THE AUSPECIOUS FESTIVAL OF NAVRATRI

The auspicious Navratri festival begins on
Ashwin Shukla Paksha Pratipada and remains for nine days is called Sharda
Navratri. The weather starts changing from Sharda Navrati onwards, and the days
become smaller and colder.  According to
Hindu Mythology just to keep away the bad effects of changing weather, we
observe Navratri fast for nine days since ancient times. These nine days are
also called the days of worshipping Shakti (Power). We observe Navratri twice a
year. First Navratri is from Pratipada of Chaitra month to Navami and the
second is exactly after six months in Pratipada of Ashwin Shukla Paksha to a
day before Vijayadashami. People  give a
lot of importance to Sharada Navratri in comparision to chaitra navratri due to
some mythological believes.

RELIGIOUS IMPORTANCE OF NAVRATRI

In Navratri, we observe fast, patience,
rituals and perform meditations. The term Navratri is given to nine auspicious
nights. In this time the nine forms of Goddess Shakti are worshipped.

The
first Navratri of 2011, is on 28th September. Including Navratri of Chaitra and
Ashwin Paksha, we have two other Navratris as well, the Gupta Navratri of Ashadh
Shukla Paksha and

Gupta Navratra of Magh
Shukla Paksha. These two Navratras are used to learn occult
sciences,supernatural science or unreathly science. It is also used for
accomplishing aim(Sadhana Siddhi).

SIGNIFICANCE OF NAVRATRI

During Navaratri, we get the energy in the
form Maa “Durga,” which literally means the remover of miseries and all
problems from our life. Maa is also observed as “Devi” (goddess) or
“Shakti” (energy or power). With this energy, we consider thatGod does the work of creation, preservation
and destruction. In other words the followers of Maa Durga believe that God is
motionless, absolutely changeless, and the Divine Mother Durga, does
everything. Actually it is our firm believe that worship of Shakti verifies the scientific theory that energy is
imperishable. It cannot be created or destroyed. It is always there in all of
us.

SHAKTI, 
DURGA OR A MOTHER

Navratri is an important Hindu festival,
celebrated with religious fervor and great enthusiasm by the Hindus in different
parts of the country. The ninth day of Chaitra Navratri is celebrated as Ram
Navami, the festival  commemorates the
victory of Goddess Durga over the demon Mahishasura.  In Gujarat, the
festival is celebrated to worship Maa Jagdamba, while in West Bengal it is celebrated as Durga Puja. In the south
India, people worship

the three forms of Goddess Shakti - the first
three days to Goddess Durga (the Warrior Goddess), the next three days to
Goddess Lakshmi (the Goddess of Wealth) and the last three days to Goddess
Saraswati (the Goddess of Knowledge).

We observe fast for either seven or eight
days, to honor Goddess Shakti. While many people break their fast on the eighth
day (Ashtami) of Navratri by worshipping young girls, few people do the same
thing on the ninth day (Navami) of the festival, to climax the celebrations.  Navratri is a combination of two words. ‘Nav’
means nine while ‘ratri’ means night. Therefore, this celebration is literally
reffered as ‘nine nights’. The celebrations begin on the first day of the month
of Ashvin according to the Hindu calendar and it ends in the festival of
Dassera, on the tenth day of the month.

AIM OF HAVING NAVRATRI

According to hindu mythology Durga is also considered as the combination of
the Trinity of goddesses. They are Saraswati, Parvati, and Lakshmi. During
Navratri, these three main goddesses are worshipped as well. The main aim of
Navratri is the triumph of good over evil.

CELEBRATION OF NAVRATRI ACCORDING TO DAYS

We celebrate navratri for nine days. However,
each day has its own special significance and is celebrated separately. Along
with the nine forms of Durga, we offer puja to all the Trinity of goddesses as
well.

PRATHAM, DRITIYA AND TRITIYA-

On these days we worship the energy and power
of Maa Durga. On the first day, Kumari is worshipped, which symbolizes the girl
child. The second day is dedicated to devi Parvati, who represents a young
woman. On the third day, Kali is worshipped. This form represents the woman who
has reached maturity.

On the first day of Navratri, barley seeds
are planted in a small bed of mud. This mud bed is kept in the pooja room. By
the tenth day, each seed has sprouted into a shoot which is between three and
five inches long. After the pooja performed on the tenth day, the shoots are
plucked and given to the attendees. They are said to be a blessing from God.

CHATURTHA, PANCHAMI AND SHASHTHAMI –

These three days  Lakshmi, the goddess of prosperity and peace
is worshipped. The goddess Saraswati is worshiped on the fifth day. This day is
considered  as Lalita Panchami. All books
are worshiped on this day.

SAPTAMI,

The seventh day is also dedicated to Maa
Saraswati, the goddess of art and knowledge. Prayers are offered to her,
seeking the spiritual knowledge. The knowledge of the spiritual world is said
to free us from our earthly bonds. This, in turn, will bring us closer to God.

ASHTAMI –

On this day a YAGYA OR HAWAN is performed.
This represents sacrifice, which is offered to the sacred fire. The sacrifice
honours the goddess Durga. We offer clarified butter (ghee), rice pudding
(kheer), and sesame seeds in yagya as in the form of sacrifice.

NAVMI –

The ninth day is considered as the farewell
of the entire Navratri celebrations. This day is referred to as ‘Mahanavami’.
On this day, a Kanya pooja is performed. Nine young girls, who have not yet
attained puberty are worshipped during this pooja. Each one of them symbolises
one of the nine forms of goddess Durga. Each girls feet are washed, as a mark
of respect for the goddess. At the end of the pooja, each girl is given a set
of new clothes as a gift from the devotees.

Coming to a temporary end we can say that Durga Puja,or Navratri is ritualistic
worship of the three forms of Durga to keep us in harmony with cosmic forces,
thereby helps us in removing and overcoming the sorrows of life and bringing
spiritual upliftment. By doing this puja, thoughts and vibrations of spiritual
forces are created around us. These spiritual forces work to eliminate the
negative influences from our life and help us to create positive energy which
can bring peace of mind, material prosperity and enable us to more clearly
touch the Divine, our true nature. Have faith in Maa durga, do this puja with
full of your energy and dedication and get the all blessings of Maa durga. No
doubt Maa can bring a lot of happiness, prosperity and contentness in our life

About Author 

Jyotishacharya Vinay Sheel
Saxena “Bajrangi”“Bhagya
Samhita wale” is a well known india
Vedic Astrologer Horoscope reader and
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