Mothers will worship Mother Goddess: For the first time in the history of Kolkata, women priests will conduct public Durga Puja; Ravindra Sangeet along with verses, mantras in his worship

(New Tradition of Worship) Left to Right… Paulomi Chakraborty, Semanti Banerjee, Dr. Nandini Bhowmik and Ruma Roy. The four women have been organizing important events like weddings, griha pravesh in the city for a decade, but this will be the first time that they will perform idol worship as priests.

A new example is going to be set in Kolkata this Navratri. For the first time in history, public Durga Puja will be conducted by four women priests. South Kolkata Club, which has been recognized for innovation on Durga Puja, has taken this decision. Pradyumna Mukherjee of the 66 Palli Puja Committee, which conducts puja in the club, says that it has never happened before that from Khunti Puja (the initial worship of making a pandal) to Vijaya Dashami, a woman priest has performed the puja. But in our club a team of four women will start this new tradition.

This time the theme of worship is ‘Worship of Mother Goddess by Mothers’.
They have their own unique way of worshiping them. Songs of different genres like Rabindra Sangeet, Rajinikanta, Dwijendra Geet along with the mantras of worship will be a special attraction. Dr. Nandini Bhowmik, Ruma Roy, Semanti Banerjee and Paulomi Chakraborty have been organizing important events like weddings, griha pravesh in the city for a decade, but this will be the first time that they will perform idol worship as priests. “We feel there is a need for the modern generation to interpret scriptures in an appropriate manner,” Mukherjee said. He is hopeful that people will accept this change, so this time the theme of the puja is ‘Goddess Worshiped by Mothers’.

On the other hand, Nandini says that we are doing extensive research to convert priesthood into an art. During this we found that many people nowadays prefer to engage in other activities instead of engaging in the rituals of worship. Our aim is to engage such people in the worship work with interest.

A film has also been made on their struggle.
Taking inspiration from Nandini’s life and work, the film ‘Brahma Jaaneen Gopon Kommoti’ (Brahma is known, what is the secret work) has also been made. The main character gets married into a narrow minded family. Where women’s views were not given importance in worship and religious practices, the story of the film was built on the struggle to overcome these challenges.