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Dharma Katha · Season 2: Navratri · Episode 98

Tomorrow morning, in hundreds of thousands of homes, there will be a knock at the door, and a small girl will be standing there. Perhaps she is six. Perhaps nine. Perhaps she lives next door, or she is a niece, or the daughter of a friend. She is wearing her best clothes, a little shy, a little excited. And when she comes in, the grown-ups of the house will kneel down in front of her, and wash her feet.

Missed the previous story? Listen to Episode 94 first.

Source note. Label: tradition. Kanya Puja, or Kumari Puja, is living tradition across much of India, kept on Ashtami or Navami, and its details vary by family and region. The washing of feet, the red thread and tilak, the aarti, the food of puri, chickpeas and halwa, the gifts, and the inclusion of a boy as Bhairava or Langur, are widely described customs. The names of the girls by age, Kumari to Subhadra, are from the Devi Bhagavata Purana, book three, as given in Vettam Mani's Puranic Encyclopaedia on wisdomlib.org. The Kumari Puja at Belur Math in 1901 is from the history of the Ramakrishna Mission, given briefly. The reflections are my own.

Note: this episode is narrated with an AI voice and the script was written with AI assistance. Sanskrit verses are checked against published editions; corrections are welcome.