Best of India Contest : My Favourite Festival: Navratri/ Durga Pooja

Greetings to all! 🌷

Hi, This is Krishna Sharma and I am here to share my contest entry for the Best of India community Contest- My favourite festival. It'll be a great pleasure to share my experience of Durga Pooja festival of my area. So be ready to have an exciting Durga Pooja glimpse through my post.

Source: Edited at Canva

Let's start 👉

NavRatri ( Durga Pooja):- A small introduction

Navratri is a famous Hindu featival. Navratri means Nine nights in English. People keep fast during these nine days of the festival. Some people keep fast only on the beginning day and on the last day.

Navratri falls in Ashwin month of Sharad Ritu by Hindi Calendar. It is also called Sharadiya Navratri. In 2021, Navaratri starts on 07 October and ends on 15 October.

Navratri is celebrated twice in a year but the one which falls during Sep-Oct is given more value. A grand pooja celebration is organised in all over India during this festival. Durga Pooja of West Bengal is famous for its splendid idols & Pandals (Premises).

^{A glimpse of Durga Pooja in West Bengal}
As earlier said the festival is celebrated for nine days, everyday is devoted to a specific form of Maa Durga. Every form of goddess has special features. Let's know about in details about this festival as well as I'll share photos of the festival which I had shot during previous years.

^{Durga pooja pandaal at my village}

1st day: The day of Shailputri 🌼

Shailputri is considered as the daughter of mountain Himalaya. As the name shows- Shail means mountain in hindi and Putri means daughter. According to a mythical story Parvati, the wife of Lord Shiva gave up her body and reincarnated as Shailputri. She is the source of inspiration for it's devotees.

2nd day: The day of Brahmacharini 🌸

The second form of Durga is Brahmacharini. She is called the goddess of Brahma Gyan, that's why she is Bramacharini. She is the source of sacred knowledge. She keeps a small mala and a Kamandal in her hands.

^{Inside of Durga pooja pandal}

3rd day: Chandraghanta 🌺

The third form of Durga is Chandraghanta. Chandra in her name shows that she is cool like moonlight. She rides lion and has ten hands with various weapons. She is the goddess who represents good practice.

4th day: Kushmanda 🌿

The fourth form of Durga is Kushmanda. Kushmanda is considered as goddess of all the creation on the earth. She is called Ashtabhuja devi having eight hands. She is called the goddess of self discipline. She keeps her devotees sorrow and disease free.

^{With my friend @shubhambhagat}

5th day: Skandmata 🌻

The 5th one of the Durga is Skandmata. She has four hands having lotus in two of her hands and with two hands she provides us boon. You can see her idol with Karthik, the son of Shiva in her lap. She prevails divinity all over the world.

6th day: Katyayni ☘️

Katyayni is the 6th form of Durga. She was formed with the power & energy of trinity of Gods Brahma, Vishnu & Shiva. The seer Katyayan worshiped her first so she was called Katyayni. She had killed Mahishasura. Katyayni means one who is pure forever.

^{Me at Durga pooja pandaal}

7th day: Kalratri 🌾

She is considered as the killer of destructor of time. She is worshipped on seventh day of Navratri. She has a donkey as her vehicle. She looks scary in appearance but she is very kind to her devotees. She destroys our fears.

8th day: Mahagauri 🌼

Mahagauri was dark in colour earlier. She pleased Shiva with her Tapasya and got boon from him and became white and was started being called Mahagauri. She rides a bull. She is the destructor of sorrow and poverty.

^{Masti with friends at a temple}

9th day: Siddhidatri 🌱

Siddhidatri is worshipped on the 9th day of Navratri. She uses lion as her vehicle and sits upon a lotus. She is the goddess of desires. A devotee gets the boon of perfection from her. She is the last form of Durga.

^{Maa Kashtaharni at my village: A famous temple in my area}

During Durga pooja, my village has many commitees which organise Durga pooja. We enjoy a lot during these nights. A small fair also is organised. People from many villages come to visit to pandaals. Not only Hindus but other people from different religions come for a visit.
All the photos which I have shared here are taken during those days. But for last 2 years it is not possible to organise so grand pooja. I hope we will restore it again soon.

So here all the forms of goddess Durga has been described. I hope you liked the knowledge I have shared here. All the knowledge has been gathered from the sourcebut it is written all in my words. All the photos shared hereby are originally mine unless mentioned. 💐💐

💐आप सभी को नवरात्रि की ढेर सारी शुभकामनाएँ 🙏

Note: This post is set as 10% beneficiary for @bestofindia