Navratri is one of the most significant Hindu festivals which is associated with devotion of people. The festival is about the legends of Maa Durga and her avatars that people worship the powerful female energy in the form of Navratri.
Navratri as its name implies is a festival that goes for nine days. In all these nine days, we perceive nine different avatars of Maa Durga. Each avatar has a dominant Navratri color and a meaning. All these nine days of celebration make the devotees captivated toward the Goddess and they understand the power of a Satvik life and the path of spirituality. The Maha puja happens and Maa Durga is worshipped with a grand gesture for all the nine days.
History and Origin of Navratri
Different regions of India has different stories regarding the origin of Navratri. Let’s get to know them-
North India
In North India, the most famous legend is about the demon Mahishasura. He was the reason that Maa Durga had to take nine different avatars. The demon-king Mahishasura got a boon from Lord Shiva that he would be invincible and no man can defeat him. Mahishasura didn’t think that a woman will be able to defeat him. Thus he started thinking himself the most superior and he created a chaos everywhere.
The demon was killing people for no reason; he was unsettling the heaven and Devas. Mahishasura was not stopping at any point, and this filled every heavenly entity with fear. All the Devas then approached Lord Shiva and begged him to save them from the demon king. Afterward, the trinity Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva used their powers to create a female energy who was known as Durga.
The trinity also blessed Goddess Durga with the weapons such as the axe and the sword. When Mahishasura glanced at Maa Durga, he got mesmerized by her beauty that he wanted to marry her. Maa Durga put a condition that only if the demon can defeat her in the war can marry her.
Taken by the beauty of Durga, Mahishasura agreed without knowing that he is the powerful female energy created by the Go himself. The war between the demon and Maa Durga went for nine days and nine nights. Thus this period is known as Navratri; on the tenth day, Maa Durga defeated and killed the demon Mahishasura, and the day was called
Vijayadashmi where Vijay means victory and Dashmi means tenth day.
East India legend
In East India, the legend refers to Goddess Sati who was the daughter of the king of the Himalayas, Daksha. Her original name was Uma before he was known as Sati. Uma was mesmerized by Lord Shiva and she wanted to marry him. However Lord Shiva didn’t want to live a marital life and he said no to Uma’s proposal.
Uma however did penance to please Lord Shiva which went for years. At last, Lord Shiva agreed to marry Uma. He reached her place in his usual form wearing tiger skin and having snaked around his neck. Uma’s father didn’t agree upon if Shiva is an eligible groom to marry his daughter.
However the marriage happened but Daksha was not liking any part of it. Once when he organized a grand “Yagna” he purposely didn’t invite Uma and Shiva. However Uma reached the Yagna and in the heat of the moment, she sacrificed herself in the flames of Yagna.
Shivawhen got to know about it became so furious that he started doing Tandava. Hisanger was enough to destroy nature and everything. Then to normalize the situation, Lord Vishnu divided the burnt body of Uma into several pieces which fell in different parts. The places where these pieces fell are today known as“Shakti Peeths.” From this incident, Goddess Uma was known as Sati.
Brahma on the other hand assured Shiva that Sati will be incarnated and become his wife in the next lifetime. Then Goddess Parvati was incarnated who was the form of Sati. Thus Navaratri is East India is a celebration of return of Goddess Sati in the form of Parvati. This homecoming of Goddess Sati along with Ganesh,Kartik, Saraswathi, and Laxmi is celebrated in East India as Navratri.
