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Durga Puja is a part of the Navaratri festival. Navaratri, or the nine sacred nights dedicated to the Mother Goddess, is observed between October and November. The festivals of Saraswati Puja and Durga Puja are part of Navaratri.
Nava represents nine and Ratri signifies night. As a result, Navaratri literally means "nine nights." The nine manifestations of Durga are worshipped during Navratri. Goddess Durga is one of the numerous incarnations of Parvati, Lord Shiva's consort, who takes the form of Durga and nurtures various creatures. In Sanatan Dharma, the presence of women is so powerful in Vedic literature that they are positioned on the largest and most essential three pillars of creation.
- Goddess Laxmi – Goddess of wealth
- Goddess Saraswati – Goddess of knowledge
- Goddess Durga – The protector of the world who is also known as the jailer of this world as she protects the world from any harm.
Significance of Navaratri Festival:
The event recounts Lord Rama and His brother Lakshmana approaching Mother Durga to seek her blessings in their battle against the demon Ravana.
It is notable that the Lord sought the blessings of the heavenly mother, Goddess Durga, before going into combat. In burning the effigies of the demon Ravana, who was murdered by Lord Rama, we are also asked to burn the evil within us and therefore follow the road of virtue and goodness, remembering Ravana, who was destroyed for his evil ways despite his might and majesty.
Ravana was a renowned scholar and passionate follower of Lord Shiva, but the very abilities bestowed upon him for his unwavering devotion proved to be his doom owing to his egregious misapplication of them. Furthermore, despite being empowered by his austerities undertaken for Lord Shiva, his powers were ineffectual against Lord Rama's.
Divisions of the Navaratri or the nine sacred nights:
The First Three Days of Navaratri: Because of her destructive nature, Durga is honoured throughout the first three nights of the festival. She dissolves the anarthas or undesired hurdles that prevent us from reaching our full spiritual potential. The meaning of durgati harini is that she suppresses evil tendencies in the psyche. She is worshipped to liberate us from our harmful impulses such as desire, lust, passion, greed, rage, and so on. The spiritual unfoldment cannot take place unless these obstacles are removed.
The Second Three Days of Navaratri: The next step is to use the positive process of adding the attributes we require. So, for the next three nights, Goddess Lakshmi is worshipped. She bestows you a myriad of positive traits such as love, goodness, compassion, forgiveness, cooperation, nonviolence, dedication, purity, and so on.
Virtue is the true prosperity bestowed by Goddess Lakshmi. This is the genuine richness that may move us toward the spiritual goal, not just the wealth of goods and belongings. These uplifting qualities replace the negative ones that Goddess Durga eradicated. At this moment, the seeker can prepare for the requisite philosophical study and reflection.
The Last Three Days of Navaratri: The remaining three nights are dedicated to Saraswati, the goddess of knowledge. She provides us with the information, knowledge, and insight necessary for spiritual enlightenment. She represents the highest level of Self-awareness.
She plays her well-tuned veena of knowledge and insight by invoking her blessings, which can then tune our mind and intellect to operate in harmony with the world and the purpose of our life.
Then our spiritual practice, research, and meditation become effective in achieving victory over the dominance of our mind and senses. Then, free of illusion, we may realise our true identity as spiritual entities and elements of the spiritual dimension.
The Last Day: After we have cleansed ourselves of impurities, achieved the necessary virtues and gained knowledge of the Self, the final day is known as Vijayadashami, or the day of victory over our thoughts and the lower dimension, after we have worshipped the goddess in her three forms.
The Meaning of The Form of Goddess Durga:
You've seen the image of Goddess Durga. She has ten hands and a variety of weapons. So material nature has ten hands. Ten hands represent ten directions: north, south, east, and west, followed by the four corners (eight), and up and down. So in this way, ten different directions. Goddess Durga, the material nature, thereby controls the entire universe in ten directions. But She rules over the material cosmos with the assistance of the Supreme Being, Lord Vishnu/Krishna.
Celebration of Navaratri:
Navaratri celebrations are held at night to symbolise our victory over the ignorance of the mode of darkness, the night of Tamo-guna. As a result, the Vedic festivals are undertaken in these stages: preparation, purification, realisation, and celebration. It symbolises one's progress toward the ultimate aim of life.
During the nine days of the Navratri festival, every devotee must worship Maa Durga by performing puja and placing an image of the holy mother in their puja room. The devotees would properly prepare Sundal Neivedyam (Pulses Prasad) every day in their houses and offer it to the holy mother while performing the puja. Special pujas and decorations would be made to the deity in Durga Devi temples throughout the entire nine days by chanting Ma Durga Devi's heavenly mantras.
During the Navratri festival days, regular prayers, chanting of Mantras, and meditation activities take place, and devotees must take an oath to cleanse their minds of laziness, pride, lust, greed, jealousy, and other undesirable habits. Once our negative emotions have been eradicated by the blessings of Goddess Durga, our spirits will be completely surrendered to the Supreme.
Happy Navaratri!!!
