Since our childhood, a lot of us have been told, don’t eat chicken in Navratri. There have been a lot of other things we have been told that we should not do or should do. But, there is one question we all might have had some time in our lives: Why is Navratri celebrated? What is Navratri?
Now a lot of you might have been curious at some point in your lives about several aspects of Navratri like: Is it a festival? Is it a series of festivals? Why is it celebrated 2 times a year? Is it about power? God? Gender? What is it that makes this entire nine days a celebration? SO worry not… We at Rudraksha hub have heard you. In this blog, we will talk about Navratri, its importance, significance and benefits.
Let’s start with the first things first. Navratri, as the name suggests is nine days and nights celebration of Goddess Durga descending on Earth to remove all evils and bless all her devotees with utmost love, care, and blessings. Devi Durga is considered as the sign of victory over all odds and evils. But who is Goddess Durga?
Who Is Goddess Durga?
There is a story in the mythological texts where it is mentioned that there was a devil/ Danava/ asur named Mahishasura. He was creating a life difficult for everyone on Earth. Mahishasur was actually a very powerful devil who worshipped for many years to gain power and control of the entire universe. The Gods knew that if he is successful in his Tapasya, Lord Brahma will have to give him his wish (vardaan). Hence, the Gods did not want him to succeed and so they tried everything in their power to stop him. After failing multiple times, all the Gods collected and went to the creator of the Universe, Lord Brahma. Lord Brahma could not understand what he should do as stopping someone from worshipping was a sin and he, being the creator of the universe and rules of the universe could not afford to break his own rules. So Lord Brahma said that he will handle the issue in his own manner and that there is no way he will let Mahishsura win. But he will not stop him from worshipping also.
After a few months, when Mahishsura completed his Pooja, Lord Brahma had to appear and grant him a wish. Mahishsura asked for complete dominance on Earth along with supreme power with no conditions attached. Lord Brahma tried to convince Mahishsura to ask something else but Mahishsura reminded him that as per rules made by Brahma Ji, if he denies giving the wish asked after Tapasya, then he will be the culprit of extreme sin. So Lord Brahma told Mahishsura that he was free to have the wish but only at one condition that he will be more powerful than anyone but he will be killed only by a lady and no one else. Brahma Ji also said that other than this, he will not be able to grant any other wish to Mahishsura due to his extreme rigidity and bad intentions at heart for misuse of his power. Mahishsura accepted the condition as he was 100% sure that he will never get defeated by any women.
A few days later, Mahishsura had created enough enemies and was the target of everybody. He even dethroned Lord Indra, the lord of Skies, and took over every kingdom on Earth. He removed everyone in power and spoiled all the systems of Earth and heaven. So everyone collected to Lord Brahma and told him to do something. Brahma Ji said that he was forced to give this vardaan to Mahishsura and the only condition that could be accepted was that a lady can defeat Mahishasura.
Listening to this, Lord Vishnu proposed that everyone should combine their powers and create a lady with the powers of all the Gods and the fierceness of all the ladies that only ladies can showcase. All the gods collectively combined their powers and gave birth to Shakti (power), a female Goddess.
The Final Cut...
Mahishsura was confident that even if Shakti chases him for an eternity, nothing can happen to him. He kept evading Shakti for nine days continuously taking different forms each day and changing them the moment he was about to be caught. He took various forms like that of a cow, a rock, a flower, a swan, or anything else that he thought would keep him safe. On the ninth day, he took the shape of a bull but this was the day when Shakti was closest to him and thus his masquerade could not last long. Shakti caught him and killed him while he was in the form of a bull. This was so difficult for her that she was not able to contain her anger and she made a huge roar. She was thus named, Durga, the one who took over the invincible and roared like a lion thereafter.
Navratri: A Celebration of Nine Days
Hence, these nine days are celebrated with love, hope, and devotion to get the blessings of Goddess Durga and always be safe in every avenue of life. The tenth day is celebrated as Dussehra, for the victory of good over evil.
There are 2 Navratris celebrated every year, Chaitra Navratri which comes in the Chaitra month of the Hindu calendar and Shardiya Navratri which comes in the Sharad month of the Hindu calendar. We just discussed Shardiya Navratri. In the next video, we will talk about Chaitra Navratri, the one which is upcoming and will be celebrated from 2nd April 2022 to 10th April 2022 and ends with Ramnavami on 11th April 2022. We will publish a blog on Ramnavami also very soon. We will link the video of this blog when we upload it alongside as well with all attached links. We have also published a blog of 51 Shaktipeeth (Click to read it here) and how the story of Adiyogi is connected to the story of Navratri and Shaktipeeth. (click to read blog 1 and blog 2 of Adiyogi here).
Best Rudraksha for Durga:
9 Mukhi Rudraksha is best for Nav Durga and Nav Grah. There will be a proper blog on the same as well. Stay Tuned..!!
Do not miss to check out the Navratri sale that will be live from 31st March and will end on 11th April 2022 after Ramnavami. More details will be mentioned as they arrive. Till then, Namah Parvati Pataye Har Har Mahadev..!!
