Large scale animal sacrifices are rare among Hindus outside the regions of Bengal, Odisha, Assam, and Nepal. In these regions, festivals are primarily when significant animal sacrifices are  observed.

The Rajputs of Rajasthan worship their weapons and horses in the related festival of Navaratri, and some historically observed the sacrifice of a goat, a practice that continues in some places. The sacrifice ritual, supervised he the priest, requires slaying of the animal with a single stroke. In the past this ritual was considered a rite of passage into manhood and readiness as a warrior. The Kuldevi (clan deity) among these Rajput communities is a warrior goddess, with local legends tracing reverence for her during Rajput-Muslim wars.

Pandals and theme-based pujas

Months before the start of Durga Puja, youth members of the community collect funds and donations, engage priests and artisans, buy votive materials and help build pandals centered around a theme, which has rose to prominence in recent years. Such themes have included sex work, celebration of humanity, marginalization of queer persons and transgender persons, folk culture, celebration of cinema, womanhood,  pro-environment themes, while others have chosen metaphorical themes such as celebration of maati (literally, soil or ash) and "finding one's own light". Pandals have also been replicated on existing temples, structures, and monuments and yet others have been made of elements such as metal scraps, nails, and turmeric among others. Durga Puja pandals have also been centered around themes to acknowledge political events such as the 2019 Balakot airstrike and to protest against the National Register of Citizens of India.

The budget required for such theme-based pujas is significantly higher than traditional pujas. For such theme-based pujas, the preparations and the building of pandals are a significant arts-related economic activity, often attracting major sponsors. Such commercialized pujas attract crowds of visitors. The growth of competitiveness in theme-based pandals has escalated costs and scale of Durga Puja in eastern states of India. Some segments of the society criticize the billboards, the economic competition, and seek return to basics. The competition takes many forms, such as the height of statue. In 2015, an 88-foot statue of Durga in Kolkata's Deshapriya Park attracted numerous devotees, with some estimates placing visitors at one million.

Regional celebrations and observances

There exists variation in worship practices and rituals associated with Durga Puja, as is the case with other Hindu festivals, in the Indian subcontinent. Hinduism accepts flexibility and leaves the set of practices to the choice of the individuals concerned. Different localized rituals may be observed regionally, with these variations accepted across temples, pandals, and within families.

The festival is most commonly associated with Bengali Hindus, and with the community having variability and differences in practices. There may exist differences of practice between the puja of theme-based Pandals, family pujas (with puja of erstwhile aristocrat families known as bonedi puja), and community pujas (known as barowari pujas) of neighbourhoods or apartments.

The rituals of the puja also varies from being Vedic, Puranic, or Tantric, or a combination of these. The Bengali Durga Puja rituals typically combine all three. The non-Bengali Durga Puja rituals tend to be essentially Vedic (srauta) in nature but they too incorporate esoteric elements making the puja an example of a culmination of Vedic-Tantric practices.

Historical evidence suggests that the Durga Puja has evolved over time, becoming more elaborate, social, and creative. The festival had earlier been a domestic puja, a form of practice that still remains popular. But it had also come to be celebrated in the sarvajanin (public) form, where communities get together, pool their resources and efforts to set up pandals and illuminations, and celebrate the event as a "mega-show to share". The origins of this variation are unclear, with some sources suggesting a family in Kolkata reviving such celebration in 1411 CE. While other set of sources suggest that a Bengali landlord, named Kamsanarayan, held a mega-show puja in late 16th-century Bengal. Yet, this festival of Bengal is likely much older with the discovery of 11th and 12th-century Durga Puja manual manuscripts such as Durgotsavaviveka, Durgotsava Prayoga, Vasantaviveka and Kalaviveka. The rituals associated with the Durga Puja migrated to other regions from Bengal, such as in Varanasi, a city that has historically attracted sponsorship from Hindus from various parts of the Indian subcontinent including Bengal. In contemporary India, Durga Puja is celebrated in various styles and forms.

Durga Puja is a widely celebrated festival in the Indian states of West Bengal, Bihar, Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh (eastern parts), Assam, and Odisha. It is celebrated over a five-day period. Streets are decked up with festive lights, loudspeakers play festive songs as well as recitation of hymns and chants by priests, and pandals are erected by communities. The roads become overcrowded with revellers, devotees, and pandal-hoppers visiting the pandals on puja days. It often creates chaotic traffic conditions. Shops, eateries, and restaurants stay open all night; fairs are also set up and cultural programmes are held. People form organizing committees, which plan and oversee the pandal during the festivities. Today, Durga Puja has turned into a consumerist social carnival, a major public spectacle and a major arts event riding on the wave of commercialisation, corporate sponsorship, and craze for award-winning. For private domestic pujas, families dedicate an area of their homes, known as thakur dalan, for Durga Puja where the sculpture-idols for worship is placed and decorated with home-dyed fabric, sola ornamentations, and gold and silver foil decorations. Elaborate rituals like arati are performed and prasad is distributed after being offered to the deities. As a tradition, married daughters visit their parents and celebrate the Durga Puja with them, a symbolism alluding to Durga who is popularly believed to return to her natal home during the puja.

Durga Puja is also a gift-giving and shopping season for communities celebrating it, with people buying gifts for not only family members but also for close relatives and friends. New clothes are the traditional gift, and people wear them to go out together during Durga Puja. During puja holidays, people may also go to places of tourist attractions while others return home to spend Durga Puja with their family. It's a common trend amongst youngsters and even those who are older to go pandal-hopping and enjoy the celebrations.

The organising committees of each puja pandal hires a purohita (priest) who performs the puja rituals on behalf of the community. For the priests, Durga Puja is a time of activity wherein he pursues the timely completion of Vedic-Puranic-Tantric ritual sequences to make various offerings and perform fire oblations, in full public view, while the socio-cultural festivities occur in parallel. The complex puja rituals include periods of accurate and melodic scripture recitation. The puja involves crowds of people visiting the pandals, with smaller groups visiting family pujas, to witness the celebrations. On the last day, the sculpture-idols are carried out in immersion processions across Bengal, following which they are ritually immersed into rivers or other waterbodies. The immersion ceremony continues till a couple of days after the last day of puja.

According to some scholars, the ritual of immersing the Durga sculpture-idol into the river attracted the attention of colonial era travelers to the Bengal region from Europe, such as Garcin de Tassy and Emma Roberts. In 1831, Tassy reported that similar rituals were annually observed by the Muslim community in Bengal. Shia Bengali Muslims observed Muharram over ten days, taking out processions in memory of the martyrdom of Imam Husayn ibn Ali, and then cast a memorial Imam's cenotaph into a river on the tenth day. Tassy further stated that the Bengali rituals of Muharram included the same offerings at the annual observation of Muharram that the Hindu rituals included during Durga Puja. According to yet other scholars, the ritual of immersion in water by Hindus for Durga Puja in Bengal and Ganesh Chaturthi in the western states of India, may have grown because members of the Hindu community attempted to create a competing procession and immersion ritual to that of Muharram, allowed by the colonial British Indian government in the 19th and early 20th-centuries.

In Maharashtra, the city of Nashik and other places such as CIDCO, Rajeevnagar, Panchavati, and Mahatmanagar host Durga Puja celebrations. While in Delhi, the first community Durga Puja was organized near Kashmiri Gate by a group of expatriate Bengalis, in 1910, a year before Delhi was declared the capital of British India. This group came to be the Delhi Durga Puja Samiti, popularly known as the Kashmere Gate Durga Puja. The Durga Puja at Timarpur, Delhi was started in the year 1914. In 2011, over 800 Durga Pujas were held in Delhi, with a few hundred more in Gurgaon and NOIDA.

In Odisha, Durga Puja is the most important festival of the people of the state. Durga Puja is a very important festival for Odias, during the 4 days of the festival, the streets of the city turns into a wonderland throughout the state, people welcome the arrival of their maa by rejoicing themselves, eating tasty food, wearing new clothes, seeing different pandals across the city, family gathering and gift givings. In 2019, ninety-seven pandals in Cuttack alone, Odisha were reported to bedeck respective sculpture-idols with silver jewelry for Durga Puja celebrations; such club of pandals termed regionally as Chandi Medha. The state capital is famous for the modern themes and creativity In the pandals, while the Western part of the state has a more retro decoration theme to the pandal. In the northern parts of the state particularly Balasore, Durga Puja is celebrated with much fervor and the Odia diaspora abroad especially in Australia, which originates 95% from the district of Balasore celebrates the puja in the same manner which is done back home in Balasore. In September 2019, 160 pandals were reported to be hosting Durga Puja in Cuttack.

While in Tripura there were over 2,500 community Durga Puja celebrations in 2013. Durga Puja has been started at the Durgabari temple, in Agartala by King Radha Kishore Manikya Bahadur.

Significance
Beyond being an art festival and a socio-religious event, Durga Puja has also been a political event with regional and national political parties having sponsored Durga Puja celebrations. In 2019, West Bengal Chief Minister, Mamata Banerjee announced a grant of 25,000 to all community-organised Durga Pujas in the state.

In 2019, Kolkata's Durga Puja was nominated by the Indian government for the 2020 UNESCO Representative list of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. Durga Puja also stands to be politically and economically significant. The committees organising Durga Puja in Kolkata have close links to politicians. Politicians patronize the festival by making donations or helping raise money for funding of community pujas, or by marking their presence at puja events and inaugurations. The grant of 25,000 to puja organizing committees in West Bengal by a debt-ridden state government was reported to cost a budget a 70 crores. The state government also announced an additional grant of 5,000 to puja organizing committees fully managed by women alone, while also announcing a twenty-five percent concession on total electricity bills for puja pandal. The government had made a grant of 10,000 each to more than 20,000 puja organizing committees in the state in 2018.

A 2013 report by ASSOCHAM states West Bengal's Durga Puja to be a 25,000 crores worth economy, expected to grow at the compound annual growth rate of about 35 per-cent. Economic slowdowns in India, such as in 2019, have hence affected corporate sponsorships and puja budgets for public celebrations. In August 2019, the Income Tax Department of India had allegedly sent notices to various Durga Puja organizing committees in West Bengal, against which the ruling party of the state, All India Trinamool Congress (AITMC) protested. The Central Board of Direct Taxes denied sending any such notices, to which AITMC politician Madan Mitra is reported to have said that the intention may have been to enquire if tax deducted at source had been deducted on payments to vendors for organizing community pujas.

Economic significance
Durga Puja directly affects the economy. In 2022, the economy of West Bengal was estimated to get a boost of 50,000 crore rupees. The annual GDP of West Bengal was expected to be expanded by 20-30 percent that year. The factors responsible for this economic boost are mainly the increase of earning in transport, tourism, industry, business, shopping and other fields. The Kolkata Metro Railway recorded an earning of ₹6 crore in just five days of Durga Puja in 2022.

The famous puja pandals get sponsorship from renowned companies and labels. Usually, the dress and jewelries of the idols, the stuffs used to make the pandals, decorations, lightings are sponsored.

Social significance
Durga Puja plays a great significance in the living of certain peoples. The kumors, those who make the idols with clay and also makes other clayey products, earns lakhs of rupees by selling a single set of Durga idol of average size. Hence, it makes their annual income because idols used in other festivals are a lot more cheaper. Other professions that receive the majority of their annual income are dhaaki (plays dhaak), priest and other small homecrafts. It is assumed that these profession based small classes would become smaller in population if Durga Puja was absent.

Media attention

The day of Mahalaya is marked by the Indian Hindu community of West Bengal with Mahishasuramardini — a two-hours long All India Radio program — that has been popular in the Bengali community since the 1950s. While in earlier days it used to be recorded live, a pre-recorded version has come to be broadcast in recent decades. Bengalis traditionally wake up at four in the morning on Mahalaya to listen to the radio show, primarily involving recitations of chants and hymns from Devi Mahatmyam (or Chandi Path) by Birendra Krishna Bhadra and Pankaj Kumar Mullick. The show also features various devotional melodies.

Dramas enacting the legend of Durga slaying Mahishasura are telecasted on the television. Radio and television channels also air other festive shows, while Bengali and Odia magazines publish special editions for the puja known as Pujabarshiki (Annual Puja Edition) or Sharadiya Sankhya (Autumnal Volume). These contain works of writers, both established and upcoming, and are more voluminous than the regular issues. Some notable examples of such magazines in Bengali are Anandamela, Shuktara, Desh, Sananda, Nabakallol, and Bartaman.

Celebrations outside India

Durga Puja is celebrated commonly by both Bangladesh's Bengali and non-Bengali Hindu community. Some Bengali Muslims also take part in the festivities. In Dhaka, the Dhakeshwari Temple puja attracts visitors and devotees. In Nepal, the festivities are celebrated as Dashain.

Beyond south Asia, Durga Puja is organized by Bengali communities in the United States of America. Durga Puja celebrations have also been started in Hong Kong by the Bengali diaspora.

In Canada, Bengali Hindu communities both from Bangladesh and West Bengal, India organise several Durga Pujas. Greater Toronto Area has the most Durga Puja celebration venues organized by different Bengali cultural groups such as Bangladesh Canada Hindu Cultural Society (BCHCS), Bongo Poribar Sociocultural Association etc. City of Toronto has a dedicated Durga Temple named Toronto Durgabari where Durga Puja is organized along with other Hindu celebrations. Most of the puja venues of Toronto area try to arrange the puja in best possible way to follow the lunar calendar and timings.

Celebrations are also organized in Europe. The sculpture-idols are shipped from India and stored in warehouses to be re-used over the years. According to BBC News, for community celebrations in London in 2006, these "idols, belonging to a tableau measuring 18ft by 20ft, were made from clay, straw and vegetable dyes". At the end of the puja, the sculpture-idols were immersed in River Thames for the first time in 2006, after "the community was allowed to give a traditional send-off to the deities by London's port authorities". In Germany, the puja is celebrated in Cologne, and other cities. In Switzerland, puja in Baden, Aargau has been celebrated since 2003. In Sweden, the puja is celebrated in cities such as Stockholm and Helsingborg. The oldest and first puja to be grounded in Sweden was grounded year 1988 and is one of the oldest ones in Europe, and goes by the name Stockholm Bangiya Sanatan Samaj. In the Netherlands, the puja is celebrated in places such as Amstelveen, Eindhoven, and Voorschoten. In Japan, Durga Puja is celebrated in Tokyo with much fanfare.

Footnotes

References

Bibliography

 Sen Ramprasad (1720–1781). Grace and Mercy in Her Wild Hair: Selected Poems to the Mother Goddess. Hohm Press. .

Further reading

 Banerjee, Sudeshna (2004). Durga Puja: Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow. Rupa and Co, Calcutta. .

 Dutta, Krishna. (2003) Calcutta: a cultural and literary history . Signal Books, Oxford, United Kingdom. .
  (Chapter 6: "Of Public Sphere and Sacred Space: Origins of Community Durga Puja in Bengal.")
 Saraswati, Swami Satyananda (2001). Durga Puja Beginner, Devi Mandir. .

External links

Bengali festivals
Festivals in West Bengal
Festivals in Odisha
Festivals in Assam
Hindu festivals
September observances
October observances

Durga Puja