Navaratri Festival

Navaratri Festival
September 23 rd Navaratri starts this year.

Navaratri Festval lasts for 9 days.(Nav means 9, ratri means night). It is celebrated from the first to ninth date of Ashwin Shukla Paksha of the Hindu Calendar.Three days each devoted to worship of Ma Durga, the Goddess of Valor, Ma Lakshmi, the Goddess of Wealth and Ma Saraswati, the Goddess of Knowledge. Navratri is celebrated in different regions of the country with devotion, music and dance.

In the south , during Navratri days people used to invite all the friends , relatives and neighbours over to home to look at the Kolu(dolls) that is arranged. The word seems to have been derived from the Tamil Kolu or Telugu Koluvai, which means a sovereign sitting in his royal durbar. Here Goddess Mahishasuramardini is supposed to be sitting in her Kolu, prior to the slaying of the demon Mahishasura.Every year the young girls in the house along with their mothers vie with each other to create a Kolu with a different look.The kumbham or the ceremonial jar for holy water, which is a conical vessel, is filled with fresh water. A silk cloth covers the mouth of the vessel, a coconut and mango leaves are placed on top of All the nine days are a non stop entertainment period with songs and dances.Everyday puja and arathi are performed
They make prasad (Chundal) everyday and invite Ladies for Manchal Kumkum.
Gujaratis perform their traditional dances Garba & Dandiya-Raas during Navratri. The women-folk dance in a circle, singing 'Garbas' or traditional songs. Dandiya-Raas is played with wooden sticks (dandiyas).