Sharad Navaratri Puja / Devi Puja
Navaraatri in 1999 is from October 10th through 18th and October 19th is vijaya dashami or dussera.
Nine Nights Dedicated to Worship of the Divine as Mother
Navaratri (nine nights) is one of the greatest Hindu festivals. As the name implies, this festival is celebrated for nine days, in which God is adored as Mother. A period of introspection and purification, Navaratri is traditionally an auspicious time for starting new ventures.
During this period, Durga, Lakshmi and Saraswati are worshipped as three different manifestations of Shakti or Cosmic energy.
May Divine Mother shower Her abundant Grace on all Her children.
Smithsonian Institution's Sackler web site about Devi: The Great Goddess explores the many aspects of the Divine Mother. The Divine Life Society website has two articles on the significance of Mother worship for devotees to contemplate on during navaratri. The articles are:
 | Durga Puja or Navaratri by Sri Swami Sivanandaji Maharaj. |
| The Esoteric Significance of the Devi-Mahatmya by Sri Swami Krishnanandaji Maharaj. |
| A book by Guru Maharaj Sri Swami Chidanandaji titled "God As Mother". This book contains a series of lectures delivered during Navaratri in 1953 at the Sivananda Ashram. In this book Guru Maharaj clearly explains the role of Durga, Lakshmi and Saraswati in our exterior as well as interior life. This book can be downloaded from the DLS free books page at: http://www.SivanandaDlshq.org/download/download.htm |
Divine Disourses by Satya Sai Baba also expound the siginificance of Devi worship and Navaratri. Malini Bisen's article on Dussera has one of the stories regarding Navaratri as well as a recipe for a sweet to be made on the occassion. Descriptions of how navaratri is celebrated in different parts of India can be found in the following:
| Rediff on the net's Dusshera pages with slideshows, |
| Sudheer Birodkar's page on popular hindu festivals, |
| Krishnaswamy's Navaratri page, |
| Discover India's Dussehra page, |
| Manas's page on Dussehra, |
| Dussera page from India Express, |
| Pravin Shukla's page on Navaratri, |
| Bharat Online's Navaratri page, |
| Mysore Dasara, |
| Andhratoday's pages on Dasara and Navaratri, |
| Navaratri page by Ahmedabad.com, |
| Navaratri & Dussera animations by Ahmedabadcity.com, |
| Dandiya & Garba from Mumbainet, |
| Garbo sounds from Gujaratonline, |
| Garba Nights slideshow by Rediff on the net, |
| VV's Navaratri homepage on Kolu pictures, |
| Hindustan Times's article on Dussehra in Delhi, |
| Durga Puja Online, |
| Sharad Utsav 98, |
| Calcutta Online's Durga Puja on the Internet, |
| Durga Puja in Calcutta, and |
| Essay about Navaratri by Dr. Jonn Mumford. |
It is a long tradition that one reads the devi-bhagavatam or the devi mahatmyam (durga saptasati, 700 verses on Durga) during this period. If you refer to the agni purana, then it is said that the Puratashi and Panguni (in Tamil months) i.e. Ashvin and Chaitra are like the two jaws of Lord Yama. If one wants to escape the mouth of Yama, then one should celebrate Navaratri on these two occassions. A similar analogy is presented in the devi bhagavatam. Devi bhagavatam also talks in detail on how one should observe fasts, and how one should meditate/work on these days.
According to a legend, Durga sat on the tip of a needle for nine days, doing a severe penance to destroy the evil Asura Mahisha. On the first three days, she meditated as Herself, the next three days as Mahalakshmi and the last three days as Sarasvati. This signifies progression from tamsik, to rajasik to satvik and eventually obtaining liberation.
The tenth day in october is called vijayadasami to signify the victory on the day of dashami. Viijayadashami is auspicious for starting any new venture, starting alphabets for children, learning new languages, music, or for developing new (improved) relationship with your husband or wife or children or office colleagues.
Navaratri - Devi Puja
Durga Puja (short)
Sarasvati Puja
Devi Maahaatmyam -
"Salutations to the divine Mother who exists in all beings in various forms such as intelligence, mercy and beauty. Thou art the embodiment of all power. Thou art the sole refuge for all"
devii-maahaatmya,
adhyaaya 5, shlokas 14-80.
yA devI sarvabhUteshhu vishhNumAyeti shabditA |
namastasyai namastasyai namastasyai namo namaH || 14-16||
yA devI sarvabhUteshhu chetanetyabhidhIyate |
namastasyai namastasyai namastasyai namo namaH || 17-19||
yA devI sarvabhUteshhu buddhirUpeNa sa.nsthitA |
namastasyai namastasyai namastasyai namo namaH || 20-22||
yA devI sarvabhUteshhu nidrArUpeNa sa.nsthitA |
namastasyai namastasyai namastasyai namo namaH || 23-25||
yA devI sarvabhUteshhu kshudhArUpeNa sa.nsthitA |
namastasyai namastasyai namastasyai namo namaH || 26-28||
yA devI sarvabhUteshhu chhAyArUpeNa sa.nsthitA |
namastasyai namastasyai namastasyai namo namaH || 29-31||
yA devI sarvabhUteshhu shaktirUpeNa sa.nsthitA |
namastasyai namastasyai namastasyai namo namaH || 32-34||
yA devI sarvabhUteshhu tR^ishhNArUpeNa sa.nsthitA |
namastasyai namastasyai namastasyai namo namaH || 35-37||
yA devI sarvabhUteshhu kshAntirUpeNa sa.nsthitA |
namastasyai namastasyai namastasyai namo namaH || 38-40||
yA devI sarvabhUteshhu jAtirUpeNa sa.nsthitA |
namastasyai namastasyai namastasyai namo namaH || 41-43||
yA devI sarvabhUteshhu lajjArUpeNa sa.nsthitA |
namastasyai namastasyai namastasyai namo namaH || 44-46||
yA devI sarvabhUteshhu shAntirUpeNa sa.nsthitA |
namastasyai namastasyai namastasyai namo namaH || 47-49||
yA devI sarvabhUteshhu shraddhArUpeNa sa.nsthitA |
namastasyai namastasyai namastasyai namo namaH || 50-52||
yA devI sarvabhUteshhu kAntirUpeNa sa.nsthitA |
namastasyai namastasyai namastasyai namo namaH || 53-55||
yA devI sarvabhUteshhu lakshmIrUpeNa sa.nsthitA |
namastasyai namastasyai namastasyai namo namaH || 56-58||
yA devI sarvabhUteshhu vR^ittirUpeNa sa.nsthitA |
namastasyai namastasyai namastasyai namo namaH || 59-61||
yA devI sarvabhUteshhu smR^itirUpeNa sa.nsthitA |
namastasyai namastasyai namastasyai namo namaH || 62-64||
yA devI sarvabhUteshhu dayArUpeNa sa.nsthitA |
namastasyai namastasyai namastasyai namo namaH || 65-67||
yA devI sarvabhUteshhu tushhTirUpeNa sa.nsthitA |
namastasyai namastasyai namastasyai namo namaH || 68-70||
yA devI sarvabhUteshhu mAtR^irUpeNa sa.nsthitA |
namastasyai namastasyai namastasyai namo namaH || 71-73||
yA devI sarvabhUteshhu bhrAntirUpeNa sa.nsthitA |
namastasyai namastasyai namastasyai namo namaH || 74-76||
indriyANAmadhishhThAtrI bhuutAnAJNchAkhileshhu yA |
bhUteshhu satataM tasyai vyAptidevyai namo namaH || 77||
chitirUpeNa yA kR^itsnametad.hvyApya sthitA jagat.h |
namastasyai namastasyai namastasyai namo namaH || 78-80||
To take full advantage of the puja texts available on this site, please install the following as appropriate for your platform.
| Ghostview & Ghostscript - Free postscript viewer |
| XDVNG font by Sandeep Sibal & Arun Gupta. |
| Xdvng font is also available with ITRANS 5.21 by Avinash Chopde, which has been used for creating the devanagarii script documents on this page. |
Please send corrections, suggestions and comments to webmaster;