Kumari puja in Belur Math on Maha Ashtami

Aparajita Gupta / TNN / Oct 21, 2012, 10:55 IST

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Following the age-old tradition, this year also Ramakrishna Mission (RKM), Belur Math will celebrate Kumari Puja on maha ashtami on Monday. This year, a five-year old girl will be worshipped.

Kumari puja in Belur Math on Maha Ashtami

KOLKATA: Following the age-old tradition, this year also Ramakrishna Mission (RKM), Belur Math will celebrate Kumari Puja on maha ashtami on Monday. This year, a five-year old girl will be worshipped. The main priest for the puja will be Swami Dayaghanachaitanya and the tantra dharok will be Swami Tattwavidananda.
Kumari Puja was started by Swami Vivekananda himself in 1901. During that time nine girls were worshipped as Kumaris. Swamiji himself worshipped one of them. But now only one girl is worshipped.

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This girl is usually selected from a family, which is associated with the RKM so that they have clear idea about the lineage of the girl. Spiritually any girl who has not reached her puberty level or is incapable of procreation is considered as Kumari. It looks for girls who are within five to seven years old for Kumari Puja. It is important that the girl should be Brahmin by birth and the parents have strong spiritual background.

"The girl should be from a family which has a predominant religious background," said one of the Maharajs of RKM.
"The girl will come to the mission in the morning and our people in presence of the girl's mother will start decking her up for the puja from 8.30am. The puja will begin at 9am," he said.
The head priest usually chooses the Kumari from atleast five-six girls. They believe, it is worshipping God in living mother form. Starting at 9am in the morning the Kumari puja lasts for 45-50 minutes.
The volunteers of the puja prepare the girl in red saree and she then sits beside the Durga idol, where she is worshipped by the pujari (priest) amidst sound of dhak and later all the senior swamis including the president Maharaj offers her pranam.

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