Navratri Kanya Puja 2024: Understanding Traditions, Importance, and Auspicious Timings

Kanya Puja, also known as Kumari Puja, is an auspicious Hindu festival celebrated to honor and worship young girls as manifestations of Goddess Durga. This ritual holds great importance in Hindu culture and is celebrated on the eighth or ninth day of Navratri. This year, Kanya Puja falls on April 16, 2024. Let us take a closer look at the rituals, significance and auspicious timing of this festival.

Importance of Kanya Puja

In Hinduism, girls are considered symbols of purity and power. They are believed to possess the power and strength of Goddess Durga. Kanya Puja is a way of honoring and acknowledging the divinity in young girls. Kanya Puja is also considered a way to seek blessings from the Divine Feminine for prosperity, fertility and protection.

Auspicious time of Kanya Puja

Ashtami Tithi of Shukla Paksha of Chaitra month starts on April 15 at 12:11 PM. It will end on April 16 at 1:23 PM. According to the Hindu lunar calendar, fasting and worship are performed on the Ashtami Tithi of Chaitra Navratri on April 16.

Ceremony of Kanya Puja

The main ritual of Kanya Puja involves worshiping nine maidens representing the nine forms of Goddess Durga with great devotion and respect. These girls are usually between 2 and 10 years old. They wear traditional clothes and are given presents and gifts as a token of gratitude and love. The puja begins with washing the girls' feet to purify them and show respect. She is then adorned with new clothes, bangles, bindis and other accessories to make her look like a goddess. After this, they are made to sit on a decorated platform or mat and are offered fruits, sweets and other traditional delicacies.

Puja involves offering flowers, incense, lamps and other sacred objects while chanting mantras in honor of Goddess Durga. It is believed that by worshiping these maidens one can be blessed with all the divine forms of Goddess Durga. After completing the puja, the girls are given dakshina (money) and prasad (sacred food) as a token of appreciation. This rite is also very important in promoting gender equality and respect for women. Kanya Puja is celebrated in various parts of India with great enthusiasm and fervor. In some regions it is also known as Kanjak Ashtami or Kanjak Pujan. People decorate their houses and pandals with bright colors and lights and women wear traditional attire to perform puja.