Jamshedpur, Sept. 23: It will be a Kumari Puja with two powerful messages: the ills female foeticide and importance of beti bachao, beti padhao.

On Maha Navami (September 29), Jamshedpur-based Vanvasi Kalyan Kendra (VKK) will organise the ritual at Bankuchia village of Patamda block in East Singhbhum, around 40km from the steel city, where more than 1,100 girls in the age group of 5 to 9 years will be worshipped.

The puja will be held in a large pandal behind an ancient Durga Bari at Bankuchia. The girls will first take bath at a village pond at 8am, wear new clothes and march towards the temple in a queue. On the way they will be welcomed by women with aarti before making way into the temple in a procession,' VKK state working committee member Ramnath Singh said.

A 25-member women team will then wash the feet of girls and polish their nails. 'The girls will be made to sit on pattal (leaf plates). Three priests will offer flowers to the girls and start the puja by chanting mantras. The girls will also be given Rs 21 each after the proceedings are over. It will be followed by a community lunch,' a VKK member said.

VKK, a service organisation dedicated to the empowerment and education of tribal population in Jharkhand, has been coordinating educational, health and economic programmes for the uplift of indigenous people besides promoting literacy, economic growth and general well-being.

'We collect donations from our members and well wishers for organising Kumari Puja. We are using this Durga Puja ritual as a medium to educate the rural population for an important cause,' Singh, also the convenor of VKK Jamshedpur unit, said.

'We have been organising Kumari Puja at different villages of Patamda block for five years now. This year, we selected 1,100 girls with support from people of Bankuchia and nearby villages,' Singh said.

He added that they were using the ceremony as an opportunity to spread awareness among rural population about the ills of female foeticide and the importance of educating girls. 'We have been spreading this message through Kumari Puja and people are gradually understanding the need to support girls. But a lot still needs to be done,' Singh said.