When is Kali Puja 2023? Date, Puja vidhi, Shubh muhurat and significance

Digital Desk: Hindus celebrate Kali Puja, also known as Shyama Puja, as an auspicious festival dedicated to Goddess Kali. On the new moon night of Ashwin month, when most people worship Goddess Lakshmi, Hindus in West Bengal, Odisha, and Assam adore Goddess Kali. Goddess Kali is recognized for vanquishing evil and represents divine energy, also known as shakti or feminine force. Other names for this occasion are Bengali Lakshmi Puja or Kojagar Puja.

Goddess Kali is considered the mother of universal strength, and her form represents the capacity for transformation. Worshipping her is a way for devotees to seek her blessings in destroying evil as well as happiness, health, prosperity, and serenity.

Drik Panchang states that this year's Kali Puja will take place on November 12. The Amavasya Tithi will begin at 02:44 p.m. on November 12 and end at 02:56 p.m. on November 13. The Kali Puja Nishita Time falls on November 12 from 11:39 p.m. to 12:29 a.m. on November 13.

According to mythology, Nishambhu and Shambu, two asuras, caused chaos and devastation in heaven. After a war between the Gods and the demons, the demons gained strength and the Gods were completely defeated. 

This led the gods to seek the help of Goddess Durga, and infuriated by this destruction, Kali was born out of Durga’s forehead to restore balance in the world. 

 Goddess Kali intended to annihilate anyone and everyone who stood in her path, and her power and rage led her on a slaughtering rampage, killing, slashing, and burning all the demons to save the earth. Their split heads were turned into a garland that the goddess wore around her neck.

When the other gods saw Goddess Kali's wrath, they urged Lord Shiva to contain her. And all it took for Lord Shiva to stop her was to lie down in the path of the goddess. As soon as Goddess Kali stepped on Lord Shiva, she was mortified by the act, and that’s when her tongue protruded out of her mouth, signifying her realization that she had stepped on him unknowingly, vanishing all her anger.

Maa Kali is worshiped in two separate forms: the furious form of Kali is black in color (Shamshan Kali), and the mild form of Kali is blue in color (Shyama Kali).

Rituals for Kali Puja are typically performed at night. Worshippers offer red hibiscus flowers, which are thought to be the goddess's favorite flower and light a ghee lamp. Offerings of sweets, fruits, dry fruits, flowers, and jaggery are made to Maa Kali to seek her blessings and to promote the family's well-being.

Since then, Maa Kali has been worshipped with a tongue out. Four arms and a necklace of skulls; one hand holds a sword, the other an asura's head.