Posts Tagged ‘navratri festival’

Importance of Durga Puja

Durga puja is famous throughout India; but most people do know understand who exactly Durga Devi is. Here, we discuss the importance of Durga Puja.; but before that, we try to understand who Durga Devi herself is?

Who is Durga Devi?

The word Durga literally means, the invincible one, or the one who is inaccessible. Many people lovingly also call Durga Devi as mother Durga.

Durga Devi is the presiding deity and controller of all material energy. She is a form of Goddess, who is depicted having ten arms, and one who is riding on a lion holding different weapons, and also a lotus flower in her hand.

She is the ‘Shakti’, the embodiment of creative force. She exists in a state, which is independent from the universe. Devi Kali is considered to be an expansion of Durga Devi.

Who all are worshipped during Durga Puja?

During Durga Puja, Divine Mother , Goddess Durga is worshiped in Her various forms as Durga, Saraswati and Laxmi. During Navratre (the nine nights dedicated to the worship of Durga Devi), She is represented and worshiped in three different aspects. During the first three nights of the festival of Navratre, Durga is worshiped; during the next three nights, Laxmi devi is worshipped and during the last three nights Saraswati Devi is worshipped. The following 10th day is called Vijaya-Dashami. Vijaya stands for “victory” and dashami means the tenth day. On this day Lord Ramchandra killed the demon king Ravana, and hence the name Vijaya-Dashami. It can also signify the victory over one’s own mind. The message is when we worship Durga Devi, then she can help us to get victory over our mind.

The most widely worshiped deity of Shakti is Durga. Devi-Bhagavatam is entirely dedicated to the glories of Mother Durga. Mother Durga is  the mother of the universe, and she is a personification of tender love, power, wealth, beauty and all qualities.

The Deity
Devi Durga represents destruction of all kinds of evil and protection of all good. She conveys the message that to become Godly, one should keep one’s animalistic instincts under control. Thus, when we worship Devi Durga, all the unwanted material desires are annihilated and divinity within us is unfolded.

Durga SaptaShati

Many people glorify Durga Devi by reciting Durga ShaptaShati. Durga ShaptaShati comes from Markendeya Purana. It is a composition of different verses glorifying Mother Durga; that is why it is also called Devi Mahatmyam. The whole Durga ShaptaShati is divided into thirteen chapters, and contains 700 verses in total, therefore the name Saptashati.

Durga ShaptaShati is known to help people in many different ways, for example it can prove to be a remedy for Rahu or other planetary ill-effects. It also can help in eliminating fear and maleficity from the planet; eliminate the evil and suffering; eliminate personal illness; eliminate epidemic, and helps one to achieve good health and prosperity.

At the same time, it is extremely essential, that you get this mantra from proper channel, as improper recitation can also cause some adverse effects.

We wish you a Happy Durga Puja Season, and you are most welcome to visit the following pages for more information:

http://www.myastrologypuja.com/durga-devi-path.php and http://www.myastrologypuja.com/durga-puja.php

About Navratre / Navratri

Navratri in 2010 commences on 8^th October and ends on 16^th of October. Every year the festival of Navratri starts on the first day of the bright fortnight of the lunar month of Ashwin.

What does Navratri means?

The word Navratre or Navratri literally means nine nights. The festival is observed for nine nights and ten days.

Who is the presiding deity of this festival?

During the nine nights and ten days of this festival, nine forms of Durga devi or Shakti are worshipped. The tenth day of this period is well known as vijaydasami, and is celebrated to honour the victory of Lord Rama over evil Ravana.

The festival is celebrated all over the country with great enthusiasm. Even so, it holds special significance for Bengalis and Guajaratis. Highlights of Navratri in Gujarat region are dandiya and garba raas.

Farmers sow seeds in the field and pray to Durga Devi for good yield.

As mentioned above nine form of Durga Devi are worshipped during the nine nights. The first three days are dedicated to Durga Devi dressed in red clothes, mounted on a lion.  Various incarnations, signifying three different stages of womanhood, viz. child, young girl and a mature woman, are worshipped like Kumari, Parvati Devi, and Kali Devi.

The next three days are dedicated to Lakshmi devi or Goddess of fortune. She is worshipped dressed in gold and riding on an owl.

The last three days are dedicated to the worship of Goddess Saraswati, the Goddess of learning and knowledge. She is worshipped dressed in white and riding on a milky white swan. Sweets are prepared for the festivities and celebrations and both adults and children dress up in bright new clothes.

Some communities observe rigorous fasting during this nine days period of Navratri. Some don’t eat grains all nine days, some fast on first and the eighth day, and most of the families including meat-eaters, shun even onion-garlic during this period. The festival concludes on the ninth day, also known as Mahanavami. On this day people perform kanya-puja, which is worshipping of very young girls, who have not reached puberty. Usually, nine young girls are invited; representing the nine forms of Durga Devi, and their feet are washed as a mark of respect to Durga Devi. They are offered various food stuffs, clothes, money and other items.

Commercialization has not left the religious festivals also. The festival also became a social thing in some places than a religious observance. Despite of these things there is nothing to dampen the spirit of the devoted followers of Durga Devi.

For creating auspiciousness, people do many kind of poojas and sacrifices during this time. If you want to know more about different auspicious things that can be done during this time or you want to get one done for you, kindly visit http://www.myastrologypuja.com/navaratri-special-puja.php.

We wish all the devotees a very Happy and auspicious Navratri celebration, and pray that Goddess Durga showers her blessings on all of us.