Check How These 9 States Celebrates Their 9 Days of Navratri

Navratri is round the corner and the whole country is busy in the preparations. India has all the different ways to celebrate the festival. From North to South the festival take up different forms and is celebrated in with great enthusiasm. It is that time of the year that is spent with joy, nurturing and reawakening yourself through prayers, chants, meditation, fasting, and other spiritual practices, to come out a whole refreshed, renewed and reinvented.

Navratri is a combination of two words Nav meaning Nine and Ratri Meaning Night, thus becoming a festival of nine nights. The celebrations begins on the first day of the month of Ashivn and ends on Dussehra - marking the victory of Lord Rama over Ravana.

The festival of Dussehra is also celebrated to worship Goddess Durga. Durga symbolises creative energy, bravery and feminism. Durga is said to take nine forms and Navratri is therefore dedicated to the worship of these aspects. Each form has its own energy symbolism and has its own dedicated day. Durga is sad to be combination of trinity Goddess - Saraswati, Parvati, and Lakshmi. These three goddesses are also worshiped during Navratri. The central theme of navratri though is victory of good over evil.

Celebrations of Navratri from North to South

• GUJARAT 

Gujarati folks eagerly wait for navratri to come around. It is celebrated in first 9 days of Ashwin month, devotees keep fast of 9 days and worship Maa Durga. In the evening an Earthen pot with diyas and holes known as Garbi is lit up and women perform traditional aarti with it. Gujaratis have two  traditional dance forms Garba Dance and Dandiya Raas which men and women perform in their traditional dresses.

• MAHARASHTRA 

Celebrations of Navratri is similar to Gujarat in Maharashtra. Here Navratri implies to new beginning. Buying a new car, houses, new business deals, engagements and marriages are common in this  time. Also married women invite their married female friends, put haldi and kumkum on their foreheads and gift them with a coconut, beetle leaves and nuts. This ritual is referred to as “Saumangalyam” which means remaining the wife of her husband till her death. Every locality of Maharashtra have their own garba and dandiya nights celebrations. 

• WEST BENGAL AND OTHER NORTH EASTERN STATES

In Bengal and other eastern states of India Navratri is celebrated as Durga Puja. The last four days on Navratri named- Saptami, Ashtami, Navami and Dashmi remark the four important days of Durga Puja. The festival is celebrated with great enthusiasm in the state where large sized idols of Maa Durga are made, worshiped and immersed in water. Men and women dress up in their traditional dresses. Bengali women are seen in their traditional red saree, decked up completely.

• TAMIL NADU

In Tamil Nadu Goddess Durga, Goddess Saraswati and Goddess Laxmi are worshiped in Navratri. These three goddesses are worshiped for three days each. Friends and relatives are invited and sweet, clothes, jewellery and other gifts are exchanged. One distinctive attribute of the festival is the decoration of “Kolu”, it is basically staircase of 9 stairs representing 9 nights, decorated with Goddesses dolls and idols. These dolls are passed down in families from generation to generation.

• ANDHRA PRADESH

The “Kolu” celebration of Tamil Nadu is celebrated as “Batukamma Panduga” in Andhra Pradesh, meaning “Come Alive Mother Goddess”. The nine days of Navratri are devoted to Goddess Shakti. Beautiful flower stack called “Batukamma” is made of seasonal flowers and worshiped everyday. On the last day they set their “Batukamma” in a lake or other water body.

• KERALA

In Kerala, Navratri is associated with education. As the festival marks victory of good over evil Keralites find this time auspicious for learning or start something new.  In the last three days of Navratri they worship Goddess Saraswati and keep their books next to her idol in their home.

• DELHI- 

It is only the capital city of our country where Navratri and Durga Puja are celebrated together. The capital is highly populated by Bengalis thus the city hosts some amazing Durga Puja of the country. While the scale is high in Gujaratis and Marathis crowd, the city also organises dandiya parties. But for the most part the celebrations in Delhi are marked by Ramlila performances. The shows narrate special episode from life of Rama and they draw down to close on Dashmi when sculpture of Ravana are burnt. 

• HIMACHAL PRADESH

This is marked as great festival for the Hindus in Himachal Pradesh. On the 10th day of Navratri when the festival ends in other parts of the country, here the celebration starts. It is the time when they go out to meet their friends, relatives and dear ones. They celebrate the tenth day as “Kullu Dussehra” as the day of return of Lord Rama to Ayodhya. Idols are taken out in parade from temples. During the festival devotees visit various temples in Kangra, Una and Bilaspur to worship Goddess Durga. 

• PUNJAB

In Punjab people celebrate Navratri by fasting for first 7 days and end their fast on Ashtami and Navmi by worshipping 9 little girls and a boy, known as “Kanjika”. They also organise Jagratas in various pandals where they keep awake for the whole night and worship Goddess Shakti.

The festival of Navratri is celebrated in different ways in all part of country with equal zeal and enthusiasm, making India a perfect example of an Incredible country. Charmed by all the different rituals followed by different states?  

Refresh, Revive and Regenerate the spirit of Navratri in 2017!!