Kali Puja

Culture of origin: Hindu · Cultural

Holiday sources: Hinduism

While most of India worships Lakshmi at Diwali, West Bengal, and places such as Odisha, Assam, Tripura and Jharkhand, worship the goddess Kali on the new moon. She is worshipped at night, with tantric rites and offerings of red hibiscus flowers, sweets, rice and lentils, in homes and in pandals that people visit all night; it is also a time of magic shows, theatre and fireworks. Thousands visit the Kalighat temple in Kolkata, where Kali is worshipped as Lakshmi that day. Drik Panchang takes the day whose midnight the new moon covers, and for Lakshmi Puja the day whose evening it covers, so the two can differ.