Navaratri

Celebration of Mother Goddess

For 9 nights & 10 days

1. Origin
2. Background
3. Who celebrates Navaratri
4. How - different types of celebrations
5. Significance
6. Special food for navaratri
7. Modern day changes
8. Use of technology
9. Helping society as a tool of unity
10. Celebrations styles - A. North
B. South
C. East
D. West
Navaratri is a festival filled with devotion along with fun
singing and dancing. It is an Hindu festival that is
celebrated all over India and by Indians (mainly Hindus) all
over the world. Navaratri is about 8,000 years old but the
real date has been lost to history.

The Origin

The story started when the demon Mahishasura (half man

half bull) started wreaking havoc around the universe. He
even drove the King of gods, Indra out of his home,
Indralok (Heaven). The three gods Shiva, Brahma, and
Vishnu saw this and were afraid that the whole universe
would be destroyed. So they combined all their powers to
create a powerful goddess named Durga to defeat the
demon. Soon she set off to fight Mahisasura.
When Mahisasura saw her and how beautiful she was, he
went to ask her to marry her. Little did he imagine that
Durga would challenge him to a fight. Then the battle
began. For the next nine days they fought. On the 9th day
Durga cut his head off. On the 10th day there was a big
celebration for the death of Mahisasura.

The Belief

Now, that is only one story of how Navaratri began, and

there are many more. The story above is the North Indian
version.
Another version states that the daughter of the Himalayan
king Dhaksha, Uma wanted to marry Lord Shiva all her
life. So she worshipped him for a long, long time by
meditating and doing hard penance. Finally Lord Shiva
came to marry her. But Uma’s father, Dhaksha, did not
want her to marry him because he was not a prince but poor
and was not richly dressed. As a King he wanted his
daughter to marry a prince. He tried to break all
relationship between her and Shiva. But all other Gods
convinced him about Shiva’s greatness and finally he half-
heartedly agreed to the marriage. After the wedding he cut
off his relationship with his daughter and son-in-law.
After a while, he hosted a huge celebration without inviting
Shiva. It is customary to invite all the gods and give them
their share in any celebration. Dhaksha deliberately insulted
his son-in-law Lord Shiva. Uma was really angry at her
father’s behavior. She went to the celebration even after
being stopped by Shiva. But unable to bear the insult she
committed suicide by jumping into the ceremonial fire.
After that she was reborn as Parvati and got Shiva as her
husband again. She is the official wife of Lord Shiva till
today and has 2 sons Ganesh and Karthik.
It is believed that until this day, Parvati with her children
and her best friends Lakshmi and Saraswati visit their
parents for nine days and those nine days are called
Navaratri. This is the popular belief in the eastern parts of
India, wherein Durga is welcomed into their homes as their
loving daughter coming back from her husband’s house for
a break.
There are some versions in Ramayana and Mahabharata
(the longest epic/story in the world). The nine days are
celebrated as Lord Rama’s victory over Ravana and his
homecoming. In the Mahabharata, Pandava princes came
out of their exile and took up their arms to defeat their evil
cousins Kauravas on the 10th day. This day is also called as
Ayuda Pooja (worship of weapons).
Worship of weapons does not mean that firearms, guns and
swords are worshipped. It means whatever is the weapon of
one’s trade – paint brushes for an artist, books for a teacher,
pen for an author, instruments for a musician are to be
respectfully given thanks on that day.

The Celebration

Many Hindus celebrate Navratri all around the world.

About 85 million Hindus celebrate Navaratri in India. All
over the world, a total of almost a billion people celebrate
this festival in Sri Lanka, Singapore, Malaysia, South
Africa, Dubai, Australia, UK and the USA.
In Hinduism there are many castes, such as the Brahmin,
the highest caste, Kshatryas, the second highest caste,
Vaishyas, the third caste, and the Sudras, the lowest caste.
Some festivals are caste or gender based. Shivaratri is
mainly for the followers of Shiva, and Varalakshmi
Vratam is for married women only. Mainly youngsters
celebrate Holi with fun and fare while Pongal is the harvest
festival for farmers. Navaratri, on the other hand is for
every one of all castes. Young and old, rich and poor,
married and unmarried, men and women – everyone
celebrate Navaratri in their own unique way. Everything is
accepted in this festival.

That is one reason that it is a special holiday. Hindus

outside of India, gather in temples or community centers, in
the evenings to dance garba, which is a group dance. They
also dance with dandiyas or wooden sticks that are
colorfully painted. They usually dance around the idol of
Durga. The dance goes until midnight or even later.
Usually the largest dance is on the 9th night, called Maha
Navami which means “the great 9th night”.

Now, not every Indian celebrates Navaratri the same way.

South
People in South India put out a display, invite people over.
This display is called a Kolu. Women bring out all their
collections – dolls, handwork, sterling silver, crystal and
gifts and display it in their houses. They decorate their
homes and invite their friends and family over every
evening on these nine days. Each day has its own list of
food items – snacks, sweets and drinks to be made. Kids
look forward to good food during this time.

North
In North India people gather their friends and family, sit up
the whole night and read books on Durga and sing songs.
They are called ‘jagaran’ meaning ‘waking up’. They meet
at different homes and do the jagarans during Navaratri.
Usually they have potluck. But food is first dedicated to the
Goddess before anyone touches it.
East
In Eastern India people do pujas (ceremonies) for Durga for
nine days and nights. In many places entire streets are
covered and decorated. Finally they say goodbye to her on
the 10th day to send her back to her husband’s house.

West
In Western India they do group dances like Garba and
Dhandya for Nine nights. These dances are done at huge
auditoriums or community centers. In India, huge outdoor
sports arenas are rented for 10 days. They are decorated
and made into dance floors, community kitchens and huge
dining areas.

The Significance

It is significant because the first three nights are devoted to

Durga’s strength, power, and energy. Three different forms
of Durga (the mother god) are worshiped each day. Young
Durga is Kumari. The teenage Durga is Parvati. The older
Durga is Kali. The 4th, 5th,and 6th days signify getting over
bad habits like anger management issues or a big ego. On
the 7th and 8th days, people worship art and knowledge by
worshipping Saraswati, the god of knowledge. Finally, on
the 9th day, there is a celebration to welcome Durga to the
festival. This is mainly the eastern and northern belief.

In the South and west, nine days are divided equally among
the three forms of the Mother Goddess namely, Durga,
Lakshmi and Saraswati. First 3 days are for Durga – for
power, strength and courage. Second 3 days are for
Lakshmi – to make money, be rich and enjoy good life.
The last 3 days are for Saraswati – to acquire knowledge,
be good at studies, music, arts or anything we choose. The
tenth day is the day of victory all over India.

The Food

There are many special foods made specially for Navarati.

Some are sweet, some are spicy. One type of food made is
a vada. It is a carefully shaped piece of dough that is deep-
fried and made spicy by adding garam masala (curry
powder). Something like a spicy doughnut.

There is no onion or garlic allowed for ten days.

ABSOLUTELY NO MEAT!!!!
No drinking or smoking is permitted too.
Many types of vegetables are eaten, such as potatoes, peas,
peppers, egg plants, okra, string beans, spinach, broccoli,
and cauliflower. Then there is the chutney, a paste made of
grinded up and mashed vegtables. Sweet and spicy yogurt
is also a favorite. They are eaten with rice and wheat as
side dishes. They are all so good.

Navaratri as a social helper

People get along better during Navaratri because the

festival brings them together. Sometimes if you don’t know
a lot about other kids, you can meet them and get to know
them better. Long lost family members can meet each
other. Also, in the old days of India men and women were
separated in many ways, but in Navaratri everyone (even in
the old days) can come together and celebrate.

Navaratri even helps society by cutting down crime rate.

Even the smallest of village is busy and well-lit and people
are energetic throughout the day, during these 10 days that
the criminal elements do not get a lot of chance. Cities
usually have extra-security for dance and worship halls
because of too much crowd.

Modern day changes

Lot of Hindus have settled in western countries in the last

30 years. This has brought up a lot of modernity to age-old
customs and traditions.
There have been a few changes like the type of food and
dressing. Sometimes the festival becomes like a party,
hangout, or meeting place. Some kids like to come just to
meet with friends. Even the foods have changed.
Sometimes veggie pizza and coke are accepted. Dresses
have become really modern. Many girls in America like to
combine traditional Indian dresses with prom-like dresses.
Instead of dancing and going inside to watch the
ceremonies some kids hang around outside or in the main
lobby. Some even just come to eat the food!
In Cleveland, dance and food is a really good combination
to get a lot of kids inside. People go out just to get some
fresh air.

Use of Technology
Over a period of time, the technology used in the
ceremonies has changed. In the old days of India they used
a palanquin, a decorated seat covered on all sides, with four
sticks on it to carry idols, kings or rich people. During
Navaratri, idol or picture of Mother Goddess is placed
inside an open style palanquin and people danced around it.
There were also singers following the group. Now they
usually use motorized trucks to carry the idols and speakers
mounted on the truck to play music. People still dance
around but the singing is taken care of.
In Cleveland Hindu temple, pick-up truck is used for the
procession and the dance hall has a live DJ to create lively
music and to pep up the young crowd.
In old India people used candles and matches to light up the
prayer hall. Now disco lights are used to light up the
dance/prayer hall. Sensors and computers are used to create
a lot of effects. Many things have changed.