Elaborate rituals have been lined up for the ‘Devi Navaratri’ festival of Bhabatarini Matha temple (Kali Matha temple, on Beach Road, beginning Sunday (Sept. 29).
Koti Kumkumarchana puja, Navavarna puja and homams among others will be performed durig the festival. The Koti Kumkumarchana pujas are performed by women to propitiate Goddess Kali during Navaratri. This puja, that was introduced by the Bhabatarini Charitable Trust in 2003, is being performed on a grand scale every year.
The participants are supplied ‘kumkuma’ and photographs of the deity on leaf plates and no fee is charged for participation. The puja will be conducted from 9 a.m. to 12 noon and from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. on all days of the festival that will conclude on October 8. Homams will be performed to venerate the nine forms of ‘Adishakti’ during the nine days and Navavarna puja will be performed on the Vijayadasami day, temple managing trustee Sudipta Banerjee said here on Friday.
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Navaratri, this year, will start with the ‘Kalasa Prathisthapana’ which will be performed by a team of Vedic pundits led by Vemparala Bhaskara Sarma at 7.30 a.m. on Sunday. Cultural programmes including devotional songs, bhajans and classical dances will be held from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. on all days of the festival.
Cultural programme
On the first day of the festival, a Kuchipudi dance and a Bengali cultural programme would be organised. Kuchipudi dance, devotional songs, Bharataatyam, vocal and instrumental music would form part of the cultural programmes on the other days.
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Apart from the rituals, the temple trust also organises a free medical camp once a year, where a team of 15 doctors examine the patients. A free Kuchipudi school ‘Bhabatarini Kuchipudi Dance Academy, a Bengali cultural association ‘Amra Kajon’, a library, educational aid to needy and studious children and donation of saris and clothes to needy persons are some of the other activities of the trust.