Taras Shevchenko

Kali Puja
Goddess Kali
Observed by	Hindus
Type	Hinduism
Celebrations	Fireworks
Observances	Puja, prasadam
Date	Ashwayuja 30 (Amanta) Karthika 15 (Purnimanta)
2025 date	20 October
2026 date	8 November
2027 date	29 October
Frequency	Every year

Kali Puja (ISO: Kālī Pūjā), also known as Shyama Puja or Mahanisha Puja,^[1] is a festival originating from the Indian subcontinent, dedicated to the Hindu goddess Kali. It is celebrated on the new moon day (Dipannita Amavasya) of the Hindu calendar month of Ashwayuja (according to the amanta tradition) or Kartika (according to the purnimanta tradition). The festival is especially popular in the region of West Bengal, and other places like Mithila, Jharkhand, Odisha, Assam, and Tripura, as well as the town of Titwala in Maharashtra, along with the neighbouring country of Bangladesh.

Description of Kali in Sanskrit texts during the late medieval period point to her growing popularity alongside other goddesses.^[2] She appears in the vernacular genre of mangalkavya in the 17th century, and the Kalikamangalkavya describes worship to Kali.^[3]

Kali Puja became widespread in the eighteenth century through patrons.^[4] In Bengal during the 18th century, King Krishnachandra of Nadia also made this puja wide spread.^[5] Kali Puja saw a surge in popularity in the 19th century, coinciding with the rise in prominence of the Kali devotee Sri Ramakrishna among Bengalis. This period marked a significant shift, as affluent landowners began to sponsor the festival extensively, leading to grander and more elaborate celebrations.^[4] Along with Durga Puja, Kali Puja is the biggest festival in Tamluk, Barasat,^[6] Barrackpore, Naihati, Sonamukhi (Bankura), Dhupguri, Dinhata, Tapshitala. It is also famous in Bhagalpur of Bihar.

During Kali Puja worshippers honor the goddess Kali in their homes in the form of clay sculptures and in pandals (temporary shrines or open pavilions). She is worshipped at night with tantric rites and mantras. She is prescribed offerings of red hibiscus flowers, sweets, rice, and lentils. It is prescribed that a worshipper should meditate throughout the night until dawn.^[7] Homes and pandals may also practice rites in the Brahmanical (mainstream Hindu-style, non-Tantric) tradition with ritual dressing of Kali in her form as Adya Shakti Kali and no animals are sacrificed. She is offered food and sweets made of rice, lentils, and fruits.^[8]

However, in Tantric tradition, animals are ritually sacrificed on Kali Puja day and offered to the goddess.^[5] A celebration of Kali Puja in Kolkata is held in a large cremation ground^[9] (Kali is believed to dwell in cremation grounds).^[10] Barasat-Madhyamgram, Barrackpore, Naihati, Basirhat, Tamluk, Ranaghat region of South Bengal and Siliguri, Dhupguri, Dinhata, Coochbehar area of North Bengal is well known for their majestic pandals, lightings and Idols. Meanwhile Barasat's Kali Puja celebration is the largest in the entire West Bengal. Durga Puja of Kolkata is often said synonymously with Kali Puja of Barasat. The region experiences Lacs of footfalls during the days of the festival. People from different regions gather to witness the majestic pandals.

The pandals also house images of Kali's consort, Shiva, two famous Bengali Kali devotees named Ramakrishna and Bamakhepa, along with scenes from mythology of Kali and her various forms, including images of the Mahavidyas, sometimes considered as the "ten Kalis." The Mahavidyas is a group of ten Tantric goddesses headed by Kali.^[11] People visit these pandals throughout the night. Kali Puja is also the time for magic shows, theater, and fireworks.^[8] Recent custom has incorporated wine consumption.^[12]

In the Kalighat Temple in Kolkata, Kali is worshipped as Lakshmi on this day. The temple is visited by thousands of devotees who give offerings to the goddess.^[5][9] Another famous temple dedicated to Kali in Kolkata is Dakshineswar Kali Temple, where Sri Rāmakrishna performed rites.^[a]

Although the widely popular annual Kali Puja celebration, also known as the Dipanwita Kali Puja, is celebrated on the new moon day of the month of Kartika, Kali is also worshipped in other new moon days too. Three other major Kali Puja observations are Ratanti Kali Puja, Phalaharini Kali Puja and Kaushiki Amavasya Kali Puja. Kaushiki amavasya Kali Puja is greatly associated with the goddess Tara of Tarapith as it is considered the day when Devi Tara appeared on earth and blessed sadhak Bamakhepa, also according to the legends on this day the doors of both the "Naraka" and the "swarga" open for some time, while Ratanti puja is celebrated on Magha Krishna Chaturdashi and Phalaharini puja is celebrated on Jyeshta Amavashya of Bengali calendar. The Phalaharini Kali Puja is especially important in the life of the saint Ramakrishna and his wife Sarada Devi, since on this day in 1872, Ramakrishna worshipped Sarada Devi as the goddess Shodashi.^[13] In many Bengali and Assamese households, Kali is worshipped daily.^[14]

Generally all music dedicated to goddess Mother Kali is called 'Shyama Sangeet' in Bengali. Two famous singers of this Bengali Shyama Sangeet are Pannalal Bhattacharya and Dhananjay Bhattacharya. Pannalal Bhattacharya's elder brother Prafulla Bhattacharya and middle brother Dhananjay Bhattacharya were the first music teachers of saint artist Pannalal Bhattacharya. Dhananjay Bhattacharya stopped singing devotional songs after finding devotional spirit in his brother Pannalal. However, after the demise of Pannalal Bhattacharya, he contributed again in Bengali music with many devotional songs by his sweet, melodious voice.

• Banerjee, Suresh Chandra (1991). Shaktiranga Bangabhumi [Bengal, The Abode of Shaktism] (in Bengali) (1st ed.). Kolkata: Ananda Publishers Pvt Ltd. ISBN 81-7215-022-9.
• Fuller, Christopher John (2004). The Camphor Flame: Popular Hinduism and Society in India. Princeton University Press. ISBN 978-0-691-12048-5.
• Gambhirananda, Swami (1955). Holy Mother Shri Sarada Devi (1st ed.). Madras: Shri Ramakrishna Ashrama.
• Harding, Elizabeth U. (1998). Kali: The Black Goddess of Dakshineswar. India: Motilal Banarsidass Publishers. ISBN 978-81-208-1450-9.
• Kinsley, David R. (1997). Tantric Visions of the Divine Feminine: The Ten Mahavidyas. University of California Press. ISBN 978-0-520-91772-9.
• McDaniel, June (2004). Offering Flowers, Feeding Skulls: Popular Goddess Worship in West Bengal. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-534713-5.
• McDermott, Rachel Fell (2001). Mother of My Heart, Daughter of My Dreams: Kali and Uma in the Devotional Poetry of Bengal. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-803071-3.
• McDermott, Rachel Fell; Kripal, Jeffrey John (2003). Encountering Kali: In the Margins, at the Center, in the West. University of California Press. ISBN 978-0-520-23240-2.

• McDermott, Rachel Fell (2011). Revelry, Rivalry, and Longing for the Goddesses of Bengal: The Fortunes of Hindu Festivals. Columbia University Press. ISBN 978-0-231-12919-0.
• Kali Puja. Translated by Saraswati, Swami Satyananda. 1st World Publishing. 1999. ISBN 1-887472-64-9.

• Media related to Kali Puja at Wikimedia Commons
• Kali Puja Archived 12 April 2019 at the Wayback Machine celebrated in India and Bangladesh