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Navratri is a well-known and one of the majorly celebrated festivals in India. It is celebrated in the honor of the Divine Mother Goddess. The manner of celebration varies with one’s personalized cultural beliefs and values. During this brief period of nine days, people worship different forms of the Divine Mother. This festival spreads across nine days. The eighth day is observed to be Maha Ashtami (also known as Durga Ashtami). The last day of the Navratri is also known as Maha Navami. Some of the other observations and key learnings associated with the Navratri festival are as follows:
1. Childhood memories-On the eighth and the ninth day of the Navratri festival, people conduct kanya puja (inviting small children and worshipping them, with the intent to honor the divinity within them). This ritual varies from place to place. Prior to the worship, prasad (devotional food) is prepared and cooked at the home and then some of it is kept in the house temple as a token of gratitude to the Divine Mother and the other portion of the prasad is distributed to the children who are invited. The commonly made prasad usually consists of halwa, kala chana (black chickpeas) and poori (fried whole-wheat puffed bread). This brings about a lot of nostalgia because as children, we also sometimes got the opportunity to visit some houses and take the prasad. The excitement of visiting the houses and the feeling of getting the prasad brings back so many old memories!
2. Victory of light over dark-The Navratri festival symbolizes the ultimate victory of light over the dark forces. It is believed that the Divine Mother had to fight off a very powerful demon and finally defeated him. This battle was mainly for the protection of the goodness and divinity in the world and for the sake of welfare of the entire mankind. Hence, this festival reemphasizes our belief in the goodness of the Universe and that how much strength is there in just holding on to hope and being hopeful to keep taking the actions in the right direction.
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Rs. 18993. Diverse practices-During this brief time period, people participate in various kinds of diverse practices based on their personalized experiences. Some people also observe a fast on all the nine days of time period, while the others might observe a fast for lesser duration based on their suitability. During this fast the commonly used food items for consumption are as follows: fruits, curd, nuts and seeds, sabudana (sago), pumpkin, potatoes, kuttu (buckwheat), singhara (water chestnut). Some people also conduct havan (fire ritual) at their home and perform meditation and chanting. This depicts a wide spectrum of how people celebrate and participate during this nine-day festival.
4. Acknowledging areas of development-I feel the Navratri festival also presents a great opportunity to introspect due to a different set of day-to-day activities in place. Due to this, we might be able to reflect and become more self-aware. Further, this time frame can also help us to freely acknowledge and identify certain areas of development that we need to focus our attention on.
The most unique aspect of the Navratri festival is that it is celebrated differently in various parts of India based on the regional beliefs and the values followed by the people living in those respective areas. This makes it even more special and comprehensive in nature as everyone attaches different understanding to the same based on the respective cultural practices. I feel Navratri presents a great time to reconnect with our own inner selves!
Thank you so much for your time. I will catch up soon and, in the meantime, wishing you a very pleasant day ahead!
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