Thousands of devotees, including yours truly, joined Maha Ashtami prayer today, the second day of Durga Puja. One of the most memorable moments of Ashtami is “Kumari Puja” wherein Maa Durga is worshipped as a “Kumari” or the Virgin form. This mould is the most powerful form of Mahashakti. A girl aged between one to sixteen, symbolising the Kumari form of Devi is worshipped in front of the idol of Goddess Durga. The Kumari form of the Goddess was emphasised as the most dynamic form by the devotees since yesteryears as Kumari Shakti is the basis of all creations.

The scriptures mention the great care with which the Kumari is selected to be worshipped as the earthly representative of Devi Durga. The quality required in the girl has to match the dynamism, purity and serenity of Maa Durga. A calm, serene and an unmarried girl with a bright disposition between one to sixteen years, who has not yet reached her puberty and is bereft of desire, worldly pleasures and anger is the right requisite for the Kumari Puja. Depending on the age of the girls they are worshipped in the various forms of the Goddess.

Kumari Puja is held mainly on Ashtami or sometimes on Navami. In the dawn of Ashtami, the Kumari is bathed in Ganga water and is clad in a red Benarasi Saree. She is then adorned with flowers and jewelry, Alta is applied to her feet and a ’tilak’ of sindur on her forehead. The young Kumari fasts the whole day until the Puja is over. On a decorated chair she is made to sit before the goddess and a flower from the Devi’s hand is placed in her hand. Placed before her are flowers, bel (wood apple) leaves, incense sticks, lamps, ‘noibiddo’ and other things required for Puja. The purohit then chants the mantras and the sound of dhak fills the atmosphere. After the Puja the divinity of the Goddess Durga is said to be seen in the girl. It is customary to gift the girl with gold, silver and clothes.

Below are a few pix of “Kumari Puja” that was performed today in our locality. And on this occasion, a niece of mine decorated my hands with Mehendi…she is into fashion designing; hence her creativity was at full flow. It was a bit tiring…and felt like an unending wait to get the designs to settle in and not let your hands get wet etc but finally when the Mehendi dried up, the design had come out very beautifully.

Overall a lovely day indeed!

{All pix (C) Suparn@; Video sourced from Youtube}