One of the most traditional festivals of Hindu religion is Chaitra Navratri which is basically a nine day festival and in the year 2017 it commenced on 28th March and will end on the birth of Lord Ram known as Ram Navami that is on 5th April. This auspicious festival is celebrated as a victory of good over the evil energies. On this particular festival, the Goddess Durga is worshiped along with her nine forms throughout the entire nine days.
When is it celebrated?
Chaitra Navratri basically starts according to the Hindu Luni-Solar calendar and on the first day. This day is celebrated as Gudi Padwa in Maharashtra and also known as Ugadi in Andhra Pradesh. It is considered as the second most celebrated festival all over India and named after the Vasant or spring season. On this day the goddess Shakti is worshiped and people offer prayers to the Goddess. It is also believed by the common people that people each of nine days actually is offering prayers to all the nine forms of Goddess Durga. The puja also requires a lot of Navratri puja samagri and considered to perform the puja by following the essential rituals.
Legends
In the renowned epic Ramayana, both Lord Rama and Lakshmana continued to pray for nine days and after that, they both performed yagna on a ninth day to Goddess of Shakti. Basically, this was performed to seek blessings from the Goddess of Power. This entire ritual was done to release Mother Sita from the cage of Ravana. There was another legend known as Sudarshan who worshiped and prayed Goddess of Shakti to get the victory. After he received the Shakti, as a form of celebration this day was performed as a yagna and so, the day is celebrated as Chaitra Navaratri.
Puja
Generally, this particular puja is performed during the evening where actually the idol of Maa Shakti is placed and the idol is decorated with beautiful flowers. As a lot of puja samagris are required so it is advisable that you can buy online puja items to make your work easier. Apart from bhog, beetel nuts, coconut and fruits are also offered to Goddess. On this day, most of the devotees keeps fast to seek blessings from Goddess Durga.
