ABSTRACT
The aim of the puja is to please and pay respect to a goddess, most often to Goddess Durga or Lakshmi Devi, the goddess of happiness, prosperity, and wellbeing. The term kanya puja already indicates to whom the worship is directed: to kanyas. The private type of kanya puja is normally less conspicuous than the ones at temples as it is most often performed inside the homes. For many families in Himachal kanya puja plays, as also the temple ritual, an important part on the concluding days of the Navaratra, either on the eighth or the ninth day. Only young girls are chosen to participate in kanya pujas. The things used in worship and presented to the kanyas connote auspiciousness as well. Most widespread is the divinizing of ancestors, in particular women called satis, who agreed to be cremated along with their deceased husbands.
