Puja & Celebrations
The month-wise schedule includes about 60 festival celebrations each year
The Math has pujas and celebrations for all major festivals, including the birthdays of the Holy Trio, birthdays of the Direct Disciples, birthdays and pujas of Incarnations, Saints, and Deities.
One of the major festival celebrations is the Durga Puja. Durga Puja was first celebrated at Belur Math (the headquarters of the Ramakrishna Math & Mission) in 1901. Since then Durga Puja has been celebrated at Belur Math year after year. The festivities are grand – with pujas going on for 5 days, a fun fair, and exciting crowds.
Mother Worship in India
Worship of God as Mother has prevailed in India from prehistoric times. It was perhaps in vogue in Mohenjodaro-Harappa civilization. In the Rig Veda, there is a wonderful hymn known as Devi-Suktam (which is chanted during Durga Puja days) in which the Divine Mother declares that She moves with the Rudras, Vasus, Adityas, and all other gods, that She is the power of all gods, that She is the Queen of the world, and so on.
Worship of the Divine Mother is prevalent all over India – from Kanyakumari (famous for its Kanyakumari temple) to Kashmir (Kshirbhavani temple) and from Rajasthan (Amba temple) to Kolkata (Kalighat temple).
