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Navratri

Navaratri, the most elaborately celebrated Hindu festival in India is celebrated these days with brim and brio. Navaratri is a festival that is nine days long and usually celebrated in the Hindu Month of Ashwin. The essence of this festival consists of fasts and worship of nine aspects of Durga, one on each of the nine days. Navaratri  is known as the Festival of Nights honoring the nine forms of Durga.

The celebration is associated with goddess Durga. For each of these nine days, she is revered as Durga, Bhadrakali, Amba, Annapurna, Sarvamangala, Bhairavi, Chandika, Lalita and Bhavani, all of them being different forms of the Goddess Durga. Fasts are observed, prayers are told and the blessing of the Goddess is sought. Mother Goddess comes with her children on the 10th Day and is celebrated as the Dussehra after she became victorious by killing the demon on the 9th day.

Navaratri Festival coincides with the end of the rainy season. This season is considered to be an auspicious one as it is generally associated with the sowing of seeds, and watching new seeds sprout - a sign of prosperity and abundance. Most people consider it the best time of the year to undertake or start new ventures.

Navaratri is celebrated most elaborately in Bengal and Mysore in India. The festival of Navaratri is popularly known as Durga Puja in Bengal. After these nine days comes the Dashami, the tenth day, which is the day of the famous festival of Dussehra or Vijaya Dashami.    

 Navaratri is celebrated with equal importance all over India irrespective of cultural and regional differences. During the Navaratri days there is a festive mood in the air all over India.

In Tamil Nadu, the first three days of the festival are dedicated to Lakshmi, Goddess of Beauty and Prosperity; the next three days to Durga, Goddess of Righteousness, and the last three days to Saraswati, Goddess of Music and Learning. In Andhra Pradesh the temple in the house is decorated with clay images of the Deities. A special sweetmeat or sweet rice coloured yellow with turmeric is made on every day to offer to the household gods.

In Maharastra on the first day of navaratri the idol of Yogeshvari, a benign form of Durga, is installed in the house and the Haldi-Kum kum ceremony is held. In Panjab people fast for seven days and on Ashtami, the eighth day, devotees break their fast by worshiping young girls who are supposed to be representatives of the Goddess herself by offering them the traditional food.

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