Kanya Pujan (Navratri) - Vidhi, Significance & Items

Kanya Pujan is performed on Ashtami (the eighth day) or Navami (the ninth day) of Navratri, with families choosing one as per their tradition. Some perform it on both days. The girls invited are usually between the ages of two and ten years, as girls below this are considered too young and above it are seen as crossing into adulthood. It is performed after the morning puja, once the girls have been invited and welcomed with respect.

Prepare these before the girls arrive: 1. A clean low seat or mat for the girls to sit on. 2. A bowl of water and a clean towel to wash and dry their feet. 3. Roli or kumkum and rice (akshat) for the tilak. 4. A mauli (sacred red thread) to tie on their wrists. 5. Flowers and a small ghee diya for the aarti. 6. The bhog - puri, halwa (sooji), and kala chana (black gram). 7. Gifts (dakshina) - coins, fruit, sweets, bangles, ribbons, stationery or small toys.

Perform the worship with love and respect: 1. Welcome the girls warmly at the door and seat them on a clean mat. 2. Wash their feet with water, dry them gently, and apply tilak of roli and akshat on their foreheads. 3. Tie a mauli on their wrists and offer flowers. 4. Perform a small aarti before them with a ghee diya, treating them as the goddess. 5. Serve the bhog - puri, halwa and chana - with affection, ensuring each girl eats well. 6. Offer gifts and dakshina as per your means. 7. Finally, touch their feet, seek their blessings and see them off respectfully.

Along with the nine girls, many families invite one young boy, worshipped as Batuk Bhairav or Langur, the guardian who accompanies and protects the goddess. He is welcomed, given tilak and a mauli, served the same bhog and offered a gift, just like the girls. His presence is said to complete the worship, as the protector stands beside the divine mother.

Kanya Pujan teaches that the divine mother lives in every girl, instilling respect for women and the girl child. It is believed to bless the household with prosperity, harmony and the goddess's grace, and to remove obstacles. Beyond ritual, it carries a powerful social message - honouring, feeding and gifting young girls as forms of Shakti is itself an act of devotion that the goddess receives directly.

Invite the girls in advance and treat them with genuine warmth, never as a mere formality. Ensure the food is freshly made, pure vegetarian and offered without onion or garlic. Never scold or rush the girls, and let them eat to their heart's content. The spirit of seeing them as the goddess matters far more than the scale of the gifts - sincerity is the true offering.