Sharad Navratri begins on the first day of the lunar month Ashwin and ends on the tenth day of the lunar month Ashwin. This festival honours Maa Durga and is celebrated with great devotion. It is also known as Durga Puja and is celebrated mostly in Northern and Eastern India. According to Hindu mythology, Lord Ram revered the holy goddess to fight and destroy the Demon King Lord Raavan. He was a symbol of good triumphing over bad. The tenth day is known as ‘VIJAYADASHAMI’ or ‘DUSSEHRA’. Sharad Navratri is observed during the Ashwin month, which marks the start of the winter season. People perform Navratri in their homes or temples dedicated to various embodiments of Goddess Durga during the festival of Navratri. For nine days, mantra chanting, bhajan recitals, and shloka recitals follow the Navratri rituals.
Worshipping nine goddesses during Navratri, stage decorations, recital of the legend, live dramas and enactment of the plot, and chanting Hindu scriptures are all part of the festivities. The nine days also serve as a significant crop harvesting season followed by cultural events, competitions for pandal design, and stage decoration. People love to visit these pandals, and they perform puja each day till Dashmi. Apart from pandal hopping, people enjoy various activities, including classical songs and folk dances. The statues are submerged in a water body, like a river or ocean, on the final day, known as Vijayadashami or Dussehra. The statue symbolising evil is burned with fireworks, and its symbolised death. The festival also kicks off the countdown to one of the most popular and commonly observed holidays, Diwali, or the festival of lights, which falls twenty days after Sharad Navratri.
There are many enthralling legends and myths attached to the history of Navratri:
Rishi Shrungi was once giving advice to devotees under a peepal tree. A woman from the crowd got up and told the Rishi that he was not able to get the blessing of Maa Durga because of the bad activities of her husband. Her husband was indulging in all kinds of immoral activities and forcing her to participate in them. Due to this reason, the woman was unable to perform any kind of vrat, puja or rituals. She wanted to take refuge in the feet of Goddess Durga but was unable to do because of the activities of her husband. She asked Rishi Shrungi to help her in finding the blessings of Maa Durga. Rishi Shrungi then told the woman that all people know about the Chaitra (March – April) and Sharad (September – October) Navratri. But apart from there are two secret Navratri in a year during which the 10 Mahavidya (Dasa Mahavidya) form of Mother Goddess is invoked. Rishi Shrungi asked the woman to perform the Gupt Navratri to get her blessings. The woman performed intense penance during Gupt Navratri and because of which the woman achieved peace and prosperity. Her husband abandoned his wanton life and became a responsible family man. All this happened due to the blessings of Maa Durga worship during Gupt Navratri.
Navratri is said to occur four times a year in Hindu scriptures such as the Shakta and Vaishnava Puranas. By the way, Navratri occurs in the light half of the Hindu lunisolar months in all cases. However, the Hindus’ imagination and tastes are left to the fore in their celebrations, which differ by area. The most well-known of the four Navaratris is Sharadiya Navratri, named after Sharada, which means autumn. It falls in the lunar month of Ashvin (September–October, post-monsoon). The festival occurs after the autumn harvest in certain areas and during the harvest in others. Sharada Navaratri is a post-monsoon autumn festival dedicated to the divine feminine Devi (Durga). The festivity is celebrated in the country and the globe as well. The festival is held in the bright half of the Hindu calendar month Ashvin, which corresponds to September and October in the Gregorian calendar.
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