Every year, as Durga Puja celebrations gather momentum, a banana plant draped in a white sari with a red border finds a place beside Lord Ganesha in puja pandals.
Commonly known as Kola Bou, the figure is one of the festival’s most distinctive sights. However, what appears to be a banana plant dressed as a bride is part of a larger ritual involving nine sacred plants collectively known as Nabapatrika.
Worshipped on Maha Saptami, the seventh day of Durga Puja, Nabapatrika represents the Goddess in her vegetative form.
The tradition brings together nine plants, each associated with a particular deity or manifestation of divine power, reflecting the close relationship between religious belief, agriculture and nature.
The banana plant occupies the central position in the arrangement, while the other eight plants are tied to it using a creeper, traditionally the white Aparajita, and yellow thread.
The bundle is then dressed in a sari and installed in the puja mandap, where it is worshipped as a manifestation of Goddess Durga.
What is Nabapatrika Snan?
The word Nabapatrika is derived from naba, meaning nine, and patrika, meaning leaves or plants. Although often translated as “nine leaves”, the term refers to nine specific plants tied together and worshipped as a single sacred entity.
Snan means bath. Nabapatrika Snan is the ceremonial bathing of the plant arrangement, performed in the early hours of Maha Saptami.
In Kolkata, the Nabapatrika is traditionally taken to the Ganga for the ritual, while in other parts, the ceremony takes place at a nearby river, pond or other water body.
The nabapatrika is taken to the Ganges for a snan in Kolkata (Photo: @horek_rokom / X)
After the bath, the arrangement is dressed usually in a white sari with a red border before being carried back to the place of worship. The ritual is also referred to as Nabapatrika Snan-o-sthapan, signifying the bathing and subsequent installation of the sacred plants.
The ceremony follows Shashthi, when the arrival of Goddess Durga is ceremonially marked and preparations for the main days of worship are completed. Nabapatrika Snan is one of the defining rituals of Saptami and precedes the day's principal worship.
The nine plants & their significance
Each of the nine plants represents a particular deity, bringing together different aspects of divine power within the Nabapatrika.
The banana plant, known as Kola, represents Goddess Brahmani. Its prominent position gives the entire arrangement its popular name, Kola Bou.
The plant is valued for its fruit, flower, leaves and stem, all of which have long been used in everyday life and food traditions.
The colocasia plant, known as Kochu, represents Goddess Kalika. Familiar in Bengali kitchens, the plant is valued for its edible parts, which require appropriate preparation before consumption.
The turmeric plant, or Holud, represents Goddess Durga. Turmeric holds an important place in Indian culinary traditions and religious ceremonies, where it is used as a spice, pigment and ritual ingredient.
The Jayanti plant represents Goddess Kartiki. It is commonly identified with Sesbaniasesban, although botanical identification may vary across regional traditions.
Draped in traditional, the nabapatrika forms an essential element in rituals of Durga Puja. Here seen in a puja pandal in Nazira (AT Image)
The bael tree, known as Bel, represents Lord Shiva. Its leaves are particularly significant in Hindu worship and are commonly offered during rituals dedicated to the deity.
The pomegranate plant, or Dalim, represents Goddess Raktadantika, a fierce manifestation of the divine feminine. Its numerous seeds are often associated symbolically with fertility and abundance.
The Ashoka tree represents Goddess Shokarahita, whose name signifies freedom from sorrow. The tree is deeply rooted in Indian cultural and literary traditions.
The MaanKochu, commonly identified with a large-leaved arum, represents Goddess Chamunda. Although related to colocasia, it is treated as a distinct plant in the traditional arrangement.
Finally, the rice plant, known as Dhan, represents Goddess Lakshmi, the deity associated with prosperity and abundance. Rice has been central to Bengal’s food culture and agrarian economy for generations, making its presence particularly significant.
What does the ritual signify?
The symbolism of Nabapatrika extends beyond the individual plants and their associated deities. Together, they represent the many forms of divine power and the importance of vegetation in sustaining human life.
Banana, rice, turmeric, colocasia and pomegranate are familiar components of food and domestic life. Other plants in the arrangement are culturally significant trees or have roles in traditional agricultural and medicinal knowledge.
Their collective worship reflects a worldview in which nature is not merely a backdrop to religious life but an integral part of it.
The ritual is also significant because the Nabapatrika is worshipped alongside the principal idol of Durga. The Goddess is thus represented not only through a sculpted image but also through a living arrangement of plants.
A nabapatrika adorns a puja pandal in Guwahati, draped in a white saree with red border (AT Image)
Why is Nabapatrika called Kola Bou?
The banana plant’s bridal appearance has given rise to the popular belief that Kola Bou is the wife of Lord Ganesha, beside whom she is traditionally placed in the Bengali Durga Puja tableau.
However, this is a popular folk interpretation rather than the principal religious understanding of Nabapatrika. The nine-plant arrangement is widely regarded as a manifestation of Goddess Durga herself, representing her presence in the natural world.
A Bengali folktale offers an explanation for the banana plant’s association with Ganesha. According to the story, Ganesha was preparing to leave for his wedding when he returned home and found his mother, Goddess Durga, eating an unusually large quantity of rice.
When he asked her the reason, she expressed concern that her future daughter-in-law might not feed her after the marriage.
Ganesha is said to have presented his mother with a banana plant as his bride, assuring her that she would never have to worry about being fed.
The tale, passed down through popular tradition, gives Kola Bou a familiar domestic character. However, it is best understood as folklore rather than the historical origin of Nabapatrika.
Amid the magnificent idols, elaborate pandals, dazzling lights and rhythmic beats of the dhaak, Nabapatrika represents a quieter aspect of Durga Puja. Its significance lies not merely in the banana plant dressed as a bride but in the collective worship of nine plants associated with different manifestations of divine power.
As devotees celebrate the arrival of Goddess Durga, Nabapatrika offers another way of understanding the divine feminine - as a symbol of nourishment, fertility, abundance and renewal.
Through nine humble plants, the tradition reflects the enduring relationship between spirituality, agriculture and the natural world on which human life depends.