On the auspicious occasion of Shardiya Navratri, Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta performed Kanya Pujan — the ritual veneration of young girls as living embodiments of the Goddess — at the CM Shri School in Shalimar Bagh on Friday, October 16, 2026, and then handed over 1,400 bicycles to schoolgirls to smooth their path to education.

Kanya Pujan at Shalimar Bagh's CM Shri School

The Chief Minister washed the feet of young girls, offered flowers, and sought their blessings — a tradition central to Navratri that treats the girl child as a manifestation of Maa Jagdamba, the universal mother. 'Our Sanatan culture is so extraordinary,' Gupta wrote on X in Hindi. 'The same mother Goddess before whom the entire creation bows — we see her living form in these little girls. To offer reverence at their feet and receive their blessing is the highest fortune.'

The CM Shri School network, operated under the Delhi government, provided the setting for the ceremony, blending a religious observance with a public school backdrop — signalling both the cultural and civic dimensions of the event.

1,400 Cycles and the Road to School

The spiritual moment was followed by something immediately practical. 1,400 bicycles were distributed to girl students, with the Chief Minister framing the gesture as a way to 'make the path of their education easier and help them realise their dreams.' The cycle has long been one of the most cost-effective tools for improving girls' school attendance, particularly across neighbourhoods where distance or transport costs keep children home.

The distribution echoes the spirit of the national Beti Bachao Beti Padhao scheme, launched in 2015, which has sought to improve outcomes for girls through awareness, welfare support, and targeted interventions at the grassroots level. Delhi's event marries that policy intent with the visible symbolism of a festival.

Where Tradition Meets Governance

Across India, political leaders regularly use the nine nights of Navratri to perform Kanya Pujan — but attaching a tangible welfare delivery, 1,400 cycles in a single event, adds a layer of administrative intent to the ritual. For Gupta, whose BJP-led government is keen to demonstrate both its cultural credentials and its development record in the capital, the pairing is deliberate and pointed.

Her closing prayer on X — that 'every daughter be endowed with knowledge, courage, and capability' — captures the dual register the event was designed to strike: devotion and ambition, shakti both divine and practical.

A thousand-plus bicycles, a schoolyard full of girls, a Chief Minister touching their feet. That is today's image from Delhi — and it is one the government clearly wants remembered.