The auspicious Hindu festival of Navratri celebrates the nine forms of Maa Durga. All the family members show their involvement during these days of Navratri to seek blessings of the Goddesses. The festival is celebrated in various regions of the nation, people of different cultures perform similar rituals to revere the Nine forms of Goddess Durga.
Here are some important rituals or rules of celebrating the festival that you must practice:
- Shringar for Goddess Durga
Each day of Navratri is dedicated to a particular form of Goddess Durga. The idol of the Goddess is decorated in the home temples of almost every Hindu household and is embellished with beautiful shringar including a poshak, accessories, dupatta preferably red in color and flowers are decorated all around. Performing shringar for the Goddess is of great importance in the Hindu culture.
- Sowing of “Jowar” or “Barley”
On the first day of Navrati after performing shringar, some barley or “Jowar” seeds are sown in a mud pot that is worshipped each day and that grows over the period of nine days. This process is considered to be very auspicious for the devotees.
- “Kalash Sthapana”
It implies keeping a water pot or “kalash” in the temple for nine days, sprinkled with holy water and embraced with mango leaves and coconut.
- Navratri fasting
Praying and fasting marks the celebration of Navratri. Many devotees perform puja and observe fast for all nine days with complete devotion and zeal to seek blessings.
- Satvik meal
Devotees who fast are supposed to eat satvik meal once in a day and other family members who can’t fast are supposed to have only vegetarian food with no onion and garlic.
- Performing morning and evening puja
The morning 'puja' is performed after a bath, and the day-long fast is broken after performing the evening puja.
- Positive behavior
During the Nine days, while maintaining strict discipline in meal, one must also monitor his/her behavior. Devotees try to stay away from negative energies and spend most of their time worshipping the goddess and chanting the Navratri mantras. Most of the devotees don’t even get a haircut done during these days to stay pure and pious.
- “Kanya puja”
A very important tradition is performing “Kanya puja” on the eighth or ninth day of the festival, which involves worshipping nine little girls, representing the nine forms of Goddess Durga. The feet of each girl are washed with water and then all of them are offered Prasad made at home. After performing this ritual the devotees can break their fast and seek blessings from little girls.
- Wearing traditional and colorful clothes
Both men and women wear traditional and colorful clothes during this period. Wearing black or white dress should be completely avoided during Navratri.
Some other rituals that you must practice during Navratri are staying positive and being away from any negative influences, showing complete devotion through actions such as singing devotional songs for Maa Durga and chanting Mantras is a great way to celebrate the festival. Devotees perform meditation to seek the grace of Goddess Durga in the form of happiness and prosperity. 4 Spiritual Idols That Bring Positivity And Good Fortune
