Kanya Pujan: The Ages, the Names, and How to Worship the Goddess in Young Girls

Kanya pujan — kanjak in Punjab — is the Navratri rite in which young girls are welcomed home and fed as the Goddess herself. This year's Ashtami and Navami dates for your country are in the box below.

There is a morning in Navratri when the doorbell keeps ringing. Small girls arrive in twos and threes, in their best clothes, often with a younger brother in tow. Their feet are washed, a red thread is tied on their wrists, a red mark is placed on their foreheads, and they are seated in a row and served — halwa, puri and black chana — by grown-ups who then bow to touch their feet. For that hour, in that house, they are not children. They are the Goddess.

This is kanya pujan, "the worship of the maiden". It is one of the oldest rites of Navratri, and one of the most loved. This page explains which day it is kept, the ages and names the texts give, the vidhi step by step, and what is given to the girls.

Quick overview

• What it is: the worship of young girls as living forms of the Goddess, usually with a meal and a gift.
• When: on Durga Ashtami or Maha Navami, as your family keeps it, in the morning or before midday.
• Who: girls from two to ten years old. Dharmasindhu gives a name of the Goddess for each age.
• How many: nine is the number most families aim for — one for each form of Durga. Fewer is no fault.
• The boy: many families seat one small boy with the girls, as Bhairav, the Goddess's guardian — langur in Punjab.
• The meal: halwa, puri and black chana in most of the north.

This year

Chaitra Navratri 2027: Wednesday 7 April to Thursday 15 April

9 days in New Delhi

IndiaUSACanadaUKAustraliaUAESingapore

This year

Both great days fall on Wednesday 14 April

Durga Ashtami

Wednesday 14 April

Ashtami tithi

Tuesday 13 April 17:30 to Wednesday 14 April 15:25

Maha Navami

Wednesday 14 April — the same day as Durga Ashtami. Navami begins at 15:25; the Navami worship and havan follow, by day, after that.

Navami tithi

Wednesday 14 April 15:25 to Thursday 15 April 13:22

Times are New Delhi clock time. Computed for each city from the positions of the Sun and Moon (Lahiri). Where your family or temple follows its own panchang, follow that.

Which day: Ashtami or Navami?

Both are right. Families keep kanya pujan on Durga Ashtami, the eighth day, or on Maha Navami, the ninth, by their own custom — and many simply do what their mother's or mother-in-law's house did. Some families invite girls on every day of Navratri, or on both great days.

Whichever day you keep, keep it while that tithi is running, after the morning worship of the kalash, and before the fast is broken. The dates of Ashtami and Navami follow the Moon and the local sunrise, so they can differ between India and North America; the box above gives them for your country.

Durga Ashtami: which day, and the sandhi puja · Maha Navami: the havan and the close of the nine

The ages and the names of the girls

The rite is old. The Devi Bhagavata Purana describes the worship of young girls as part of the Navratri worship, and Dharmasindhu, the eighteenth-century digest of observance that many Hindu almanacs still follow, sets out the ages — from two years to ten, "excepting a baby of one year" — and gives each age a name of the Goddess:

So a girl of two is worshipped as Kumari, "the maiden"; a girl of five as Rohini, the name also carried by the nakshatra said to be the Moon's favourite; a girl of nine as Durga herself. The names are said in the worship, one for each girl, as the tilak is placed and the offering made.

Kanya pujan vidhi, step by step

The texts give the ages and the names; the order of the worship below is the one most families follow. Keep your own family's way where it differs.

1. Invite the girls the day before, or that morning — from your own family, your building, your street. Ask the parents' permission, and tell them the time.
2. Prepare the meal in the morning, after your bath: halwa (sooji or atta in ghee), puri, and black chana cooked dry. It is offered first to the Goddess at the kalash.
3. Welcome them at the door. Wash each girl's feet with water in a plate, and dry them with a clean cloth. Some families also wash them with milk first.
4. Seat them in a row on a clean mat or cloth, facing east or north if you can, with the boy at one end.
5. Worship each girl. Place a tilak of kumkum or roli and a few grains of rice (akshat) on her forehead, tie a red thread (mauli) on her right wrist, and, if you are giving one, place a red chunri over her head. Say her name of the Goddess, or simply Om Devi and the name of the day's form.
6. Offer the light. Wave the lamp before the row of girls, as you would before the Goddess.
7. Serve the meal, and let them eat as much as they like. Do not hurry them.
8. Give the gift and the dakshina — see below — and touch their feet, or bow before them.
9. See them to the door, and ask for their blessing as they go. Only then does the family eat.

What to give the girls

Anything given with care is right. What families most often give, as custom and not as rule:

• a red chunri, bangles, hair clips or a ribbon;
• a coin or a small sum of money, as dakshina;
• fruit — a banana or an apple — and a small sweet;
• something for school: a notebook, pencils, a pencil box.

What the girls remember is not the price of the gift. It is being treated, for one morning, as someone holy.

The boy who sits with them

In many homes, one small boy sits at the end of the row. He is Bhairav, the fierce guardian of the Goddess; in Punjab he is called langur, and the girls are kanjak. He is worshipped and fed in the same way. This is family custom, not a requirement of the texts.

Questions we are asked

Kanya pujan kab hai — when is kanya pujan this year? On Durga Ashtami or Maha Navami, as your family keeps it. The dates of both, for your country, are in the box at the top of this page.

Which day is kanya pujan — Ashtami or Navami? Either. Families keep it on one or the other by their own custom; some keep it on both, or on every day of Navratri.

How many girls are needed for kanya pujan? Nine is the number most families aim for, one for each form of Durga. If you cannot find nine, worship as many as you can; fewer is no fault.

What age should the girls be? Between two and ten years old. Dharmasindhu gives a name of the Goddess for each age, from Kumari at two to Subhadra at ten, and leaves out a baby of one year.

What should be given to the girls? Commonly a red chunri, bangles, fruit, a small sweet and a coin or small sum as dakshina; many families now give a notebook or pencils. It is custom, not rule.

What is offered in kanya pujan? In most of the north, halwa, puri and black chana, offered first to the Goddess and then served to the girls.

Is kanya pujan necessary? It is part of the Navratri worship as the Devi Bhagavata Purana and Dharmasindhu describe it, and the custom of most families in the north and west. It is not the only way the festival is completed: the daily worship and the Navami havan close the nine. If kanya pujan is your family's custom, keep it as fully as you can.

Can kanya pujan be done at home if no girls are available? Families abroad, or in small households, often invite girls from friends' homes or the temple community, or join a kanya pujan held at the temple.

This page teaches. The dates are computed for each city from the positions of the Sun and Moon. Where a family or temple follows its own panchang, follow that.

Navratri: the nine nights, all on one page · The bhog for all nine days · Night 9 — Siddhidatri, the giver of attainment · Night 8 — Mahagauri, the radiant one