Navratri Celebration in India

Hello Guys, so as we all know that in India now it is the time of festivals where we celebrate different festivals with our family, friends and our loved ones, right ? And of course all of us love some festivals and are eagerly waiting for that festival to come. But we also get upset when the festival season gets over because during that period of time we enjoy quality time with our family and friends.

Today in this blog we will talk about the celebration of the most energetic festival which is celebrated in different ways in different parts of India and the most unique fact of this festival is that it is celebrated at night. Now you all know about which festival we are going to discuss in today’s blog.

So we are going to talk about the festival of Nine Nights, the Festival to worship Goddess Durga for saving the world from evil Raksasa Mahishasura and the festival of Good over evil. Let’s discuss and explore more about the celebration of Navratri in different ways and in different parts of India.

Navratri Celebration in North India

Let’s Start this Guys, we will first see the celebration in North India, Navratri in north india is also known as “Chaitra Navratri” where the people of North India celebrated by worshipping Goddess Durga and during navratri people fast for nine days and perform jagratas (Worshipping and chanting holy songs all over the night).

Ramlila is also performed in many places where the performers play roles of Lord Ram, Goddess Sita, Lord Lakshmana and Lord Hanuman and show how lord rama defeated the King Ravana and victory over Evil.

Also in the North side of India peoples do Kanya Poojan where small and young girls are treated as Goddess Durga and her 9 forms of Goddess during which they invite the girls to wash their feet and offer lunch or fruits with gifts and money as the devotion. Melas (Fairs) are also organised in navratri with street foods and rides with a large number of people gathering in the fairs.

On Dusshera people celebrate this festival by burning the huge idols of King Ravana, His Brother Kumbh Karana and son Indrajeet and celebrate completion of the festival.

Navratri Celebration in South India

Next is south India which is already famous for its religious and cultural importance where we can see the religious vibe itself and here the navratri is celebrated in its unique way by worshipping Books and tools in Tamil Nadu.

Also there is also a unique tradition which is known as kolu & Golu in which the people of tamil nadu make small dolls of gods, goddesses, animals and birds and place them in their temple places with theme and invite family and friends to their home.

Also people worship their books, tools and weapons during navratri which they use in their daily lifestyles and worshipping books is called vidyarambham festival during navratri.

In telangana the navratri is celebrated by worshipping goddess durga in form of goddess gawri in which the women decorate the house put rangoli (Muggu) in white colour and dress beautifully and in evening the a group of girls and women dressed beautifully dances in circle with goddess durga doll painted in turmeric powder with flower decoration which is called buthukamma.

The festival will go for nine nights with women whirling around the bathukamma clapping their hands or sticks along with the recitation of the Ramayana, stories of Shiva, Gowri, Ganga, and common day-to-day life of women in the form of rhythmic songs.

Every night, bathukamma is immersed in nearby water resources and a new bathukamma is made the next day. This nine nights festival ends with Durgashtami, when Durga is believed to be worshiped in the form of Maha Gowri.

Navratri Celebration in East India

Now coming to west Bengal here the celebration of navratri is also celebrated with full of energy and devotion. In west Bengal the Navratri is celebrated by worshipping the Goddess Durga Idols and building huge decorative pandals in west bengal and doing Durga pooja for nine days.

During the Navratri you can see cultural celebration, fairs and pandals everywhere you go in west bengal. The Festival starts here on the fifth day of navratri where the people bring idols of goddess durga in the pandals and worship the idol do maha aarti and beating drums during the aarti gives energetic devotional vibe throughout the nine days.

And on the 10th day called vijayadashmi the idols of goddess durga are taken to the waterbodies or river for immersion with a large number marked as the completion of the Navratra/Navratri.

Navratri Celebration in West India

Now coming to the next part of India is Gujarat where this festival is celebrated with lots of energy and the roads during this festival looks so beautiful with lighting and decoration all over the roads, complexes, homes everywhere you see just lights and decoration.

During Navratri the people of Gujarat celebrates by worshipping the goddess and doing pooja for nine days but the real festival starts in night where all boys and girls dresses in traditional outfits plays garba with full energy for hours and hours with gujarati garba songs in an open areas decorated beautifully of navratri.

Many Communities organise garba events where celebrities from gujarati film industry, singers are invited, sing and play garba also, during the nine nights the gujaratis do not sleep in nights, they just do only one thing and that is playing garbas.

On the last day of navratri the people here play garba till early morning as the last energetic garba of navratri and on Dusshera the people here celebrate the festival with unique way like in gujarat people start their day with fafda and jalebi as there is a tradition of eating fafda jalebi on dusshera where people wait in long queues just to eat fafda and jalebi.

So coming to the next state is Maharashtra where the celebration of navratri is similar to the celebration of Gujarati but the people of Maharashtra also worshipping goddess Durga and her 9 forms by doing a pooja on eighth day of navratri (also known as Ashtami) where the people decorate their house and temple with flowers and asopalav leaves and place a copper water pot with coconut which is known as Ghatastapna in marathi and do gondhal at their home which is similar to jagratas in northside.

And on dusshera or dasra the families take blessings of their parents and elders and give them leaves of Apta trees which are considered as “Gold” for them which is a symbol of Prosperity in the family and visit the relatives and friends during dussehra.

So in this way one festival is celebrated in different ways all over India but the devotion and religious vibe never goes away. So with this I will be concluding my blog.

Let us know in which part of India you live and what type of celebration you do in navratri and stay tuned for next blog. And if you want to explore the different parts of India then wait not to book your next trip with friends and family through trekomania adventure where your comfort is our responsibility from stays to snacks, travelling to trekking and meals to memories in affordable prices.

You can book the trips from the website or instagram pages and also can go through the tour packages.