On Day 8 of the Navratri Festival, Goddess Mahagauri is worshipped. She is known as the symbol of purity and serenity. She rides a bull that’s why she is also known as Goddess Vrisharudha. Mahagauri is the combination of two words Maha and Gauri where Maha means extreme and Gauri means white complexion.
Ashthami-Kanya Pujan
The Navratri festival is incomplete without Kanya Pujan. It is one of the most important rituals of the Navratri festival and takes place on the Ashtami (Day-8) or Navami (Day-9)of Navratri . It is also popular with the names Kumari Pujan, and Kanya Pujan.
It is the ritual where 7 or 9 young girls are worshipped. Those devotees who are fasting during the Navratri festival, open their fast after conducting Kanya Pujan. It is believed that by conducting Kanya Pujan at your home all the negative energies and all the sins are getting removed. During Kanya Pujan one boy also called as Langoor or Lunkda is also invited with the girls for pujan. The boy is considered as one of the forms of Bhairav Baba..
Procedure Ashthami-Kanya Pujan
Meals include poori, chole, Halwa, rice, Nariyal (coconut) is being prepared after taking the bath in the morning. Once girls stepin the house it is the ritual to wash their feet. After that roli is applied on their forehead and Kalwa or relegious thread is tied on their hand.
Firstly the meal prepared is offered in front of Goddess Durga. After that girls sit on the floor and devotees offer the food to them. Once girls leaving from the house devotees offer them money, and gifts as a part of the ritual. The use of garlic and onion is restricted while preparing parshad (meal) for kanya Punjan.
On day 1, some devotees placed Khetri (grain in a mud pot) in their house. After the completion of Kanya Pujan, this Khetri is immersed by devotees in the nearby pond or river.
The Momma Clan 
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