What is Navrathri ?

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What is Navrathri ?

Why we make Navrathri ?

What is Durga Puja....

Navratri

 

Devi Navaratri is also known as "Sarannavaratri" marking

the onset of a pleasant season of autumn.

 

Dasara is celebrated in different ways all over the country.

 

In West Bengal, particularly in Calcutta, Durga Puja

celebrations are the most important festivities of the year.

They are performed on a grand scale. Large images of the

ten-armed Durga standing triumphantly atop the vanquished

Mahishasura, are erected all over the city. The goddess is

decked in dazzling splendor and worshipped for nine days.

On the ninth day, the images are taken in procession and

immersed ceremoniously in a river.

 

In North India, the festival is celebrated to signify Rama's

victory over Ravana. To mark the fall of Ravana, towering

effigies of the ten-headed Ravana, Meghanath and

Kumbhakarna, stuffed with crackers are torched by an

arrow, amidst wild cheering by the crowds in Delhi's

sprawling Ramleela grounds.

 

Dasara in Mysore is a spectacle to be seen. Nowhere else in

India is it celebrated with such pomp, splendor and

pageantry. Mysore palace, built on the lines of Buckingham

Palace, is a blend of Hindu and Muslim architecture. It is

brightly lit during Navaratri. In the days of yore, the King of

Mysore, resplendent with lights and riches would hold a

spectacular Darbar, at the end of the day's rituals, for seven

days.

 

Mahishasuramardhani is called Chamundeshwari in

Karnataka. On Maharnavami, selected weapons, the state

elephant and the state horse are worshipped. Chandi Homa

is performed in honor of Chandi, the fiercest form of Shakti,

Kali or Durga. The crowning glory of the ten-day gala

celebrations is the famous Dasara royal procession of

caprisoned elephants. The Maharaja of Mysore, dressed in

traditional regalia, rides in State in the golden howdah (a

seating arrangement on the elephant's back) on his royal

elephant. Now, after the abolition of royal titles, the statue

of Chamundeshwari is carried in procession in place of

Mysore Maharaja. In Gujarat, the people celebrate Navaratri

by dancing the traditional Garbha and Dandia dances. These

lively and exciting dances, full of ethnic gaiety and fun have

become so popular that they are no longer confined to

Gujarat or homes alone. They are now organised on a large

scale in community-based clubs.

 

from: http://www.krislon.net/Navratri.htm