(Courtesy for details :Wikipedia)
The word Navaratri literally means nine nights in Sanskrit, nava meaning nine and ratri meaning nights. During these nine nights and ten days, nine forms of Shakti/Devi are worshiped. The 10th day is commonly referred to as Vijayadashami or Dussehra.
The beginning of spring and the beginning of autumn are two very
important junctions of climatic and solar influence. These two periods
are taken as sacred opportunities for the worship of the Divine Mother.
The dates of the festival are determined according to the lunar calendar.
Navaratri represents celebration of Goddess Durga, the manifestation
of Deity in form of Shakti [Energy or Power]. The Navaratri festival or
‘Nine Nights festival’ becomes ‘ten days festival’ with the addition of
the last day, Vijayadashami which is its culmination. On all these ten days, the various forms of Mother Mahisasura-mardini (Durga) are worshipped with fervor and devotion.
Navaratri is celebrated in different ways throughout India.In Kerala, three days: Ashtami, Navami, and Vijaya Dashami
of Sharad Navaratri are celebrated as Sarasvati Puja in which books are worshiped. The books are placed for Puja on the Ashtami day in own
houses, traditional nursery schools, or in temples. On Vijaya Dashami day, the books are ceremoniously taken out for reading and writing after worshiping Sarasvati. Vijaya Dashami day is considered auspicious for initiating the children into writing and reading, which is called Vidyarambham. Tens of thousands of children are initiated into the world of letters on this day in Kerala
In our part of Kerala, we have different poojas done in temples on all nine days. Also the town will be decorated with lights and flowers all over. Some temples will have concerts and it is during this time that the kids learning classical music or dance do their "arangettam" on stage in front of God.This marks the auspicious beginning to their mastered Art form. Though kids celebrate the three days well as they do not have to study , they also learn the traditional aspect of it and dutifully observe the fasting on those days. I remember - when I was a kid my dad's mother used to do pooja of books not only for the family members but our neighbours too. The lamp is kept lit from the day we keep the books for pooja the Navami day when we take it . On the navami day our house will be full of kids- cousins and neighbours and we start a new beginning to our academic as well as learned arts on that day.
We also prepare some special prasadhams on this day. My family usually prepares Dal kichadi, rice kheer, peanut powder, poha, puffed rice, sugar balls , jaggery , sliced coconut pieces, sugar cane,banana ,dry fruits etc.
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