India is a land of festivals. Every now and then, every month and even seen deeply then Indians celebrates some or other festival every day. Out of these many festivals “NAVRATRI” is a huge festival and one of the longest celebrated festivals in India. This festival is dedicated to worship the Hindu deity ‘Goddess Durga’.
Navratri literally means ‘nine-nights’. The festival of navratri is celebrated for nine days/nights and tenth day is celebrated as ‘Vijayadashami ‘ or ‘Dussehra’, famous for the day when Lord Ram killed Ravana. All these nine days are celebrated worshipping all the forms of Shakti or Devi or avatar of goddess Durga. Two types of navratri are celebrated in India. One is Vasanta navratri and other is Sharad navratri. Vasant navratri is celebrated at the beginning of the summer season or one may say at the end of spring season. Sharad navratri is celebrated at beginning of the winters.
This festival is mainly celebrated in Northern India. It is a main festival of the Indian state Gujarat but is equally celebrated in whole of northern India including mainly Rajasthan, Delhi, etc.
The Navratri commences on the first day of bright fortnight of the lunar month ashwin. This festival is mainly celebrated in the month of October. This festival is celebrated by fasting for all nine days by the devotees in the devotion of goddess Durga. An idol of goddess Durga is established with all rituals and the social rites on the first day of navratri also known as ‘Navratri Sthapna’.
Nine forms of Shakti are worshipped during these days of navratri as per the trends and traditions of the different regions.These are as follows:
- Durga
- Bhadrakali
- Amba or Jagadamba, Mother of the universe
- Annapoorna devi,
- Sarvamangala,
- Bhairavi
- Chandika or Chandi
- Lalita
- Bhavani
- Mookambika
NAVRATRI CELEBRATIONS IN UDAIPUR:
The City of Lakes celebrates every festival and every occasion with a basket full of enthusiasm and devotion. In every corner of the city it is celebrated in a different way. But one thing common is “GARBA”. Garba is a traditional dance of Gujarat which is usually carried out during the festival of navratri. In every area and every street of city huge Pandals are decorated with the establishment of the idol of Goddess Durga and Garba/Dandiya is played for next nine days.
One of the biggest platforms during navratri and the biggest idol of goddess Durga are established in Sutharwada. Many devotees from all over the city reach there to take a glimpse of the grand decoration and the breathtaking celebrations of navratri. In these nine days devotees go and visit various temples throughout the city mainly Neemach Mata, Ambamata, Bedla Mata, Karni Mata, Kalka Mata etc. Temples of high devotion like Asawara Mata, Untala mata(vallabhnagar), Idana Mata, Barwasan Mata, Jhankla Mata etc which are out of city are also visited by devotees in huge numbers.
The bengali community celebrates the “Durga Pooja” as their primary festival throughout the year and their celebrations start on the 6th day of Navratri, which continues till the end of Dusshera. In Udaipur, there are various locations where Durga Pooja is celebrated by the Bengali Communities
There are many private firms and many self organized organizations which sponsor as well as conduct Garba at huge scale. Couples, senior citizens, children, and people of all age groups enjoy these nine days and on the ninth day with the dispersal of the idols pray for the next navratri and stay awaited.
Post By : Kashish chandrayan
