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[Guest guest]

Dear friends,

 

Many of us are not fully aware of the significance of festivals in

India. We are also perhaps ignorant of how our countrymen in other

parts of India observe and celebrate these festivals. Here is an

interesting article adiyane came across on the web on the

significance of Navaratri and how it is celebrated in all parts of

India.

 

For your kind information only. Happy Navaratri!

Regards,

dAsan,

Sudarshan

 

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Navarathri is the festival of nine nights.It is one of the

fascinating festivals of India and is celebrated with joy and

enthusiasm through out the countyr. This festival is celebrated

following the new moon day of the month of purattasi OR Ashwin

(September / October). The tenth day is called,Vijayadasami,it is

also called dussera or dusarah.

 

The Navarathri festival is observed by contemplating on the almighty

for ten days, cleansing one's self of all impurities, in order to

experience the divinity within. The penultimate day of the festival

is dedicated to what is termed "worship of the instruments of trade

craft " (aayudha puja).

 

Incidentally Vijayadashami is also the day Lord Rama won his battle

with Devil forces of demon Lord Ravana.

 

In Bengal the festival is known as Durga Puja and is the most

important one . The image of the Goddess is worshipped in the home

and in public places where community worship is organized. This is an

occasion for the potter to display his skill in making images and

other artists in decoration, music. Worship is offered for nine

days; the tenth day, Vijaya Dasami, marks the triumph of the soul at

attaining liberation through descent of knowledge by the Grace of the

Divine Mother. The image is taken in a procession and immersed in the

sea or a lake.

 

In South India, the festival is celebrated as a colorful exhibition

of dolls arranged on ascending steps; families and friends are

invited to come and join in the celebration, sing and worship. The

ninth day is Saraswathi Puja day when the Goddess of learning is

worshipped. On the tenth day, Vijaya Dasami is celebrated when new

students get enrolled and new projects are commenced, after offering

worship to the Goddess; old students continue their studies, invoking

the Goddess' Blessings and and renewing their contact with their

revered Gurus.

 

In Gujarat, the most common form of public celebration is the

performance of the popular folk-dance - Garba. Ladies wear ethnic

Chania Choli and Males wear Dhoti-Kurta and dance through the Night.

The participants move round in a circle around a mandvi (garbo), a

structure to hold earthen lamps and to house the image and or idol of

mother goddess. Pandals are erected over these madvis and decorated

with date palm leaves, flowers electric light. As the dancers whirl

around the pot, a singer and a drummer provide the musical

accompaniment. Another popular Gujarati dance during Navaratri is

the dandia-ras or 'stick' dance, in which men and women join the

dance circle, holding small colorful, polished sticks or dandias.

 

In Mysore, Dushehra is a royal celebration. It celebrates Durga's

triumph over the demon Mahishasura (see also Durga Puja). The demon

is

believed to come from the city of Mysore and therefore it is the most

affected by this event. Celebrations to mark his death are observed

on a grand scale. The venue is the Chamundi hill, at the temple of

Durga who is also the family deity of the royal family. A regal

procession of decorated elephants, courtiers and court symbols wends

its circuitous way to the temple, decorated splendidly for the

festival. On reaching the temple, prayers are offered to the goddess.

This event attracts many tourists from India and abroad.

 

 

In the northern states of India, the festival is called Dussera; it

celebrates the home-coming of Rama the hero of the epic Ramayana,

after his victory over the ten-headed Ravana, the king of Lanka. In

vast open spaces, Ram-leela folk-plays with music and impromptu

dialogues re-telling the story of the life of Rama are enacted late

into the night. Songs are sung in praise of Rama and people throng in

thousands to witness this traditional theatre. Larger-than- life

figures of Ravana and other demons are burnt on cold dark nights with

fire-works lighting up the sky.

 

Dussera is also reminiscent of the end of the exile and banishment of

the Pandava princes in the Mahabharata and their return with their

weapons to reclaim their kingdom. In memory of this epic story,

people

in Maharashtra worship the implements of their professions and

distribute the leaves of the Shami tree as gold and express their

goodwill.

 

All over India, this ten-day period is observed as a festival of

thanks-giving and celebrated in diverse, colorful ways to celebrate

the glory of Devi, the Shakthi Goddess and the victory of good over

evil.

 

The diversity is characteristic of the Indian way of life.

 

Significance of Navaratri:

 

The festival initially attracts us through the color, gaiety, music

and dance associated with it. Then slowly, we begin to grasp the

significance of Navaratri and the symbolism behind the festival. The

power behind creation is Shakthi in its three aspects: Durga, Lakshmi

and Saraswathi. This power, we are assured by the Rishis-- the Seers,

resides in each one of us. We have to invoke this Shakthi to assist

us in reaching our ultimate goal which is realization of Oneness with

the

Divine Self in us.

 

__________

 

 

 

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