Kali Puja

About Kali Puja

While much of India worships Lakshmi on the Diwali new-moon night, in Bengal, Odisha, Assam and Bihar the goddess worshipped is Kali, the dark, ferocious form of the Mother. Images of Kali are installed in homes and pandals, and worship goes on past midnight with hibiscus flowers, rice, lentil and fish offerings, and the sound of conch shells. The late hour and the new-moon dark link the day to Tantric worship, in which Kali is a goddess of power over fear and death, and some temples keep a vigil around a cremation ground. At some temples a goat has traditionally been sacrificed, a practice that is contested and banned in a number of states. For many devotees, the goddess is a protective mother rather than a figure of fear.

Entries tied to it

KaliThe goddess worshipped.TantraThe tradition many of the midnight rites come from.