~Navratri~ Navratri (Hindi: नवरात्री Gujarati: નવરાત્રી Oriya: ନର୍ଵାର୍ତୀ Bengali: নবরাত্রি Kannada: ನವರಾತ್ರಿ Assamese: নৱৰাত্রি Marathi: नवरात्री Punjabi: ਨਰਾਤੇ Kashmiri: نَورات / नवरात Telugu: నవరాత్రీ Tamil: நவராத்திரி Malayalam: നവരാത്രി) is a festival dedicated to the worship of the Hindu deity Durga. The word Navaratri means nine nights in Sanskrit, nava meaning nine and ratri meaning nights.[2] During these nine nights and ten days, nine forms of Shakti/Devi are worshiped. The tenth day is commonly referred to as Vijayadashami or Dussehra (also spelled Dasara). Navratri is an important major festival and is celebrated with great zeal all over India. Diwali the festival of lights is celebrated twenty days after Dasara. This festival corresponds to a nine-day Taoist celebration beginning on the eve of 9th lunar month of the Chinese calendar, which is observed primarily by the ethnic Chinese of Min Nan linguistic group in Southeast Asian countries like Myanmar, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand and also the Riau Islands called the Nine Emperor Gods Festival. Significance The beginning of spring and the beginning of autumn are considered to be important junctions of climatic and solar influences. These two periods are taken as sacred opportunities for the worship of the Divine Mother Durga. The dates of the festival are determined according to the lunar calendar. on which each women follow tradition to wear nine colours of dress on Navratri. Navaratri represents a celebration of the Goddess Amba, (the Power). Navaratri or Navadurga Parva happens to be the most auspicious and unique period of devotional sadhanas and worship of Shakti (the sublime, ultimate, absolute creative energy) of the Divine conceptualized as the Mother Goddess-Durga, whose worship dates back to prehistoric times before the dawn of the Vedic age. A whole chapter in the tenth mandal of the Rigveda addresses the devotional sadhanas of Shakti. The Devi Sukta and Isha Sukta of the Rigveda and Ratri Sukta of the Samveda similarly sing paeans of praise of sadhanas of Shakti. In fact, before the beginning of the legendary war between the Kauravas and Pandavas in the Mahabharata – a foundational Sanskrit epic in the Hindu tradition – Lord Krishna worshipped Durga, the Goddess of Shakti, for the victory of the Pandvas. Lord Brahma is cited in the Markandey Purana as mentioning to Rishi Markandey that the first incarnation of Shakti was as Shailputri. Further incarnations of the Divine Mother are: Brahmcharñi, Chandraghanta, Kushmanda, Skandamata, Katyayani, Kalratri, Mahagauri and Siddhidatri in that order. These nine manifestations of Shakti, are worshipped as Nava-Durga. The fifth chapter of the Rudra Sanhita of Shiva Purana also vividly describes the various Divine Emanations of Durga. Since the Vedic Age of the Rishies, the devotional practices recommended during Navratri are primarily those of Gayatri Anushthana. In the Vedic Age of the Indian Culture, the religious philosophy and devotional practices were focused towards true knowledge and ultimate realization of the supreme power of Gayatri (Bram Shakti). The Vedas were the basis of all streams of spirituality and science those days. Gayatri has been the source of the divine powers of the gods and non-goddesses in the heavens and their angelic manifestations and incarnations. Gayatri sadhana was also paramount in the higher level spiritual endeavors of the yogis and tapaswis. Gayatri Mantra was the core-focus of daily practice of sandhya-vandan (meditation and devotional worship) for everyone. As guided by the rishis, specific sadhanas and upasanas of the Gayatri Mantra were sincerely practiced during the festival period of Navaratri by every aspirant of spiritual enlightenment. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Navratri
Posted on: Thu, 25 Sep 2014 03:17:25 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015