The ritual has been criticized by Taslima Nasrin for being patriarchal in nature, because of the over emphasis on the married status of the goddess as well as the women. In 2017, The Times of India initiated an Internet video campaign featuring Rituparna Sengupta, that called for participation of single women, widows, divorcees, transgenders, lesbians and sex workers in Sindur Khela. The ritual has been criticized as non-inclusive in character because the participation in the ritual is strictly limited to married women only. The ritual has been criticized in the recent times for multiple reasons. Many people from adjoining areas came to Bijra to see this ritual. After the ritual worship on Mahastami, the entire married womenfolk of the village celebrate Sindur Khela. In the village of Bijra near Memari in Purba Bardhaman district, the family pujas of Ghosh and Bose family celebrate Sindur Khela on Mahastami. After that the married women engaged in Sindur Khela. After bathing the nabapatrika and the following ritual worship, sindur is applied on the forehead of the goddess. In Dubrajpur, the Sindur Khela is celebrated on Mahasaptami itself. In some parts of West Bengal, Sindur Khela is celebrated before Vijayadashami. Unmarried women and widows are barred from participating in the ritual, but a recent campaign by the Calcutta Times has revived the practice of just women - be it married, widowed, transgender individuals or women of the red-light area, to play with Sindoor to show that this is a universal bonding for all women, all sisters and not restricted only to married women. Family tiffs and petty quarrels between neighbours are settled through this ritual. Through the ritual of Sindur Khela, the Bengali Hindu women pray for long and happy married lives of each other. Sindur Khela symbolizes the power of womanhood in protecting her husband and children from all evil. According to commonly held belief, if a woman plays Sindur Khela by following the proper custom, she will never be widowed. Finally they offer sweets to each other as prasad. Then they smear each other's faces with sindur. Then they put sindur on each other's shankha, pala and noa, the conch shell, coral and iron bangles respectively, which are worn by the married Bengali Hindu women. Following that the women smear each other's foreheads with sindur. They also offer her sweets and betel leaves. Each of the women perform arati and smear the goddess' forehead and feet with sindur. The women are usually dressed in white saris with red borders and adorn traditional jewelries. It is followed by Devi Baran, where the married women bid farewell to the goddess. The ritual worship of the goddess concludes with the Visarjan Puja. Women pose for photographs after Sindur Khela in Sainthia, West Bengal
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