Navratri Festival in Rajasthan is a Hindu festival that spans nine nights (and ten days) and is celebrated every year in the autumn. It is observed for different reasons and celebrated differently in various parts of the Indian subcontinent. Theoretically, there are four seasonal Navaratri. However, in practice, it is the post-monsoon autumn festival called Sharada Navaratri that is the most observed in the honor of the divine feminine Devi (Durga). The festival is celebrated in the bright half of the Hindu calendar month Ashvin, which typically falls in the Gregorian months of September and October.
Nine forms of Shakti are worshipped during these days of navratri as per the trends and traditions of the different regions.These are as follows:
- Durga
- Bhadrakali
- Amba or Jagadamba, Mother of the universe
- Annapoorna devi,
- Sarvamangala,
- Bhairavi
- Chandika or Chandi
- Lalita
- Bhavani
- Mookambika
The mela marks the beginning of a bubbly period. After this, the city comes to life and the entire region brags of people wearing beautiful traditional garments, children frolicking on the Mela ground, people offering their prayers to Goddess Durga and infectious energy that sweeps over the city.
How to do Navratri Puja 2022?
The nine days of worship and commemoration of Durga Maa during the Navratri requires tremendous preparations as there is a separate set of prayers and rituals on each of the days. The preparations for the large scale Navratri Puja organized in cities start at least a month in advance. There is a specific time, a process that has to be followed during the Navratri Puja.
Navratri Puja (Prayers)
All nine nights of Navratri are devoted to Goddess Durga by offering special prayers with a faith that she will bless her devotees, heal their illness and ensure an unproblematic life. Each night is dedicated to worship the various forms of Maa Durga.
On Lalita Panchami (the fifth day), children gather all the books in the house before a sacred lamp and invoke the blessings of Saraswati. It is also the occasion for all artisans to lay down their tools before the goddess and seek her benediction upon their trade. On the eighth and ninth days of the festival, yagnas are performed with the chanting of mantras as a final act of farewell that marks the culmination of the ceremonies, Navratri Festival in Rajasthan.
Besides the daily puja (prayer), the families observing these fasts need to conclude the Navratri celebration by inviting young Pre-pubescent girls (generally nine in number signifying nine different avatars of Durga) to their homes and worshipping them. There also is a ritual of decorating the idol of goddess Durga in a different colour on all the nine days of Navratri.
On the tenth day or Vijaya Dashmi, more popularly known as Dussehra, enormous effigies of Ravana stuffed with firecrackers are torched with flaming arrows to the delight of the revelers. It is also regarded as an auspicious occasion to start an enterprise and for the business communities to open their annual books of account Navratri Festival in Rajasthan.
Navratri Celebrations – Dandiya and Garba
Navratri is celebrated in the most heart warming way, with the Indian culture and traditions at their bests. Be it western India or eastern India, the celebration for Navratri brings joy everywhere . The days and nights are full of rituals in which Goddess Durga is worshiped in different ways in the various regions, cultural dances like Garba and Dandiya a major part of the festivities. West Bengal, Gujarat and Rajasthan celebrate Navratri with a very unique and splendid touch Navratri Festival in Rajasthan.
