Brooklyn NY mandir celebrates 25th anniversary of 1st Kali Karagam Puja in North America

By Romanee R Kalicharran

The Shri Maha Kali Devi Mandir in Brooklyn, NY celebrated its silver anniversary with the first-ever Karagam Puja in North America.
The three-day event was held between July 19 and July 21, 2024, and was a multi-ceremony public event. The puja was centred around the Karagam (vessel pot), which is built, decorated, and carried to bless and heal the community with the energy of the Goddess.
Although there are 17 main deities worshipped in the temple, Mariamma, the Universal Mother/Goddess of Rain is the central deity, and Kamaskhi and Meenakshi Amma are represented by the two Karagams.
This worshipping has been called “Kali Mai Puja”, “Madrasi Hinduism” and “Shaktism,” interchangeably as many of the Indo-Caribbean hail from both South Indian and North Indian ancestry. The Karagam Puja itself originated in Tamil Nadu (formerly Madras) and surrounding areas and was transported to Guyana and across the Indian Diaspora due to Indian indentureship.
Harsh conditions and new terrain did not sway spiritual custodians from persevering. Mariamman temples were eventually erected in these new lands.

Devotees seek Amma’s healing from near and far. The late Pujari Basdeo Mangal, a child at the time, was entrusted to carry on the teachings by the elders and served as a Karagam boy carrying the sacred vessel on his head during the Karagam Pujas. He was respected as a notable pujari in Blairmont village and across Guyana, Trinidad, the US, Canada, and England, throughout his lifetime.
It was his migration to New York that led to the establishment of the Shri Maha Kali Devi Mandir Inc and in 1998, it became the first registered Caribbean “Amma Kovil” or Kali Temple in NY, USA. This led to the first-ever Karagam Puja in that part of the world in August 1999. With the cooperation of the parks and police departments, SMKDM In. initiated beach cleaning initiatives, has been granted permits, police escort, and street closures, for peaceful execution of the puja since then.
Today, the non-profit organisation is run by Pujari Bhoopchand Anil Mangal (spiritual educator), the executive board, and devoted members. They celebrated the moment in history when their temple broke barriers at a time of cultural misunderstanding and marginalisation among the larger Hindu community.

For them, the 25th Karagam Puja signifies more than just the anniversary of the divine ceremony, but a remembering of how their presence as a people was finally solidified and became a springboard for similar mandirs to follow.
This Karagam Puja followed the same spiritual protocols as it was passed down from the gurus. Active participants such as Thappu players, pujaris/pujarins, decorators, etc, followed a strict 21-day home-cooked vegetarian fast, gathered grains to include the community effort in the sacred Kanji rice (a type of soup made from grains, grated coconut, onions, and spices) and joined hands in deep cleaning the mandir and redressing all the temple murtis (statues) for its opening ceremony. The puja activities included waterside puja to Ganga and Kateri Amma, Hanuman Jhandi by Pandit Indar Singh, street procession, and spiritual healing for devotees in need.

The puja programme produced by Romanee Kalicharran features dances, songs, speeches, and drumming from the temple youth, a certificate ceremony honouring over 80 key members, and four lifetime achievement awards for elder traditional bearers, including the founding pujari’s widow, Shrimati Rajdei Mangal.
Highlights were shown of archival footage/photos by researchers/filmmakers: Stephanos Stephanides, Manauvaskar Kublall, and Gaurika Mehta whose collective work covers over four decades. Queen Borough Director Kevin Morris and South Asian Liaison Sookrani Dhanpat of the NYC Mayor’s Office addressed the congregation with words of recognition and support.
Social and Cultural Pioneer of Guyana, Ravi Dev sent a message of historical recounting and congratulations.
The event was a multisensory experience of music, bells, drumming; fragrances of incense, sambrani, and colours of turmeric, sindoor, neem, fruits, flower garlands, coconuts, among the many natural elements essential to the worship.
Trance dance and yellow, white, and red clothing made for an ebb and flow of shakti (energy) in a wave of harmonious movement. It was a proud moment for the ancestors and Mariamman temples overall that these ancient practices twice transmigrated have a prominent place. As the 25th Karagam Puja came to a close, the flag of Mariamma continued to fly above the temple building until the next big puja and so it continues for future generations.