The Pal family are residents of Jairampur in Arambagh, Hooghly. The worship of Goddess Jagadhatri started in this house 16 years ago. This Goddess is well-known to the locals as 'Pal Bari's Chhoto Ma' (The Younger Mother of the Pal Family). But why this name? Behind it lies a history almost 175 years old! This history has woven a folk tale, or legend, into this Puja! Jagadhatri Puja 2026 at Jairampur Pal family is on October 30.
The origin of Jagadhatri worship in the family back to
around 1850. The main character of this 'tale,' Bibhutibhushan Pal, is the
ancestor three generations before the present generation,
According to family information, Bibhutibhushan had gone to
Krishnanagar for some specific work in the mid-nineteenth century. It was the
time of Diwali—the darkest new moon night (Amavasya). He spent that one night
in Krishnanagar. And, on that very night, Bibhutibhushan was blessed with a
vision of Goddess Jagadhatri in a dream. The Goddess appeared to him in the
form of a young girl (Balika Rupa), holding a lotus in one hand and a bow and
arrow in the other.
It is said that at that time, Bibhutibhushan received the
divine command to worship the Mother. However, he fell ill and passed away
before he could fulfill the dream-mandate. Before his death, Bibhutibhushan
instructed his son, Mahananda Pal, to make arrangements to start the Mother's
Puja in the Pal house. Although Mahananda initially carried out his father's
command, he too fell ill later, and the Puja stopped.
Subsequently, Mahananda's son, Bisweswar Pal, restarted the
Puja in 2010. His father, Mahananda, passed away the following year.
Bisweswar’s son, Debraj, informed that because Goddess Jagaddhatri initially
gave the divine command in the form of a young girl, and since both his father
and grandfather were the youngest sons (Kanishtha Santan) of the family, the
Goddess of this Puja in the Pal house became known as 'Chhoto Ma' (The Younger
Mother).
It is further heard that Bisweswar and one of his uncles
also received a divine command later, but they saw the Goddess in their dreams
in the form of a serpent! Moreover, it is said that a snake was also seen on
the Mother's altar in the temple within the Pal house! Due to all these
incidents, this Puja is held with both reverence and a sense of mysterious
curiosity in the minds of the devotees, which makes this worship unique.