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The Navratri Festival
Navratri 2009
 What is 'Navratri'. Navratri is a festival of worship, dance and music celebrated over a period of nine nights (Nav-nine and Ratri-nights). It is celebrated from the first to ninth date of Ashwin Shukla Paksha of the Hindu Calendar for the worship of the Goddess Durga. Goddess Durga is believed to exist in many forms like Goddess Bhavani, Jagdamba, Mahakali etc. The first nine days of the Ashwin are devoted for worshipping the Divine Mother -'MAA'. These nine days are divided and devoted to the Trinity of God worshipped in a female form - three days for Durga (Goddess of valor) three days for Lakshmi (Goddess of Wealth) and three days for Sarswati (Goddess of Knowledge and Art). On the fifth day (Lalita Panchami), it is traditional, to gather all books, light a lamp and invoke Sarswati . The eighth and ninth day, it is traditional to perform Yagna (sacrifice offered to the fire) to honor Divine Mother and bid her farewell. Gujaratis perform their traditional dances Garba & Dandiya-Raas during Navratri. The women-folk dance in a circle, singing 'Garbas' or traditional songs. Dandiya-Raas is played with wooden sticks (dandiyas). Apart from Gujrat, Garbas are performed in other states & cities like Mumbai. Beautifully decorated 'mandaps' are set up for playing garba & dandiya by various cultural societies, housing commitees & youth social groups. Young men-women wear colourful traditional dresses and play Garba with great enthusiasm.The mood of Navratri is very colourful & unique. In various parts of India,the Ram-Leela is performed during Navratri. Ram-Leela is a stage enaction of Ramayana,the story of Lord Rama. The tenth day, also known as Vijaya Dasami (day of Victory over evils), Dassera is significant to launch new activities or beginning of learning. It signifies the good winning over the evil. It is believed that on this day, Lord Rama had killed the demon Ravana. So, on Dassera, effigies of Ravana are burnt all over India. Navaratri is a festival of pure happiness and one of the most auspicious occassions. 
The Power of the Mother Goddess is perhaps greater than that of any other God. She is even worshipped by all the Gods themselves. She is Shakti the power of Brahma, Vishnu, and Mahesh. She takes the form of their consorts, without whom, none of the Gods can achieve anything. She is worshipped all over India with the same ardour under different names and manifestations - the most benign face of the goddess is Durga Durga pooja is performed twice in a year - for nine days each time - once March or April, and again time in September or October. According to the Hindu calendar when Durga pooja is performed it is the month of Chait. The festival is celebrated during the moonlit fortnight of the month, the first day being Parva. Chait Devi pooja is done for eight days, the ninth day being Ram Navami. In winter, the month of celebration is Kwar and, again, the pooja starts on Parva of the moonlit fortnight. During Kwar the pooja goes on for nine days and the tenth day in Dussehra. Some people like to fast, phalar andd special food for these days such as potatoes,kkuttu atta,milk products such as paneer is allowed once a day and liquids can be taken any time. Some persons observe the fast only on the first day and the last day, but some observe it for the full nine days.People who do not fast also generally do not take meat and alchol.
Navratri Fast Navratri Fasts are observed for nine days twice a year. This fast is observed mostly in North India, Gujarat and Maharastra. The devotion and fevour is the same all over only a few variations may be seen in diffrent regions. Special Food to be Eaten During The Fasts You have to follow a strict control over the food consumed during these nine days. The food should be cooked after having a bath and performing Pooja. We can eat Puris or Roti's made from Kuttu or Singhare ka atta This is black in colour. We can eat potatoes, cucumber, pumpkin and shakarkandi. Of course potatoes are most popular as people have them as chips and make aloo chaat. Most spices are not used and it is reccomended to eat rock salt. Milk products are allowed so we can eat plenty of curd, paneer, sweets such as kalakand, kaju burfee etc. Sil ladoo's and patti is also eaten. A rice substitute is swank and people cook it as a rice or even use it to make sweet kheer. All types of fruits are eaten and fruit chaat is made. Do's and Dont's Do not eat meat or any other non-vegetaarian food. Do not consume alcohol Do not eat food with garlic or onions. 
Navratri Pooja1) On the first day of the pooja, the pooja room is thoroughly cleaned, silver and brass items are polished, all images made of metal cleaned likewise, and new clothes like lehanga and chunni with gota and kinari (made earlier) are draped on the image of the goddess and the other deities like Ganesh, who is to be worshipped before any other God. All other deities should also be freshly dressed, and old covers of the pooja table removed and new ones used in their place. 2) Everyone who performs the pooja must bathe in the morning. Some like to fast, but it is not compulsory and, in any case, phalar is allowed once a day and liquids can be taken any time. Some persons observe the fast only on the first day and the last day, but some even observe it for the full nine days. 3) During the day, pooja can normally be done only by the women as the man and children would have gone to their places of work and schools, respectively. The day pooja is shorter in duration as compared to the evening pooja. The prasad distributed in the morning can be some elaichidana (cardamom seeds) and fruits only. 4) The worship of the deity is done by sprinkling water, aipun, roli, rice and flowers as in all poojas. The bhog sung while offering prasad to the goddess is. 5) A story is narrated each day, to whosoever is present during pooja time. Basically, four main stories exist, which are repeated to fill the nine-day period. 6) In the evening the pooja is longer 'Jai Ambey Gauri…', the arti is sung at the end of the pooja, but before it begins, everyone is given some flowers or rice to hold in their hands. The youngest member of the family is given the pooja bell and keeps ringing it throughout the arti. If any one possesses the breath capacity, a conch shell can also be sounded. The sound effect of everything together is so good, that most children remember it right up to their old age as one of the most pleasant and unifying experience of their lives. After lighting the camphor and reciting the Sanskrit couplet Karpur gauram, karuna astharam, sansar sarum, bhuj gendra haaram, sada vasantam, hriday arvinde, bhawan Bhawani, sahitam namami everyone showers flowers or rice on Durga Ma, chanting together: Sada Bhawani dahiney, sanmukh rahen Ganesh, panchon Dev raksha karen, Brahma, Vishnu, Mahesh, Bolo atal chhattra ki jai. Navratri Aarti
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