Kumari Puja is the Durga Puja rite in which a young girl is worshipped as the goddess, best known at Belur Math on Maha Ashtami. Its meaning, history and steps.
A young girl is worshipped as the goddess in Kumari Puja. Photo: Shutterpixs, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons.
Shakta tradition teaches that the goddess is present in every woman, and that she can be worshipped in a girl as purely as in an image.
A young girl is worshipped as the goddess in Kumari Puja. Photo: Shutterpixs, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons.
Details differ by tradition, but the sequence usually looks like this:
A young girl is worshipped as the goddess in Kumari Puja. Photo: Shutterpixs, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons.
Kumari Puja was practised in Bengal long before modern times, but its best-known public form today is at Belur Math.
A young girl is worshipped as the goddess in Kumari Puja. Photo: Shutterpixs, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons.
In much of North and West India, families mark Ashtami or Navami of Navratri with kanya pujan, inviting several young girls home, washing their feet and serving them food and gifts.
Sabudana khichdi, a common Navratri fasting food. Photo: Mrudit161187, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons.
For the full sequence of the festival, see Durga Puja rituals day by day.
A young girl is worshipped as the goddess in Kumari Puja. Photo: Shutterpixs, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons.
Kumari Puja is the Durga Puja rite in which a young girl is worshipped as the goddess, best known at Belur Math on Maha Ashtami. Its meaning, history and steps.
Kumari Puja → Next story: Mahalaya: the day Durga Puja begins All photo storiesMusic: Rhythm of Dhak a huge membranophone instrument from Bengal and Assam, used in Hindu religious festivals, especially Durga Puja, Sumita Roy Dutta, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons.