Why Navratri is celebrated? Significance of all nine days of Navratri Celebration

1. Why Navratri is celebrated? Significance of all nine days of Navratri Celebration By Wonder Parenting

2. Table of Contents > Why navratri is celebrated?> 9 Tips for 9 days of fasting> Significance of all nine days of Navratri> Kanya Puja Vidhi> Durga Puja> 17 Facts you must know about Dussehra – Vijayadashmi

3. Importance of Navratri • Navratri is the festival of nine nights, during which the Divine Mother, the goddess of ‘shakti’, Durga, is worshipped in her nine aformsand manifestations. • Navratri festival is observed twice a year, once in the month of Chaitra which coincides with the months of March – April and then again in Ashwin (Sharad), which is the equivalents of September – October. • During these nine days of Navratri, people take part in special ceremonies, rituals, fasting, and festivities. Gujaratis wear colorful costumes and perform ‘GarbaRass’, a special type of dance that is performed vigorously around an earthen lamp or circling the images of the Divine Mother. • The fast is broken on either Ashtami – the eighth day, or Navami – the ninth day, by serving food and praying before little girls who are seen as a form of the Goddess. • Sharad Navratri is also known by the name of Ashwin Navratri. Sharad Navratri 2019 in India will start on 29th September, Sunday and will end on 7th October, Monday. • Goddess Durga has nine structures, and all are loved amid Navratri by devoting every day to one ‘symbol’ or incarnation. Every Goddess is illustrative of a specific ideal.

4. 9 Tips for 9 Days of Fasting – Food for Navratri Fasting • Instead of eating once a day during fast, take at least 4 – 5 falahari small meals so as to maintain your energy level and glucose level. • Fruits make up the largest arc of your food rainbow. Eat plenty of fresh fruits of the season. Fruits will not only provide you energy but also fiber and vitamins. Remember more fibre gives you better digestion. • Most of the Navratri recipes for nine days of fasting are deep fried with lots of oil and fats. So instead of frying, you can try baked or roasted recipes. • Along with food items rich in carbohydrates, try to include fibrous vegetables such as cabbage, capsicum, etc. Remember to drink water regularly.

5. … Tips Continued • Chaulai (Amaranth) is a good source of protein and you can include it in your fasting menu. You can prepare its pudding (kheer) by cooking it in milk or you can also make puris or paranthas with it. • Include kuttukaatta (buckwheat flour) in your diet. It contains 70 % to 75 % of carbohydrates and 20 % to 25 % of protein. It maintains cholesterol levels and also manages diabetes as it is low in glucose. • If you are health conscious, try to avoid fasting snacks available in the market. It will be advisable to include roasted makhana (Foxnuts), which is high in fiber and low in calories or roasted peanuts or dry fruits in your snacks menu. • SamakChawal (fasting rice) is a very good option for fasting food. It is not a cereal but a fruit. It is easily digested. You can cook rice as a pulao or you can also make its kheer with milk. • If you are a sweets lover, save room for dessert. You can eat fruits, sweet curd, dates, apple pudding or Samak rice kheer as a dessert. Dessert is probably the most important stage of the meal you will remember during your fasting day.

6. Significance of all nine days of Navratri • First three days are related to the worship of Goddess Durga. • Next three days, Goddess Laxmiis worshipped. • Last three days worship of Goddess Saraswati is done with all rituals.

7. Kanya Puja Vidhi • According to Hindu religious texts, two to ten years’ old girls are suitable for Kanya puja (Brahmin girls to fulfill all sorts of wishes, Kshatriya girls for the fame and glory, Vaishya girls for the prosperity and wealth and Shudra girls to get a son). These girls portray various forms of Goddess Durga and named as follows: • Kumarika • Trimurti • Kalyani • Rohini Kali • Chandika • Shanbhavi • Durga • Subhadra or Bhadra

8. How to do kanya puja? • All the nine girls (Kanya) and one boy (langur) are welcomed by washing their feet with religious water and red powdered kumkum. • Then they are seated respectively on a mat laid on the floor (preferably in the temple zone of your home) and the religious red thread is tied on their wrists by chanting the dedicated mantra. • A tilak is applied on their forehead and a red chunni of Devi maa is given to them. • The youngest girl can be asked to pick up Jau from the mud pot which is now fully grown and kept in our temple as a sign of growth and wealth. • Halwa, Puri, Chana, Coconut are prepared for Prasad Bhog to Goddess. • People sing Navratri special bhajan. • All the girls are served delicious food (Prasad) after offering Bhog to Goddess Durga. • Dakshina (money) and gifts are given to all the girls by touching their feet and taking their blessings, who are seen as a form of the Goddess.

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