Navratri 2017 - Durga Puja Festival Dates

Navratri, also known as Durga Puja, is a reckoned Hindu festival celebrated in almost all parts of the country. But, places like Gujarat, West Bengal and Maharashtra know the proper way of celebrating it. Navratri is an amazing festival to witness, as it is celebrated with great zeal, devotion and dedication. The festival continues for 9 days and each day has its own significance and ruling deity. There are five Navratras in the time duration of a year but the two very main Navratras are Chaitra Navratri and Sharad Navratri. The upcoming Navratri festival is Sharad Navratri, which is celebrated in October. The people intend to observe fast for complete 9 days and serve the ruling deities with offerings to please them and seek their blessings.

Navratri

The wonderful festival of Sharad Navratri will commence on 21st September and will be continued till 30th September in 2017. The tenth day after Sharad Navratri is celebrated as ‘Vijayadashami’, which is the day of the triumph of Lord Rama over Ravana. The literal meaning of the word Navratri is nine nights and the festival has been given this name, as it is consecutively celebrated for nine days and 9 nights. The main connotation of this festival is to worship the immense power of Goddess (Shakti). The festival signifies one of the most popular notions i.e. victory of the good over evil. Each day of the festival is dedicated to different ruling deity that endows their devotees with different blessings. The festival of Sharad Navratri doesn’t only include worshipping but it also is an occasion of dancing and enjoying being alive. People express their gratitude toward the powerful and kind deities in various ways. They observe fasts, offer different kind of offerings and perform garba also known as dandiya dance to just delight their goddess. All these things are never taken as duties by the people, but they do these things with the agreement of their own pure heart.

Rituals and celebration of Navratri

Navratri is celebrated as Durga Pooja throughout the country and the dates of the festival are determined by the Lunar calendar. Although the festival is said to have 9 days but sometimes it is celebrated for 7 or 8 solar days depending on dates given by the calendar. There are several ways in which the rituals of Durga Pooja or Navratri are performed. This festival captivates the absolute attention of all the devotees and purifies their mind, soul and body. In all the Navratri, Sharad Navratri is the one that is celebrated with extreme fervor. Each region has their own ritual and way of celebrating Navratras. Like, the people of Gujarat celebrate Navratri by observing fast and performing Garba as well. Initially, Garba was only performed in Gujarat but it has been adopted as a ritual of Navratri by the people of Western part of the country too. Garba or Dandia dance is nothing but a sheer dedication to the Goddess and her power. People who celebrate Navratri or Durga Puja are very particular about observing fast. People observe fast and even the priests are called to home for the puja of the Goddess. The idol of “Maa Durga” in the position of killing the demon Mahishasura are usually kept in the temples of home to worship during this time. People in order to honor the Goddess prepare offerings themselves and offer them to the Goddess with love and respect. It is an unmatchable pleasure to devote time in the service of the idol of the Goddess. People tend to gift them new clothes and decorate the idols with flowers and colors. On the last day of Durga Pooja or Navratri, people are supposed to feed 9 little girls depicting 9 different persona of the divine power (Durga). This ritual is known as the ‘Kanya Pujan’. With this, the rituals of the Navratri come to a accomplished end. It is believed that one who completes all these rituals of Durga Pooja with perfection is blessed with the kindness of all the deities.

The very main thing to remember about this festival is that each day is the symbol of different Goddess. Therefore, the worship should be done considering all the Deities at their significant day. The worship of first day of the Navratri must include Kalash Sthapana and installation of clay pot in which the Jaw is nurtured for 9 days. Strict fast and avoidance of liquor, non vegetarian food, onion and even garlic must be maintained for the next 9 days. The deities who are worshipped during Navratri or Durga Puja are:

1. Devi Shailputri
2. Devi Brahmacharini
3. Devi Chandraghanta
4. Devi Kushmanda
5. Skanda Mata
6. Devi Katyayani
7. Devi Kalratri
8. Maha Gauri
9. Siddhidatri

It is important to have unbreakable faith in the power and love of the Goddess to deviate all her blessings toward you and your family. Only the true believers of the Goddess can feel the heavenly peace in performing all the rituals of Navratri.

Navratri Greetings & SMS

Navratri is definitely not a festival to be celebrated alone. The beautiful magic of Navratri should be spread even outside the circumference of one’s family. There are many people in the world that you would like to share your greetings with, but you might not have the exact words to express yourself. This is the right place to get all what you want. Wish your family and all the well wishers as well via greetings & SMSs provided here. We have selected the perfectly rhymed and beautiful greetings that you can use to convey your inner feelings to the people you want to. All the people in the country and the world are connected with the common thread of humanity and different festivals. Festivals celebrated should be taken as a reason of enhancing the unity among people, so why to restrict your wishes to the people you know only. Share these greetings on your social networking sites and be the one to leave the message of cultural unity and integration.

Navratri Songs

The best way to evince your devotion to the Goddess is by singing the songs dedicated to them. There are number of attractive songs that catches attention and leave the person spell bound to them. The lyrics of these songs describe each quality of all the ruling deities perfectly. Some songs are also meant to define all the emotions of all the Goddesses such as rage, anger, love and affection all at once. The beauty of these songs is that they target the deities individually to portray their individual blessings and attractiveness. Here is the collection of best Navratri songs. Therefore, lose yourself in the divinity of the Goddess and enjoy the presence of soothing music.

Navratri Wallpapers

The presence of ‘Shakti’ can be felt anywhere and everywhere. Here are some exclusive wallpapers of the Goddess denoting Navratri that you can use to feel the unknown power within you. These wallpapers are eye pleasing and soothes the soul of anyone who concentrates on these wallpapers. Applying wallpapers related to the Navratri on the wall of your laptop and mobile is an easier way to feel the mesmerizing power of Goddess. The feeling of wholesomeness is a unique feeling that almost everyone die for. Each and everyone is aware of that it is not easy to derive this feeling. But, with the presence of Goddess wallpaper you can also feel the essence of wholesomeness.

Mythology of Navratri

Navratri is a traditional festival that is being celebrated since ages and will be celebrated till eternity. The utmost faith and loyalty of the people toward Navratri is the basic essence of this festival. There are number of beliefs related to the Durga Pooja and the connotation of this festival is taken in different ways. The main significance of Navratri is that the victory of good over evil is confirmed no matter how strong the evil is. It is believed that the evil spirit of Mahishasura was killed by the Goddess Durga in the favor of mankind and to defend her dignity. Therefore, the festival of Navratri is celebrated to gratify the victory of Maa Durga and people politely request her to kill the evil prevailing on earth at the present time too.

One more belief of Navratri is from the time of ‘Tretayug’. It was the yuga of Lord Rama. It is said that lord Rama worshipped all 9 incarnation of the supreme power Durga for the 9 days and then defeated the powerful Raavan to end his tyranny.

These are some breathtaking beliefs of the festival of Navratri, which will always keep the faith of humans alive in doing good deeds only.