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Showing posts from October, 2008

Navaratri

Navratri is a holy festival for Hindus. It is a festival of nine nights during which people worship goddess of shakthi - Durga, Raja Rajeshwari, Lakshmi, Saraswati… During these nine nights/ten days, nine forms of Shakthi/Devi are worshipped. Nine forms of Devi are – Durga, Bhadrakali, Jagadamba, Annapurna, Sarvamangala, Bhairavi, Chandi, Lalitha, Bhavani and Mookambika. The festival culminates on the tenth day, called Vijaya Dasami or festival of Dasara/Dussehra. – The day marking the victory of Good over Evil. Navratri commences on the first day of the lunar month of Ashwin, celebrated for nine nights starting October. Navratri is divided into sets of 3 days to adore 3 different aspects of the supreme goddess. In the first three days, goddess is invoked as a spiritual force called Durga in order to destroy all impurities. Durga symbolizes nature in all its might. Durga is central to the legend of the destruction of the demon Mahishasura. Durga is enshrined in almost all Saivite