(RNS) — Monday (Sept. 22) marks the start of Navaratri, a vibrant, nine-night Hindu festival dedicated to the Divine Feminine in all her forms. Hindus will dedicate rituals to the goddess Durga — the “Mother Goddess” who embodies the feminine energy known as Shakti — in recognition of her victorious nine-day battle against the buffalo demon, Mahishasura.
In Hindu tradition laid out in the Devi Mahatmya, a third-century sacred text, each night is dedicated to the form of Durga that appeared as the battle raged, as her powers shifted from day to day in ways that helped Durga eventually defeat the demon. Night one’s Shailputri represents Durga’s courage and focus to begin the battle, whereas night seven’s Kalaratri is considered Durga’s most dark, fearsome warrior form.
Some Hindus celebrate all nine of Durga’s manifestations, while others divide the holiday into three parts, dedicated to the triad of goddess Durga, goddess Lakshmi and goddess Saraswati — representing power, prosperity and wisdom, respectively.
In all its iterations, Navaratri is seen as a time for men and women alike to recognize the role feminine power has played in their lives — the loving and compassionate caregiver, the steadfast and devoted supporter and the powerful and fierce protector.
And just as with most Hindu holidays, celebrations of Navaratri (which means simply “nine nights” in Sanskrit) will differ widely across Indian regions.
A couple performs morning rituals in the River Ganges on the first day of the nine-day Hindu festival of Navaratri on the outskirts of Prayagraj, in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, India, on April 6, 2019. (AP Photo/Rajesh Kumar Singh)
In the western state of Gujarat, Navaratri is almost synonymous with Garba — the community folk dance that takes place in a circle around a clay lamp symbolizing the divine energy at the center of life. In some southern states, households create Golus, or tiered arrangements of dolls and figurines representing deities and mythological scenes, that they share with their neighbors.
In the north of India, many undergo a fast to deepen their spiritual practice and perform rituals for the young girls in their life known as kanya puja.
As for Bengalis in India’s east, Navaratri is the occasion for one of the region’s grandest festivals, Durga Puja, a community celebration when highly decorative Pandals, or temporary temples, are built to house elaborate idols of Durga and her family.
Shared among Hindus across India’s various regions is the celebration of community, through ritual, art, music and dance. In the Indian diaspora, it’s not uncommon for Navaratri’s rituals to be combined so that groups of different languages and cultures celebrate the holiday together.
For many Hindu women, Navaratri is a special time to connect with their own Shakti to celebrate their sisterhood with other women. Some women have taken to wearing a different color each day, aligning with the symbolic meaning of that day’s goddess. Others also celebrate World Bindi Day on the first day of Navaratri, an initiative that began in 2020 to honor the spiritual and cultural expression of the mark many Hindu women wear on their third eye, or ajna chakra.
At the end of the nine days comes Vijayadashami, also called Dussehra, marking the day Durga finally killed Mahishasura and restored the cosmic order of the universe. Many Hindus also celebrate Dussehra as the day Lord Ram defeated the demon Lord Ravana — the central battle of the Hindu epic Ramayana— and watch dramatic retellings of the epic known as Ramlila.
In both cases, these war stories and their remembrance serve as reminders to Hindu believers that good will always triumph over evil.
