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नवरात्री (navarAtrI)

 
पुराणम्
English
नवरात्री / NAVARĀTRĪ. Navarātripūjā (nine nights' worship) is done to goddess durgā. Though this is observed throughout the whole of india, it is more prominent in North india than anywhere else. (To know the details regarding the origin of this worship, see under Sudarśa, śaśikalā and vijayadaśamī).
As ordained in the Vedas, the Nine nights' worship is to be made in the seasons of spring and autumn. These two seasons are called Kāladaṁṣtrās (the tusks of seasons). Diseases and deaths occur in these seasons in excess, and so it is ordained that this fast and worship should be conducted in the months of Meḍam (meṣa) and Tulām.
vyāsa has ordered that navarātri worship should be conducted as follows. The things necessary for the worship and oblations should be collected on the new moon day. Only clarified butter could be eaten on that day. An open temple should be erected with pillars and flag-posts in an open flat place which is pure. It will be good if the shed has a circumference of sixteen cubits. There should be sixteen pillars. The shed should be floored with the mixture of cowdung and white clay. In the middle of the shed there must be a dais having a height of one cubit and a circumference of four cubits. This is the place for the seat. The shed and the dais should be decorated.
The throne placed on the dais must be covered with a white silk and devī (goddess) should be consecrated on it. A calm Brahmin should read the Vedas and at that time the worship of the goddess should begin. This worship will continue for nine days. Another ritual of this ‘navarātripūjā’ is the worship of virgins. (See under kumārīpūjā)