Navratri Begins With Religious Fervour

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NEW DELHI (MARCH 21, 2004) The nine-day festival of Navratri

began across the country with religious fervour on Sunday.

 

Navratri is celebrated twice in a year, during the spring and the

autumn season.

 

The festival, which symbolises the triumph of good over evil, is

marked by prayers, processions and musical programmes.

 

Both Lord Ram and goddess Durga are worshipped all over India in

different forms. The festival is called Durga Puja in West Bengal

while in the rest of the country, it is known as Navratri.

 

Devotees in New Delhi queued up outside the temples early in the

morning to pay their obeisance to goddess of power, Durga.

 

Many were seen thronging the marketplace outside the temples buying

flowers, fruits and chunni to offer to the deity.

 

"I have been coming here for the past 20 years. Whatever I have

asked for from the Goddess, I have got," said Renu Sood, a

devotee.

 

Anrita Singh, another devotee, said: "My son was very ill, but

since I started coming here, all my worries went away."

 

In Varanasi , devotees thronged the Ganga to pray and take a dip.

The nine-day festival signifies nine manifestations of Goddess

Durga.

 

Durga stands for shakti or power. She is depicted as riding a

raging lion, holding weapons in her ten hands.

 

Source: The Times of India

URL: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/573021.cms