Durga Puja 2026 at Sri Neem Karoli Baba Mandir
That divine power
which exists in all beings as the Mother —
reverence to Her, adoration to Her!
Many people flock to Sri Neem Karoli Baba Mandir on this day to offer their reverence to the Divine Mother. In the Kirtan Hall, we are welcomed by the radiant and beautifully adorned Puja for Devi Durga.
Ma arrives! And the Kirtan gains momentum — Mahakali, Durge Namoh Namah — finally singing with Ma again! Like an ever-swelling stream, the chanting carries us all with it and floods the entire Kirtan Hall.
Ma’s chela and pujari Hanuman asks Ma to read aloud the story of the victorious Goddess, Devi Durga. With a strong and powerful voice, Ma reads the account of how the world is ruled by a demon whom the gods individually are unable to defeat. And so they decide to unite their powers, and from their combined powers the Goddess Devi Durga manifests. She alone is able to defeat the demon Mahisha — a symbol of the ego, which appears again and again in ever-changing forms — once and for all. The battle this story speaks of, Ma tells us, is not something outside ourselves, but the struggle between good and evil within us.
After Aarti, Ma goes with everyone to the Dhuni, the sacred fire site in the garden of Baba Mandir. The fire is burning, the rain is pouring outside. Everyone is sheltered as we invoke the Divine Mother in the form of the sacred fire, asking Her to burn away everything within us that hinders us on our spiritual path. Everyone has named for themselves what they wish to surrender to the fire and written it on a small card. Ma places them all into the flames and calls out to us:
What you have seen burn here with your own eyes, you can never take back again!
On Sunday, some devotees ask to sing the Bhajan Sri Guru Durga to Ma once more.
Ma’s first devotees from India brought it with them many years ago. The song is a yearning prayer to find the Devi within one’s own heart and to carry Her there forever.
Ma listens to the singing and asks us to sing it again — and then once more. The beautiful chanting lifts us all into another realm. At the end, Ma says: “What more is there to add?”
Jai Devi Ma! And then You grant each of us a moment with You as we receive the sweet Prasad from Your hands. What a blessed celebration!
