Today is Ashtami- the eighth day of Navratri. In my home, we traditionally celebrate the day with a very unique ceremony called Kanjak or Kanchka, which is essentially glorifying and adoring Durga or Devi by pampering our daughters who are said to be a personification of the Great Goddess. We wash the little girls’ feet, put a little tikka , feed them halwa-puris and give them a little gift. It really is a very sweet tradition.
Today is also the day when I like to do a little Saraswati puja with my kids. They don’t quite get glorifying the Devi/Durga, but they understand that Saraswati is the Goddess of music, books, art and all stuff related to school! They are very happy to pray to her for some knowledge and ask for more story books or fun projects. I am quite satisfied with that.
In between soccer matches, I tried telling my kids about the significance of the day. Their response: kanjak and Durga/Saraswati Puja are all fine, but don’t forget Dusherra! They just wanted to hear (for the zillionth time) about Ravana and his battle with Ram, the mechanics behind the bridging of the ocean and how monkeys could talk and their weapons etc etc. Then they clamored for a Dusherra celebration with their friends. They proposed all sorts of fun things we could do at the celebration. So watch out for our post: AmaraMoms’ Dusherra 2009 coming soon!
[...] Meanwhile, we are nearing the end of the Navaratris. It’s Durga Puja for all my Bong friends- and Kanjak for the Punj folks- We’ll get one of our Bong friends to write about her Durga Puja celebrations, but in the mean time, here is an entry about Ashtami, Kanjak and Durga Puja from last year. http://amaramoms.com/2009/09/26/todays-agenda-soccer-ashtami-kanjak-durga-and-saraswati-puja/ [...]