NAVARATRI
During the festival of Navratri, Hindus celebrate
the goddess Durga’s victory over the evil Mahishasura. It is said that Lord
Brahma, who is the creator among trinity, had bestowed Mahishasura the gift of
immortality, ensuring that he would never die. Nevertheless, this boon has one
condition the one who would be able to defeat Mahishasura would be a woman.
Mahishasura accepted the gift happily as he didn’t believe any woman could kill
him. However, after passage of some years, no deity was able to stop Mahishasura
and his followers from attacking humanity on Earth as they became stronger over
time. After seeing this situation, the three most powerful Hindu
gods—Lord Brahma, Lord Vishnu, and Lord Shiva decided to unite and create the
goddess Durga, who will be powerful and strong enough to defeat Mahishasura. To
defeat Mahishasura, the gods gave lots of weapons to the Goddess Durga before
going for the battle.
The demon fought with Goddess Durga for ten days.
These ten days were really difficult for Goddess Durga. During these days,
Mahishasura constantly changed his form to mislead the goddess Durga. But when
he at last transformed into a buffalo, Goddess Durga was able to win over him.
Hence, this way, Goddess Durga defeated Mahishasura and got victory over the
demons.
During these nine days of Navratri, some devotees
also observe fast. The nine
colours of Navratri have great significance. They symbolise nine incarnations of the Goddess. There
is a lot of dancing that is Garba done during the festivities as well! Some
people also do Dandiya Raas during Navratri. From elders to youngsters, all
enjoy these nine days of Navratri with full joy and excitement.
