by Anupam Ganguly AGV 1
Kali Puja is an important occasion for the East Indian diaspora in Noida and every year, they eagerly await to celebrate it traditionally. The festival is observed on the new moon day (Deepannita Amavasya) of the Hindu month Kartika and coincides with the Lakshmi Puja day of Diwali. Kali Puja is also known as the Deepannita Puja.
This year, Kali Puja was celebrated on October 31st at the Ayodhya Ram Mandir theme premises in Ved Van, Sector 78, Noida. The puja was performed to erase all negative energies and to welcome spiritual progress and material prosperity.
Devotees lit hundred eight diyas in front of the Mother Goddess to seek blessings for the well-being of their families, to usher in prosperity in their homes by discarding all evils. The rituals and offerings continued till late into the night, adhering to tradition after which Bhog was distributed to everyone present. Earlier, the fifth Foundation Day was celebrated followed by a cake-cutting ceremony. Enthusiastic members heartily took part in it. The late night failed to dampen the spirit of pandal-hoppers as they thronged the Kali Puja pandal.
Just a day back, devotees lit fourteen diyas or oil lamps in honour of their ancestors.
Kali Puja is celebrated to seek the blessings of the Goddess for overall happiness, health, wealth, and peace. The major significance of the puja is to invoke the Goddess to destroy the evil that resides in us as well as the outside world. Goddess Kali, also known as Shyama Kali, is the first of the ten incarnations of Goddess Durga. Therefore, Kali Puja is also known as Shyama Puja.
After the celebrations till the wee hours of the morning, the idol of Mother Goddess was immersed with due reverence the next day.
Well, the Kali Puja is always something to look forward to and get immersed in the festive fervour.
