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All about Navratri ...
Navratri means Nine (Nav) Nights (Ratri). Navratri festival sacred to the Mother Goddess are celebrated in the month of October / November. It is a festival of worship, dance and music celebrated over a period of nine nights. It is celebrated from the first to the ninth date of Ashwin Shukla Paksha of the Hindu Calendar for the worship of the Goddess Durga.
Navratri means Nine (Nav) Nights (Ratri). Navratri festival sacred to the Mother Goddess are celebrated in the month of October / November. It is a festival of worship, dance and music celebrated over a period of nine nights. It is celebrated from the first to the ninth date of Ashwin Shukla Paksha of the Hindu Calendar for the worship of the Goddess Durga.
It is during the nine days that one is supposed to thank the female principle of nature and the goddesses connected to them. As farming communities were too busy during the day doing their harvesting in the fields their only free time was in the evening to celebrate the festival of the goddesses. The nine nights are devoted to the three main goddesses of Hinduism - Parvati, Lakshmi and Sarasvati. Navratri, Navratras (as said in the north) or Navrathri (the south Indian way) or Durga Puja (Bengali way) - different names, different idols, different manner of celebration, but the underlying theme remains the same. This nine-day period from the new moon day to the ninth day of Ashvina is considered the most auspicious time of the Hindu Calendar and hence is the most celebrated time of the year. Although it has different names in different parts of India, it is celebrated by Hindus from all regions.
It is said that Navratri or nine nights (Nav-nine and Ratri-nights), is celebrated with great enthusiasm as the conquest of good over evil. Every region has its own myths and reasons to explain this.
They are the most important nights in the whole year, both for men and gods. The nine nights when the goddess, or the cosmic energy, is most vibrant - the navratri, the beginning of festivity and prosperity!
The nine different aspects of Devi (Goddess) are worshipped over the nine days. Goddess Durga is believed to exist in many forms like Goddess Bhavani, Jagdamba, Mahakali etc. The first nine days of the Ashwin are devoted for worshipping the Divine Mother -`Maa`. These nine days are divided and devoted to the Trinity of God worshipped in a female form - three days for Durga (Goddess of valor) three days for Lakshmi (Goddess of Wealth) and three days for Saraswati (Goddess of Knowledge and Art). On the fifth day (Lalita Panchami - pacham), it is traditional, to gather all books, light a lamp and call upon Saraswati. The eighth (aatham) and ninth (nom) day, it is traditional to perform Yagna (sacrifice offered to the fire) to honor Divine Mother and bid her farewell.
Garba & Dandiya- Raas
The most characteristic dances of Gujarat during Navratri are the Rasa and Garba (folk dance) dances which are performed at all levels of society by men and women. Girls and women dress in colourful ghagra-cholis with shining beads and tiny mirrors. Men dressed in Kafni-Pyjamas (Rajasthani costume). The images or idols of nine deities are placed in the middle including Durga i.e. Devi Maata Ji`s which is Ghath Sthaapana (but this differs in some regions of India) and the dancers form a circle around it singing traditional songs, Garba and Dandiya-Raas is played with wooden sticks (dandiyas) with great enthusiasm. Also in other regions the dancers dance around a garba pot. The pot is decorated with flowers, betel leaves, and has its mouth covered with a cocount.
It is during the nine days that one is supposed to thank the female principle of nature and the goddesses connected to them. As farming communities were too busy during the day doing their harvesting in the fields their only free time was in the evening to celebrate the festival of the goddesses. The nine nights are devoted to the three main goddesses of Hinduism - Parvati, Lakshmi and Sarasvati. Navratri, Navratras (as said in the north) or Navrathri (the south Indian way) or Durga Puja (Bengali way) - different names, different idols, different manner of celebration, but the underlying theme remains the same. This nine-day period from the new moon day to the ninth day of Ashvina is considered the most auspicious time of the Hindu Calendar and hence is the most celebrated time of the year. Although it has different names in different parts of India, it is celebrated by Hindus from all regions.
It is said that Navratri or nine nights (Nav-nine and Ratri-nights), is celebrated with great enthusiasm as the conquest of good over evil. Every region has its own myths and reasons to explain this.
They are the most important nights in the whole year, both for men and gods. The nine nights when the goddess, or the cosmic energy, is most vibrant - the navratri, the beginning of festivity and prosperity!
The nine different aspects of Devi (Goddess) are worshipped over the nine days. Goddess Durga is believed to exist in many forms like Goddess Bhavani, Jagdamba, Mahakali etc. The first nine days of the Ashwin are devoted for worshipping the Divine Mother -`Maa`. These nine days are divided and devoted to the Trinity of God worshipped in a female form - three days for Durga (Goddess of valor) three days for Lakshmi (Goddess of Wealth) and three days for Saraswati (Goddess of Knowledge and Art). On the fifth day (Lalita Panchami - pacham), it is traditional, to gather all books, light a lamp and call upon Saraswati. The eighth (aatham) and ninth (nom) day, it is traditional to perform Yagna (sacrifice offered to the fire) to honor Divine Mother and bid her farewell.
Garba & Dandiya- Raas
The most characteristic dances of Gujarat during Navratri are the Rasa and Garba (folk dance) dances which are performed at all levels of society by men and women. Girls and women dress in colourful ghagra-cholis with shining beads and tiny mirrors. Men dressed in Kafni-Pyjamas (Rajasthani costume). The images or idols of nine deities are placed in the middle including Durga i.e. Devi Maata Ji`s which is Ghath Sthaapana (but this differs in some regions of India) and the dancers form a circle around it singing traditional songs, Garba and Dandiya-Raas is played with wooden sticks (dandiyas) with great enthusiasm. Also in other regions the dancers dance around a garba pot. The pot is decorated with flowers, betel leaves, and has its mouth covered with a cocount.