Navaratri – The Hindu sacred period

─ nine nights of worshipping

─ sacrificial fasting is a must

─ God is worshipped in the feminine form

DPI, Guyana, Sunday, April 7, 2019

Navaratri is a sacred period in the Hindu calendar, and it means “nine nights”. It is a festival that obligates every Hindu to fast and become closer to God in the feminine form. This festival is renowned for its ritualistic pujas (prayers) and breathtaking celebrations for nine nights consecutively. Hindus gather to worship Goddess Shakti and her different manifestations as, Durga (Goddess of strength), Laxmi (Goddess of wealth) and Saraswati (Goddess of knowledge). They would chant mantras and renditions of bhajans (religious songs) to accompany the rituals for these nine consecutive nights of Navaratri.

The method of fasting during this period is guided by the religious texts written many years ago by sages and saints and necessitates every Hindu to abstain from consuming meat along with refraining from anything that is favourable to them. The scriptures specified also that devotees are to abstain from consuming alcohol, onions and garlic, salt and generally food cooked with spices. Some people during this period use only fruits and drink the cow’s milk. Others choose to eat the popular Hindu “Seven Curry” dish which is also permissible.

Mandirs are usually filled during this period, and often times, non-Hindus participate in the observance.

The Guyanese Hindu custom of celebrating this auspicious period entails waking up early in the morning, taking a shower at home and fashioning the mind to concentrate on the Goddesses. An early morning bath at the riverside before the sun rises is also part of the tradition. Anyone that travels early in the morning along the coast will see the seawall full of devotees. Some will be swimming while some will be facing the east praying.

During the day, homes are heard playing religious Hindu music and the kitchen is occupied as families are busy preparing sweetmeats and other appropriate delicacies to be taken to the temples.

It is a time when peace and tranquillity are expected to triumph over disturbance and confusion. Many Hindus in Guyana would also have their ‘Jhandi’ thanksgiving service during this period for it is said that maximum blessings from the Goddesses are guaranteed during this period.

Although this is a Hindu auspicious period, almost all Guyanese look forward to it simply because of the bountiful sweet meat and mouthwatering seven curry that is sometimes eaten from a leaf.

The sacredness of the Goddesses

Like any other Hindu festival, Navaratri has a spiritual message for its observers. According to the Hindu scriptures, this nine-night festival celebrates the triumph of good over evil and exhorts mankind to wake up from the slumber of ignorance, remove all negativities, purify the mind and cultivate positive virtues. This alone can help one gain the necessary spiritual knowledge to transcend all earthly limitations and achieve salvation – the highest goal of human life.

Nava means “nine” and “ratri” means night. During the nine-night long festival of Navaratri, the supreme female cosmic power or Goddess Shakti is worshipped in her variously manifested forms as Durga, Laxmi and Saraswati. All three Goddesses are the incarnation of Goddess Shakti (the Mother Goddess). The festival signifies power, wealth, prosperity and knowledge.

The festival of Navaratri begins on the first day of the month Ashwin (March – April) of the bright fortnight. On the first three nights, Durga is invoked for her strength and ferocity which are required to cut out from the mind its deep-seated negative tendencies. Noble virtues and the knowledge of self can only be gained when all evil tendencies in the mind are destroyed. The story of the killing of Mahishashura (Mahisha demon) by Durga Devi symbolises the destruction of the evil tendencies of the mind.

Pandit Balbadar from Leonora on the West Coast of Demerara gives a clearer meaning to the story.

“To destroy our innate evil tendencies is very difficult. The buffalo stands for the malefic qualities in everyone. It reminds us that despite having a lot of energy and potential inside us, we prefer to do nothing for our spiritual emancipation. Just like the buffalo that likes to lie in pools of water, we too like to rest and spend our time and energy in worthless pastimes. Our worship of Goddess Durga during the first three nights of Navaratri is actually our invocation to the Divine Power within us to assist us in destroying our animalistic tendencies,” Pandit Balbadar noted.

On the next three nights, Goddess Laxmi is worshipped. Pandit Rajesh Sharma from the Essequibo Coast explained the worshipping of Goddess Laxmi.

“For the knowledge of self-realisation to dawn on us, we have to first prepare our minds. Our worship of Goddess Laxmi is actually our attempt to seek the blessings of the divine being to help us in obtaining the purification of mind. Goddess Laxmi represents wealth that we assume to be only material wealth. But material wealth is needed only in this world and without self-discipline, respect, sincerity, kindness and love, wealth can make our life miserable. The real wealth is the spiritual wealth that we can gain by the practice of the right values in our lives, which purifies our minds and takes us closer towards self-realisation. Goddess Laxmi is our source of this true wealth. By our worship, we invite her to bring into our homes her wealth of noble values to nourish and purify our minds,” Pandit Sharma explained.

The final three nights are spent in the invocation of Goddess Saraswati and Pandit Surendra Tiwari, from Wales on the West Bank of Demerara, explains the significance of these three nights.

“Victory over the mind can be gained only through the proper knowledge and thorough understanding; Goddess Saraswati symbolises this highest knowledge of the Self. Lord Krishna himself says in the Bhagavad Gita: “The knowledge of the Self is the knowledge”; and He adds, “It is my vibhuti, my glory.” If we do not have the knowledge of the Self, then our knowledge of all other subjects has no real worth. The knowledge of the Self that is represented by Goddess Saraswati. We seek her blessings so that we can understand our own self and when we do then we can truly become messengers of God,” Pandit Tiwari said.

Navaratri began on Friday, April 5 and will conclude on Sunday, April 14 at noon with the worshipping of Shri Ram and that auspicious day is called “Ram Naumi.

Story and Images: Ganesh Mahipaul.

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