Do you celebrate Kanya Puja or Kanjak every year?? India is now celebrating its one of the most auspicious festivals Navratri. Generally, it’s a nine-day long festival, but this year Maa Durga has decided to bless everyone for an extra one day, and that is why Navratri, this year is being celebrated for 10 days. This 9 day or 10 day long is a celebration of the supreme feminine power Maa Durga.
Kanya Puja which is held on the eighth day or the ninth day of Navratri, i.e. either on the Maha Ashtami or the Maha Navmi carries a special significance. Performed on the eighth (Ashtami) or ninth (Navami) day of Navratri, this sacred ceremony is a representation of the fact that since Navratri is a celebration of feminine divinity, and the purest and the most innocent forms of Maa Durga are young children, thus these young girls are worshipped and honoured as the nine forms of Maa Durga. It is deemed that if one worships this living form of Maa Durga, it will bring prosperity, good health, peace and happiness.
Significance of Kanya Puja
Kanya Puja is known by different names across the country of India like Kanya Pujan, Kumari Puja or Kanjak. Since time immemorial it has been a sacred practice to worship Maa Durga , the supreme feminine divinity or as we fondly call her Shakti. Shakti means energy. The traditional folktales and Hindu mythological stories Maa Durga resides in these young females as they are symbolic of innocence, purity, virtue and strength.
By honoring and celebrating these young kids, believers intend to invoke the blessings and traits of Maa Durga’s nine forms or roop. People perform Kanya Puja at their homes to ask for the divine blessings of this feminine superpower. This ceremony and tradition is a way to pay reverence to femininity and a way to honour the power of a woman and her inner strength. This tradition of Kanya Puja teaches us that all women and girls are forms of Maa Durga and deserve the same respect and honour aa this revered deity. Practicing this puja with full devotion and dedication will please Maa Durga, and invite positivity, remove negativity, delete the blockages in life and ring in prosperity and happiness.
Kanya Puja Vidhi (Step-by-Step Rituals)
Kanya Puja or Kanjak is a ritual which should be performed with devotion and dedication. Given below is the Puja vidhi and rituals to be followeed for best results:
1. Place of worship/puja to be prepared
- Clean your house and also neatly clean the place of worship.
- Worship the idol or the picture of maa Durga that has been established at the start of Navratri.
2. Properly welcome the nine young females or forms of Maa Durga
- Send proper invitations to nine Kanya or nine young females who are a symbol of nine forms of Maa Durga.
- One young boy who is fondly called Langur is also called for the Puja. He represents Bhairav who was the fearless protector of the deity.
3. Honour the Kanyas by washing their feet
- wash the feet of the girls in order to show respect.
- Cover their heads with red chunri, apply tilak and tie the sacred thread on their hands.
- Apply a red tilak or kumkum on their forehead and tie a kalava (sacred thread) on their wrists.
4. Offer them Prasad
- In most houses the nine Durga personified Kanyas or Kanjaks are served black chana vehgetable (black gram seeds), halwa and puri. In some houses potato or pumpkin vegetable prepared without onion and garlic are also served.
- The same dishes are served to Maa Durga before serving them to the young girls.
5. Offering Gifts
- The nine Kanyas or Kanjaks and the Langur are then offered gifts and money as token of love and respect.
- Then after touching the feet of these nine girls they are properly bid adieu.
Kanya Puja Timings 2025
Some perform the Kanya Puja or Kanjak on the Maha Ashtami and some on the Maha Navmi. This year in 2025, Mahas Ashtami is on tuesday, the 30th of September 2025 and Maha Navmi is on Wednesday, the 1st of October 2025. The shubh muhurat for the Kanya puja is decided by the moon placement and positions. This year the timings as per Panchang are as follows:
- Kanya Puja 2025 Date:
- Maha Ashtami: 30 September 2025 (Tuesday)
- Maha Navami: 01st October 2025 (Wednesday)
- Shubh Muhurat for Puja:
- On Maha Ashtami: 5.00 AM to 6.12 AM and 10.40 am to 12.10 PM
- On Maha Navami : 4.53 AM to 5.41 AM and 8.06 AM to 9.50 AM
Anyone who is not able to perform the Puja on the above timings if they are medically unfit or any other reason, can perform it any other time convenient to them with full faith and devotion towards Maa and respect towards woman.
Benefits and blessings of Kanya Puja
- Performing Kanya Puja with dedication rings in peace, health, wealth and contentment
- Performing this Puja brings positive energy and subtracts negativity.
- People performing this Puja are blessed with health and longevity.
- A connection and a bond with the supreme feminine divinity strengthens with each ritual of Puja.
- All 9 forms of Maa Gurga bless those who perform Kanya Puja.
Conclusion
Celebrating the supreme female divinity by performing the Kanya Puja or Kanjak Puja yields the best results when people respect and honour women in their daily lives. Respecting only deity will not be helpful if we do not feel compassion and empathy for females around us. Just remember, these young little girls and their glorious innocence is the face of the divinity, Maa Durga in our universe.
Everyone should remember that all nine forms of Maa Durga resides in these cute little young girls. If we are inviting Maa Durga with so much humility and faith inside our homes, our lives and hear, we must have the same feelings for all young females and for that matter all females. This will bring compassion, peace, health, wealth, prosperity, peaceful relationships, positivity and better lives.