Hindus across the country celebrated Kumari Puja on Maha Ashtami on Tuesday as part of the five-day Durga Puja.
The main attraction of Maha Ashtami is Kumari Puja, where a pre-pubescent girl is worshipped as the “Mother Goddess.”
In the capital, hundreds of Hindu devotees offered anjali (prayers) before the virgin goddess at Ramkrishna Temple, seeking blessings for peace, prosperity, welfare, fraternity, and a change of fortune.
The worshipped girl symbolizes the power that regulates creation, stability, and destruction on earth. The goddess is bathed symbolically and dressed for the final battle, according to Hindu belief.
In earlier times, a buffalo was sacrificed to the goddess. These days, bananas, pumpkins, and cucumbers are offered instead.
Meanwhile, devotees observed Maha Saptami on Monday, the second day of Durga Puja. Draped in new clothes, large numbers of worshippers of all ages thronged puja mandaps across the country and offered prayers before Goddess Durga, seeking blessings for peace, prosperity, and welfare of the nation and its people.
According to Hindu religious belief, the world was once under threat from demon king Mahishasura, whom neither man nor god could defeat. To vanquish him, Durga emerged from the collective energies of all the gods, each of her ten arms bearing their deadliest weapons.
On the seventh day (Maha Saptami) of Durga Puja, the goddess began her epic battle against Mahishasura, which ended with his death on Bijaya Dashami (the 10th day).