Sunday, October 6, 2013

NAVRATRI (NINE NIGHTS) CELEBRATIONS IN INDIA

Guide to Celebrating 2013 Navaratri in India

You visit India during these days and you will swing and tap your feet to the traditional Music. The towns are lit and the roads are all full of people dancing "Garba". Everyone participates in this nine days celebration. ‘Nava’ means ‘nine’ and ‘ratri’ is made up of ‘ra’ which also means ‘night’ and ‘tri’ meaning the three aspects of our life – body, mind and soul. There are three types of botherations or problems that may affect a person – physical, mental and spiritual. That which gives you relief from all these difficulties is ‘ratri’. ‘Ratri’ or night relieves you of misery and brings comfort. The night relaxes everybody; whether happy, unhappy or miserable, everybody goes to sleep. The nine-day period of Navratri is marked by a series of Yagna and Homas. These Yagnas nullify all the misery, sorrow and pain in the world. Each day of this nine-day period has special implications and yagnas and homas are performed accordingly. In life, there are positive and negative qualities that affect us.
The festival is celebrated all over India but in different ways. The most flamboyant and renowned Navaratri celebrations can be seen in western India, throughout the state of Gujarat and in Mumbai. In West Bengal, Navaratri and Dussehra are celebrated as Durga Puja.
In western India, Navaratri is celebrated with nine nights of dancing. The traditional dances of Gujurat, known as garba and dandiya raas, are performed in circles with dancers dressed up in colorful clothes. Small, decorated sticks called dandiyas are used in the dandiya raas.
In Mumbai, dancing takes over stadiums and clubs throughout the city. While some of it has retained a traditional flavor, the introduction of disco dandiya has given Mumbai's Navaratri celebrations a glamorous and modern twist. Nowadays, people unleash their dancing to a fusion of remixed beats and loud Hindi pop music.

From Art of Living.

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