Navratri Celebration in Different Parts of India

People across India are familiar about the fact that Navratri is the festival dedicated to Goddess Durga. It literally means ‘Nine Nights’. The common rituals during the festival are following a strict Vegetarian diet, fasting, praying to the goddess and few devotees read or meditate on scared scriptures.

In this post we will discuss about how the festival of Navaratri is celebrated in different states of the Indian sub-continent. So from where do we start! We’ll begin from the Head of our Mother Land!

Kashmir

In Kashmir, Hindus celebrate Navaratri in a subtle manner. Devotees consume only water and fast for nine days, they also perform puja at home. In any important ritual, devotees go to Maa Kher Bhawani, a conspicuous deity, who is said to warn her devotees about approaching catastrophe by turning the nearby lake water into black. Here, unlike other places, dance and music is avoided as believers devote time in prayer and meditation of the Goddess. At some places, barley is grown in earthen pots. It is believed that if the growth of barley is good, then the year would bring luck, prosperity and peace.

Himachal Pradesh

In Himachal Pradesh, unlike Kashmir, Navratri is a celebrated with great pomp and show. Here, the celebration starts on the tenth day of Navratri when the festival ends in other states. People celebrate the tenth day, also known as “Kullu Dussehra” as the day of return of Lord Rama to Ayodhya. On this day, the idols from the temples are taken out in processions. During the Navratri festival, the devotees visit various temples in Una, Kangra and Bilaspur districts of Himachal Pradesh to worship Goddess Durga.

The next post will be on how the states of Punjab and Uttarkand celebrate Dusshera.