Navaratri 2022: Religious importance of Navratri
New Delhi: Navaratri is a prominent Hindu festival that is celebrated twice a year in India – during the months of Chaitra and Sharad, as per the Hindu calendar. The Sharad Navaratri is often celebrated in September- October and means autumn in the Hindi language.
The pan-Indian festival is celebrated with pompous and extravagant celebrations held across the country.
The word Navaratri means nine nights in the Sanskrit language. Each day is dedicated to a specific deity and is associated with specific religious rituals with a colour designated for each day.
This year the festival began with the Ghatasthapana ritual on Monday, September 26, 2022, and will end with Dussehra/Vijayadashami celebration on the tenth day, i.e. on Wednesday, October 05, 2022.
The festival is dedicated to Hindu goddess Durga and her incarnations, which are also known as Navdurga. The festival holds a special religious importance in the Hindu mythology.
The festival marks the tumultuous battle that took place between the goddess and a buffalo demon named Mahishasura.
Durga was the incarnation of goddess Parvati, the wife of Lord Shiva. She took the form of Durga in order to kill the notorious and powerful demon, Mahishasura.
The legend dates back to the ancient times when a great battle ensued between Mahishasura and goddess Durga. The demon had prayed to Lord Brahma and gained a boon. Brahma bestowed the buffalo demon with the boon of immortality.
However, the Brahma warned that the mighty demon will only be defeated by a woman. Armed with the new-found boon of immortality, Mahishasura attacked the three worlds or the Trilok, that comprised of namely, heaven, purgatory, and hell.
Extremely powerful and over-confident of winning over the worlds with no God to stop or defeat him, Mahishasura and his army of devils wrecked havoc and disrupted the planet earth.
The worried and helpless Gods prayed to Lord Vishnu, Lord Shiva, and Lord Brahma for shelter, remedy and to assist them defeat the mighty demon.
Seeing the utter haplessness, Lord Vishnu decided to create a woman to defeat the demon as per Lord Brahma’s boon, wherein he had clearly stated that no one but a woman can defeat the demon.
While Vishnu created the woman, Lord Shiva and Brahma put their powers together and instilled them in the woman. Therefore, the all-encompassing woman came to be known as Durga, who is considered to be an incarnation of Lord Shiva’s wife, Parvati.
All the three lords – Vishnu, Shiva, and Brahma, created Goddess Durga who fought against the demon for 15-long days. This battle shook all the three worlds.
Mahishasura had another superpower. The clever demon would keep changing his form from buffalo to human to confuse his opponent. Ultimately, the goddess pierced a spear or trishul on his bare chest when he transformed into a buffalo and killed him instantly.
Therefore, devotees worship the nine different forms of goddess Durga on nine different days.
(Avya Mathur)
