JIVITI PUJA

Falls on : July - August Conducted on : Fridays Puja Performed by : Married Women Must Serve Dish : Puran Poli

Jivti is an incarnation of Parvati, a goddess who is believed to protect children. On any one of the Fridays in the month of Shravan (July-August), Jivti Puja is conducted. Married women perform this Puja. Married women are invited for lunch by the female members of their parental home. This person can even be her mother's sisters or cousins, her own elder and married cousins or women from her father's side, as long as the hostess is not from her husband's home. At this meal, among various sweets and delicacies, puran poli is a must-serve.

In the evenings, after the Puja roasted 'Chana' (chickpeas) mixed with milk and sugar are given to married women along with the traditional offering of Haldi and Kumkum. Traditionally, on every auspicious occasion, married Maharashtrian women personally apply haldi at the base and Kumkum in the centre of the forehead of other women. This gesture (not extended to widows, divorcees and unmarried women) is reciprocated and is typically Maharashtrian.