Navratri Festival of India

Name of Festival : Navratri Festival

Major Territory of Celebration
Navratri Festival is celebrated in All over India

Time of celebration (Months)
Navratri Festival is celebrated in the month of September end to early October

Worship in Festival
In this day people worship the Goddess Durga

About Festival
Navaratri is the longest Hindu festival celebrated all over India for nine consecutive nights in praise of Lord Rama and Goddess Durga from September end to early October.

Navratri means nav = nine and ratri = nights lasts for 9 days with three days each devoted to worship of Maa Durga, the Goddess of Valor, Ma Lakshmi, the Goddess of Wealth and Maa Saraswati, the Goddess of Knowledge.On the 10th day falls Vijayadashami or Dussehra.

During the nine days of Navratri, feasting and fasting take precedence over all normal daily activities amongst the Hindus .Most joyous celebration of Navaratri is seen in Gujarat, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Bengal.

In Gujarat, every night people gather in courtyards to dance the Garba and Dandiya Raas In some places special puja samarohas are also held by setting the images of Mother Durga on beautifully decorated pandals. In West Bengal, it is celebrated as Durga Puja where beautifully decorated images of the goddess are worshipped in specially erected Puja Pandals.

First 1 – 3 day of Navratri are dedicated to Goddess Durga. In these day people worshipped Kumari, Parvati and Kali.

Next 4 – 6 Days are dedicated to Goddess Lakshmi

Last three are dedicated to Goddess Saraswati (Goddess Of Knowledge), dressed in milky white and mounted on a pure white swan

Mahanavami
Navratri Festival culminates in Mahanavami. On this day Kanya Puja is performed. Nine young girls representing the nine forms of Goddess Durga are worshiped.

The festival culminates on Mahanavami. On this day, Kanya Puja is performed. Nine young girls representing the nine forms of Goddess Durga are worshiped. First girls feet are washed as a mark of respect for the Goddess and then they are offered new clothes as gifts by the worshiper.