Saptami 2026 is Sunday 18 October: the dawn bath of the Nabapatrika (Kola Bou), its procession from the ghat, prana pratishtha and the start of the main puja.
Kola Bou, the banana plant bride, is carried to the pond for her bath on Saptami morning. Photo: Goutam1962, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons.
Early in the morning, before or around sunrise, the priest and a small procession take the Nabapatrika to water.
Kola Bou, the banana plant bride, is carried to the pond for her bath on Saptami morning. Photo: Goutam1962, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons.
After the bath the plants are wrapped in a new sari, usually white or cream with a red border, with the end drawn over the top like a bride's veil.
A woman in a red-bordered white sari walks past a giant Durga face in Kolkata. Photo: Surajits photography, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons.
Once the Nabapatrika is installed, the priest performs prana pratishtha (establishing life), invoking the goddess into the clay image.
Kola Bou, the banana plant bride, is carried to the pond for her bath on Saptami morning. Photo: Goutam1962, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons.
In households that hold their own puja, Saptami morning is the busiest of the year in the kitchen and the thakur ghar (prayer room).
Durga in the thakurdalan of Sovabazar Rajbari, an old family puja. Photo: Biswarup Ganguly, CC BY 3.0, Wikimedia Commons.
Old family pujas such as Sovabazar Rajbari and community pujas near the river such as Bagbazar and Ahiritola are good places to see the Saptami rites in a traditional setting.
Sovabazar Rajbari's Durga is readied on boats at Baghbazar Ghat for immersion in the Hooghly. Photo: Biswarup Ganguly, CC BY 3.0, Wikimedia Commons.
Saptami follows the awakening on Shashthi and leads into Maha Ashtami, with its pushpanjali and Sandhi Puja.
Tiers of lamps are lit for Sandhi Puja at a Kolkata community puja. Photo: Goutam1962, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons.
Saptami 2026 is Sunday 18 October: the dawn bath of the Nabapatrika (Kola Bou), its procession from the ghat, prana pratishtha and the start of the main puja.
Saptami → Next story: Shashthi: the awakening of the goddess 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.