Tags: Holiday.
Kanya pūjā (कन्या पूजा) is a Hindu holiday celebrated on the eighth and ninth day of Navaratri. Nine young girls representing the nine forms of Goddess Durga are worshiped and it is a custom to wash the feet of these girls as a mark of respect for the Goddess and then offer new clothes as gifts by the devotee. There is also a ritual purification and chanting of mantras. She is made to sit on a special pedestal. She is worshiped by offering ‘akshat‘ (rice grains) and by burning incense sticks.