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Episode 6FestivalsNavratri

Why Do We Celebrate Navratri?

For nine nights every autumn, India dances, fasts and prays to one goddess in nine different forms. Why nine nights?

The three reasons Try it this week Sources

Reason 1

The Mother

Legend says the buffalo demon Mahishasura could not be defeated by any god. So the gods combined their light, and from it rose Durga. She fought him for nine nights, and on the tenth day, she won. That day is Vijayadashami.

दुर्गा

Durga

विजयादशमी

Vijayadashami · victory

Reason 2

The seasons

Navratri comes twice a year, in spring and in autumn, just as the seasons turn. Tradition says that when the season changes, the body changes too, which is why so many people fast during these nine days.

वसन्त

vasant · spring

शरद

sharad · autumn

Reason 3

The night

The sages held that some nights are better for prayer than days. When the world goes quiet, the mind turns inward. That's why we keep nine nights, not nine days.

रात्रि

ratri · night

साधना

sadhana · inner practice

Nine nights, three gifts

माँmaa · Mother

शरीरsharir · body

मनmana · mind

So Navratri isn't just a festival. It's nine nights to honour the Mother, reset the body, and turn the mind inward.

Try it this week

The mantra

ॐ दुं दुर्गायै नमः Om Dum Durgayei Namaha

SourcesK.V. Singh, Hindu Rites and Rituals, ch. 16, "Significance of Navratri" (Durga formed from the combined light of the gods); the Mahishasura and Vijayadashami story is the well-known traditional account, which the chapter does not tell. Told as tradition tells it; families practise this in many ways.

How does your family celebrate Navratri?

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