Kumari Puja, an age-old tradition observed during Maha Ashtami of the Durga Puja festival, symbolizes the divine feminine energy.

Even as India continues to report cases of crime against women and female foeticide, a seven-and-a-half-year-old girl was worshiped as the living embodiment of Goddess Durga during the sacred ritual of Kumari Puja at Bholananda Sevashram in Agartala on Tuesday.

Kumari Puja, an age-old tradition observed during Maha Ashtami of the Durga Puja festival, symbolizes the divine feminine energy.

The ritual involves worshiping a young pre-pubescent girl as an incarnation of Devi, emphasizing the sanctity and importance of womanhood.

At dawn, the chosen Kumari was bathed, draped in a red sari, adorned with flowers and jewellery, and had a vermillion tilak applied on

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