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Navratri, the nine nights
Nine nights for the goddess in her forms, with fasting, dance and the worship of young girls.
About Navratri, the nine nights
Navratri is a nine-night festival of the goddess, kept twice a year, with the autumn Sharad Navratri being the larger. Each night is given to a form of the goddess (the Navadurga), such as Shailaputri, Brahmacharini and Kalaratri, with a colour and a food for each. Many people fast, and in Gujarat and Maharashtra, people dance the garba and dandiya around a clay lamp at night. In north India on the eighth or ninth day, nine young girls are fed and worshipped as the goddess in kanya puja, and in the south, the ninth day is Ayudha Puja, when tools, vehicles and books are cleaned and honoured. The tenth day, Vijayadashami, ends the festival.
Also part of it, and being written: Navaratri (The nine-night festival.), Navadurga (The nine forms of the goddess.), Garba (The circle dance of Gujarat.), Ayudha Puja (Worship of tools on the ninth day.).
More entries linked to Navratri, the nine nights
Written by the EveryJaadu desk with AI assistance. Background: "Navaratri" on Wikipedia. Customs differ from place to place and family to family, and are described as belief and practice. If this is your tradition and we have it wrong, tell us.
Photo credits on this page
The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.
- Lakshmi: Raja Ravi Varma, Public domain, source