Jagadhatri Puja (Devnagri: जगद्धात्री, Bengali: জগদ্ধাত্রী) is one of the important festivals celebrated mainly in the Hooghly district of West Bengal. Devotees worship and celebrate reincarnation of goddess Durga in the name of Jagadhatri and create the splendid ambiance with high festive spirits. The festival is also celebrated at Chandannagar, Krishnanagar, Nadia and Kolkata after Durga Puja and Kali Puja in the month of Kartik.
In 2019, Jagadhatri Puja will be celebrated on 3 November (Sunday) to 7 November (Thursday).
Jagadhatri Puja is celebrated with immense glee and joy in Hooghly district of West Bengal.
The festival was initiated by Sarada Devi, Sri Ramakrishna’s wife who was believed to be reincarnation of the Goddess and still observed with high spirits in the centers of the Ramkrishna Mission all over the world.
The Puja is popularly called as the reincarnation of goddess Durga, the savior to destroy evil and set peace on the earth.
The festival is celebrated in the grandiose manner by setting huge idols of the Goddess Jagadhatri in spectacular pandals amidst stunning illumination.
The idol of goddess is decked up beautifully by red clothes and ornaments. The goddess is also presented garland around the neck.
The idol is made similar to that of Goddess Durga as Goddess Jagadhatri also holds a conch and a bow in her two left hands and in her two right hands, a chakra and a five-headed arrow and her mount is a tiger.
Passages from Chandi, the sacred text, are recited on this day and later the image of the goddess is immersed as in Durga Puja. Devotees gather together to worship the Goddess and celebrate the occasion with full devotion.
The festival of Jagaddhatri Puja is celebrated in the splendid manner on the ninth day of the moonlit fortnight in the month of Kartik or November and the date depends on the Bengali calendar.