Navratri (Hindi: नवरात्री Gujarati: નવરાત્રી ଓଡ଼ିଶା [oˑɽisaˑ]), Bengali: নবরাত্রী Assamese: নৱৰাত্রি Marathi: नवरात्री Punjabi: ਨਰਾਤੇ Kannada: ನವರಾತ್ರಿ Kashmiri: نَورات / नवरात Telugu: నవరాత్రీ Tamil: நவராத்திரி Malayalam: നവരാത്രി) is a festival dedicated to the worship of the Hindu deity Durga.
The word Navaratri literally 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." Navratri is a very important and major festival in the western states of Gujarat, Maharashtra, and Karnataka during which the traditional dance of Gujarat called "Garba" is widely performed.
This festival is celebrated with great zeal in North India as well, including Bihar, West Bengal, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha and the northern state of Punjab.
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.
Navarathri represents a celebration of the Goddess Amba, (the or Power). The Navarathri festival or "Nine Nights festival"
Worship of The Divine as Mother is a special characteristic of the Indian Culture. God is mostly referred as the Father of all creation or the Omnipotent ruler of Nature in other religions.
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 Vedic age.
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