We are inviting you to our annual worship in honor of the goddess Kali Bhavatarini, the form of the Mother intimately known, loved and worshipped by Sri Ramakrishna at the Dakshineswar temple in Kolkata. This worship consists of a very elaborate ritual and homa fire, traditionally done at night. During the worship we invoke the presence of Dakshina Kali in our little image and then honor Her with many kinds of gifts, chants and songs. At the close of the ceremony we invite Her to return to the formless and distribute Her “blessing” in the form of shanti jal/peace water. In the early hours of the morning, most likely around 4 or 5 am, we share a prasad “breakfast”. You may attend all or part of this wonderful celebration; coming and going is part of the night as many people must work the next day. We don’t keep to a timetable; here is a rough schedule:
10:00pm a short description of the puja given by Gitaprana
the puja begins
2am homa fire
3am flower offering, conclusion of puja, shanti jal
4am prasad
We encourage you to bring gifts for the Mother. What gifts would you bring to your mother? The ritual requires gifts like jewelry,cosmetics, perfume, clothing and flowers. You can also bring food to be offered. With all these gifts and offerings bear in mind that the Mother should be the first one to enjoy them. Please don’t taste the for, sniff the flowers, wear the jewelry etc.
As always we are extending a special invitation to our “kirtan-wallah” friends and all other singers to come and offer song to the Mother. In many ways, devotional music is one of the most special offerings of all.
We will make our overnight spaces available to all-night puja attendees who wish to rest after the festivities. We will not be asking the usual donation for this.
We hope to see you at this wonderful celebration.