In Midnapore, school grants girl’s wish to be Saraswati Puja priest
Times of India | 4 February 2025
12 Kolkata: Breaking the stereotype, a Class IX schoolgirl in Kharagpur replaced a male priest and conducted Saraswati Puja on Monday. Tanwi Chakraborty (15) led the rituals, including bani archana, aarti, pushpanjali and hatey khori, as other students and teachers of The Renaissance International School sat and stood around her.
"During a school meeting before Saraswati Puja, we learned about Tanwi's desire to perform the rituals. Although the school's usual priest was present, Tanwi conducted the puja. This sends a message that girls are not lagging in any field. We worship goddesses, so why can't a girl perform the rituals?" said school director Aranyak Acharya.
Speaking to TOI, Tanwi said she aspires to be an engineer, but as she has seen her parents perform pujas at home and often joined them in the rituals, she expressed her desire before the school to conduct the puja at her institute as well. "I have been interested in rituals since childhood. Since a very young age, I have seen my mother, grandmother, and father actively participating and handling puja rituals. My father is an engineer, but he never forgot his roots and traditions. I wanted to follow him," said Tanwi, a resident of Chandrakona town.
Tanwi said she learned the rituals from her late grandmother. On Monday, she helped her father in the puja rituals at home before she turned up at school in a new off-white saree by 7.30 am. She started the puja at 8 am, confidently chanting the mantras and guiding 100-odd students with the puja rituals and offerings until a little before noon.
"Although priests have extensive knowledge, she performed the puja with devotion. The school priest guided her," a teacher said. Tanwi's mother, Sanchari, said her interest in pujas grew from her late grandmother. "She also learned from her father, Tanay, by observing him performing rituals," she said. Determined to challenge stereotypes, Tanwi said: "There is a misconception that women cannot perform puja. But over the last few years, several women have broken this glass ceiling and shown the way that women are not behind men in any aspect of life."