As the Navratri-the festival of nine holy nights, has started, there is festivity in the air of the holy city on Wednesday, the first of the auspicious days. Earlier, the temples were cleaned, decorated and illuminated. In tune with the tradition, red- coloured frills and stoles were placed at the entrances of the temples in the city. While the period of Amavasya ended on Tuesday afternoon, the Mangal Kalash (sacred pot) was set up and consecrated by devotees in their homes on Wednesday. The fasting of nine days has also started on the day.
Aptly decorated for the occasion, the shops in the city are now engaged in selling the festival articles while the vendors are being seen lining up the major temple complexes. The fabled temples like Mansa Devi and Chandi Devi are seeing throngs of devotees queuing up to tie the holy thread of wish fulfilment.
Chanting of mantras are now reverberating in the air at Har Ki Paidi where the people are flocking to take the holy dip to mark the great occasion.
Speaking to The Pioneer, astrologer Prateek Mishrapuri said, “Since Amavasya ended on Tuesday noon the first Navratri has started from Wednesday and fasting has also begun on the day.”
A devotee Shweta Verma of Jwalapur said, “We cleaned our home altar and set up a chowki (wooden platform). Barley seeds are placed in a bowl with earth and water and each day the sprouts grow.” Explaining the significance of the ritual, Prateek Mishrapuri said, “It is believed that the creation of the world strated with the first crop of barley seeds. Also the growth of barley seedlings indicates prosperity in the house. The more they grow the more wealth it signifies.”
“Nine days of Navratri are devoted to the nine forms of the Goddess, the Primordial Energy, the Mother Force, the Shakti which is the creator of the cosmic creation. The Lord Shiva is like a shav (corpse) without the energy of the Mother Force whom we worship on the nine auspicious nights in nine different forms,” said Brahmchari Kailashanand of Kali temple near Chandi Ghat.
Notably, the nine-day festival of Navratri in Hindu religion is dedicated to the nine manifestations of Goddess Durga which are Shailputri, Brahmcharini, Chandraghanta, Kushmanda, Skandmata, Katyayani, kalratri, Mahagauri and Siddhiratri.