Navratri 2018 begins today i.e. Wednesday, 10th October 2018 and marks the arrival of the festive season in India. This nine-day festival of Goddess Durga will conclude on Thursday, 18th October, 2018, next week, followed by Dussehra on Friday, 19th October which will pave way to Diwali 20 days later on Wednesday, 7th November 2018.
Navaratri celebrates the power of womanhood in the form of Nine Hindu Goddesses or NavDurga. These nine manifestations of Goddess Durga are preached in a particular order starting with Goddess Shailputri, Brahmacharini, Chandraghanta, Kushmanda, Skandamata, Katyayani, Kalaratri, Mahagauri and Siddhidatri.
In North India, non-vegetarian food and alcohol are abstained during the Navratri festival. Hindus fast during the Navratris and worship Girl-child or Kanjaks on the eighth or night day known as Durga Ashtami or Navmi respectively. The first day of Navratri begins with Ghatasthapana wherein Goddess Shakti is invoked and welcomed in the household.
The Navratri period is considered the most auspicious time for all major events and purchasings of the year in India.
The festival is celebrated as Durga Puja in West Bengal. Lavish feasts and celebrations are followed in Durga Puja pandals and street processions from seventh day as the festival comes to close on the tenth day with Vijayadashmi – the day when Goddess Durga slayed Mahishasur (the buffalo demon). This form of Goddess Durga is cited as Mahishasurdamini.
In East and North East India, heroic tales of NavDurgas are depicted during the Navratri festival.
In Gujarat and Maharashtra, the festival is hugely popular for Garba and Dandiya nights during the nine-nights from 10th to 18th October 2018. While in South India, Goddesses Durga, Saraswati and Laxmi are preached during the Navratri and this festivity concludes with much fanfare on Dussehra or the tenth day.
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