Every year during Ashwin Navaratri, Shree Maa selects a little girl to be the Kumari in a puja that Swamiji performs on the eighth evening of Navaratri. This puja is symbolic of honoring divinity in human form.

This year our Kumari was little two-and-a-half year-old Tridipa Ramdas. When Tridipa arrived at the temple, Shree Maa and some of her helpers rushed the little girl into the dressing room to dress her up like the Goddess.

Shree Maa put a red cloth with bright glittery design around her, clipped a special crown to her head, and adorned her with jewels. Shree Maa was especially happy while painting Tridipa’s face, and sometimes Tridipa would say “mirror” so she too could marvel at her evolution as the Goddess.

The time had come and our Kumari was fully dressed. We carefully carried the tiny Goddess out into the temple and sat her on a special peetham. Swamiji then came, sat in front of her, and performed a mesmerizing puja. He poured so much love onto the tiny Goddess that she blossomed into Kumari Maa right before our eyes.

It is hard to believe that a child under the age of three could be attentive for an entire puja, but not only was our little Kumari attentive, she also performed namaskar to Swamiji, prayed during the puja, attempted to perform the mudras that Swamiji was performing, and sometimes she giggled with excitement.

It was so fun to watch that we wanted to share this picture post of the Kumari Puja from the eyes of a two-and-a-half year old.