India, Sept. 23 -- Transgenders have begun celebrating the Navaratri Puja of Goddess Durga here since Thursday.
On the first day of Navaratri, the transgenders belonging to the Odisha Kinnar Akhada worshipped Maa Durga by setting up Kalash at Navadurga Kothi in the Palaspalli area. They brought holy water from the Bindusagar pond in morning following the Bilwa Baran ritual on Wednesday. The nine-day long worship commenced with all the rituals by Brahmins and servitors.
A total of 21 transgenders would offer prayers to Maa Durga during the Navaratri and consume only a one-time meal a day. Goddess Durga would be worshipped in nine forms with different attires during nine days, said transgender Meera Kinnar.
All the rituals would be performed as per the sacred scripture. Around 200 people would be offered Prasad every night. "We are making arrangement for distributing Prasad for 2,000 people on the Mahastamee of Maa Durga. On the ninth day, a wedding ceremony of young girls will be held. Programmes like Bhajan and most popular folk dance Dandia will be organised by the transgender group for two days starting from September 27," Meera added.
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