Acharya Karan V – In India, Festivals are a way of spreading happiness and celebrating faith. Festivals do a wonderful act of harmonizing people and strengthening their trust in God. There are some festivals that are celebrated for a specified period of days as opposed to others those are over in a day only. Navratri or Navratray is one of those Hindu festivals that are celebrated for many days. The festival offers homage to the goddess Durga. Nine different forms of Devi Durga are worshipped for nine days, with each day dedicated to a specific form of the goddess. As it is celebrated for nine days, it is called “Navratri” or “Nine Nights” in English. First day there is Shailaputri Puja, Second day there is Brahmacharini Puja then there is Chandraghanta puja on third day, Kushmanda pooja, Skandamata Puja, Katyayani Puja, Kaalratri Pooja, Maha Gauri Pooja and on the ninth day it’s Siddhidatri Puja.

In Kalyug there is a strong significance of Goddess Durga worship, the small but most effective mantra of Goddess Durga is ‘Om Dum Durgayay Namaha’ which should be recited minimum 108 times daily during the Navratri or otherwise also – Acharya Karan V

One of the important aspects of this festival is that it leads to “Dussehra” celebrated on the tenth day of Navratri. Dussehra is a day when Ravana – The Raksha King – was killed by Lord Ram. Navratri is a powerful symbol of victory of good or evil forces. The Goddess Durga who is the symbol of “Shakti” or power helps the devotees focus their energies back on the important parts of life during these nine days. Each set of three days in nine days is a representation of a transition from lower to higher form of life. The first three days represent “Tamsic” symbolizing passivity and inactivity in life. The next set of three days, representing “Rajasic”, emphasizes motivation and importance of spirited actions in life. Finally, the last three days symbolizes “Sattvic” which is considered to be an ideal state of life. Here, one learns to maintain harmony with inner and outer world. All the three states are a part of life and the ultimate goal of a human is to have a successful transition, starting from “Tamasic” to “Rajasic”, leading to “Sattvic”. The nine days of Navratri are a symbolic representation of this transition. Hence, a devotee worshipping goddess Durga and celebrating the nine days of Navratri ends up realizing the ultimate and just state of life where one maintains a peaceful co-existence with inner and outer self.