The main ritual of Navratri, celebrated on September-October, consists of placing images of Goddess Durga, in homes and temples. The devotees offer fruits and flowers to the Goddess. They also sing bhajans in her honor.

The first three days of Navratri are devoted exclusively to the worship of Goddess Durga, when her energy and power are worshipped. Each day is dedicated to a different appearance of Durga, namely Kumari, Parvati and Kali.

There is also a custom of planting barley seeds in a small bed of mud on the first day of puja. The shoots, when grown, are given to the attendees, as a blessing from Goddess, after the puja ceremony.

These fourth, fifth and sixth days of Navratri are dedicated to Goddess Lakshmi, the Goddess of Wealth & Prosperity. Goddess Saraswati is also prayed to, on the fifth day, which is known as Lalita Panchami.

The seventh day is dedicated to Goddess Saraswati, while the Goddess of Art and Knowledge is worshipped on the eight day and a yagna is also performed.

The ninth day is the final day of Navratri celebrations, which is also known as ‘Mahanavami’. On this day, Kanya puja is performed, where nine young, who have not yet reached the stage of puberty, are worshipped. Each of these nine girls symbolizes one of the nine forms of Goddess Durga. The feet of the girls are washed, to welcome the goddess and show respect to her. Thereafter, the girls are offered food and a set of new clothes, as a gift from the devotees.
The nine-day Navratra celebrations, which fall in September-October, come to an end with the immersion of the idols of Goddess Durga in water.

The festival of Navratra is celebrated twice in India. Once in the Hindi month of Chaitra which is the month of March-April according to the Gregorian calendar and again in the month of Ashwin i.e. September-October according to the English calendar. It is a nine days long festival in which the Goddess Durga is worshipped in nine different forms. People all over the country celebrate this festival with immense joy and enthusiasm. Devotees of Maa Durga observe a rigorous fast of nine days during this period. This festival in Hindu religion is considered to be an eternally enlightening festival. Like most of the Hindu festivals this worship also involves reading or hearing Katha or stories related to the festival. Explore an interesting story about Navratri here, in this article.

Navaratri Story

The story associated with Navratri can be found in various Hindu religious texts like Markandeya Purana, Vamana Purana, Varaha Purana, Shiva Purana, Skanda Purana, Devi Bhagavatam and Kalika Purana. The story of Navratra is the symbolic message of the fact that however glorious and powerful the evil become, at the end it is the goodness that wins over all of the evil. The story is associated with Maa Durga and Mahisasura, the buffalo headed demon.

The story begins from the life of two sons of Danu called Rambha and Karambha who performed austerities by to gain extreme power and authority. When their prayers became deeper and austerities became exceptional, the King of the heaven God Indra got perturbed. Out of fear, he killed Karambha. Rambha, who came to know about his brother’s death, became more stubborn to win over the Gods. He increased the intensity of his austerities and finally got several boons from gods like great brilliance, beauty, invincibility in war. He also asked a special wish of not being killed by either humans or Gods or Asuras.