Navratri is a very important Hindu
festival celebrated in India, which is devoted to Goddess Durga. The
festival is celebrated with great reverence and faith across the
country. It stretches over a period of nine days, with each of the nine
days being dedicated to one of the nine forms of the Goddess. Talking
about the history of Navratri festival, it can be explained through the
stories mentioned in the Hindu scriptures
Nava means nine and ratri means night so navratri means nine nights, and it tenth day is known as dashmi and is also known as vijaydashmi. There are five types of navratri in a year, they are as
1) vasanta navratri also known as chaitra navaratri
2) gupt navratri also known as ashadha navratri
3) sharana(sharad) navratri also known as maha navratri
4) pushya navratri in shukla paksha of pushya month
5) magha navratri is also kind of gupt navratri in magha month
Though there are total five types of navratri in a year but sharad navratri is most popular. Lord Vishnu is worshiped in chaitra(vasanta) navratri while Maa durga is worshiped in sharad navratri.
Navratri is celebrated throughout India; people celebrate it by fasting on all nine days and by worshiping the mother goddess in different forms.
What is Navratri
Nava means nine and ratri means night so navratri means nine nights, and it tenth day is known as dashmi and is also known as vijaydashmi. There are five types of navratri in a year, they are as
1) vasanta navratri also known as chaitra navaratri
2) gupt navratri also known as ashadha navratri
3) sharana(sharad) navratri also known as maha navratri
4) pushya navratri in shukla paksha of pushya month
5) magha navratri is also kind of gupt navratri in magha month
Though there are total five types of navratri in a year but sharad navratri is most popular. Lord Vishnu is worshiped in chaitra(vasanta) navratri while Maa durga is worshiped in sharad navratri.
Navratri is celebrated throughout India; people celebrate it by fasting on all nine days and by worshiping the mother goddess in different forms.
History & Origin behind Navratri
There are two interesting legends or epics associated with the history of Navratri and celebrated across the country with great reverence and faith taking on different names and idols.
Lord Brahma of the trinity Brahma, Vishnu & Maheshwara, granted Mahishasura the "buffalo demon," a boon that protected him from any man in the world . Empowered by this gift, Mahishasura set out to conquer the world, heaven and the world, and brought about the defeat of the king of deities,Indra. At the pleading of Indra, the king of the Gods, Lords Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva created Devi Durga, by combining their own divine powers (shakti). Endowed with the trinity's shakti, Durga proved to be a formidable opponent who fought Mahisa for nine days, beheading him on the tenth. The nine nights known as Navratri, symbolize the nine days of battle between Devi Durga and Mahisasura, while the tenth day, which is vijayadashami-literally means the victorious tenth day of conquest of good over evil.
In West Bengal Navratri, and vijayadashami are respectively celebrated as Durga Puja and Dasara.
In South India the festival includes other female deities an dedicates three days of the festival to Lakshmi, the female archetype of wealth and fortune, and another three to Saraswathi, the female archetype of learning, music and knowledge.
In northern India it takes the form of the great epic Ramyana where Rama, an incarnation of Vishnu is victorious over the evil king Ravana.
Battle of good over evil
Legends prevalent in North Indian
Lord Brahma of the trinity Brahma, Vishnu & Maheshwara, granted Mahishasura the "buffalo demon," a boon that protected him from any man in the world . Empowered by this gift, Mahishasura set out to conquer the world, heaven and the world, and brought about the defeat of the king of deities,Indra. At the pleading of Indra, the king of the Gods, Lords Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva created Devi Durga, by combining their own divine powers (shakti). Endowed with the trinity's shakti, Durga proved to be a formidable opponent who fought Mahisa for nine days, beheading him on the tenth. The nine nights known as Navratri, symbolize the nine days of battle between Devi Durga and Mahisasura, while the tenth day, which is vijayadashami-literally means the victorious tenth day of conquest of good over evil.
In West Bengal Navratri, and vijayadashami are respectively celebrated as Durga Puja and Dasara.
In South India the festival includes other female deities an dedicates three days of the festival to Lakshmi, the female archetype of wealth and fortune, and another three to Saraswathi, the female archetype of learning, music and knowledge.
In northern India it takes the form of the great epic Ramyana where Rama, an incarnation of Vishnu is victorious over the evil king Ravana.
Lord Shiva's dance of destruction (tandav)
The Eastern Belief
As per the legend prevalent in East India, Daksha, the king of the Himalayas, had a beautiful and virtuous daughter called Uma. She wished to marry Lord Shiva, since her childhood. In order to win over the Lord, she worshipped him and managed to please him as well. When Shiva finally came to marry her, the tiger-skin clad groom displeased Daksha and he broke off all the relationships with his daughter and son-in-law. One fine day, Daksha organized a yagna, but did not invite Lord Shiva for the same.
Uma got so angry at her father's rude behavior, towards her husband, that she decided to end her life by jumping into the agnikund of the yagna, where she was united with eternity (since then, she came to be known as Sati). However, she took re-birth and again won Shiva as her groom and peace was restored. It is believed that since then, Uma comes every year with Ganesh, Kartik, Saraswati and Laxmi and two of her best friends or 'sakhis', called Jaya and Bijaya, to visit her parent's home during Navratri.