नवरात्रि की बहुत शुभकामनाएँ (Many good wishes on Navratri)!

Hindu communities in South Asia and beyond are now celebrating Navratri, a festival whose name is made up of two parts:

नव: A Sanskrit prefix meaning “nine” (in Hindi: नौ)

रात्रि: A Sanskrit word meaning “night” (in Hindi: रात, fem. noun)

This is an extremely apt name for the festival, as it is celebrated for ten days and nine nights. Because the traditional Hindu calendar is lunar, the dates for this festival change slightly from year to year. But, it is always celebrated sometime in September and/or October or during the Hindu month of Ashwin (अश्विन). This year, festivities began this past Saturday (Oct. 1) and will continue until October 11th.

There are actually five different forms of the Navratri festival that Hindus celebrate throughout the year, but the one occurring now, whose full name is “Sharad/शरद Navratri” (sharad, fem. noun=autumn) is celebrated by the largest number of people. The popularity of this form of Navratri is one reason that it is also called “Maha Navratri (महा नवरात्रि)” or “The Great Navratri.”

These ten days and nine nights are dedicated to worshipping nine different forms of the Goddess Shakti (शक्ति), which is a more general way of referring to the divine embodiment of female creative energy and power (fun fact: शक्ति is also a fem. noun in Hindi that means “power”). The principal form of the Goddess Shakti celebrated during this festival is Durga (दुर्गा).

On the tenth day of the celebrations, a festive event called “Dussehra” (दशहरा) or “Vijayadashmi” (विजयदशमी) takes place:

• दशहरा (Dussehra): is a Sanskrit word that can be translated into English as “Ravan’s defeat.” Ravan (रावण) is the demon king in the Hindu epic the Ramayan (रामायण), who is defeated by the hero Ram (राम) so that Ram may recover his beloved wife Sita (सीता), whom Ravan had kidnapped earlier in the tale.
• विजयदशमी (Vijayadashmi): this word is also from Sanskrit and it connotes a “victory on Dashami” or the tenth day of the Hindu festival. This victory can refer either to the goddess Durga’s triumph over the buffalo demon Mahishasur (महिषासुर) with whom she has fought for ten days and nine nights (over the time span of the festival itself) and/or Ram’s victory over Ravan at the end of the Ramayan.

Navratri and Dussehra/Vijayadashmi have different significances depending on the region in which you find yourself and the worshippers you ask. But, in general, it is thought that the worship of nine forms of divine, creative female power (shakti/शक्ति) and the festival’s occurrence after the monsoon season and during the autumnal harvest season (season= fem. noun ऋतु or, in colloquial Hindi, मौसम, masc. noun) indicate that this festival partly celebrates the concept of fertility. Another indication of this is that, in many parts of India, a bundle of plants (called “navapatrika/नवपत्रिका” or “a collection of nine leaves”), some of which are specifically agricultural plants, is worshipped as a form of the goddess during this festival.

In the past especially, this festival also had military significance for soldiers and kings. The final day of the festival, Dussehra/Vijayadashmi, was a day on which military rulers and soldiers could worship different forms of weaponry and invoke the goddess to ensure their own future military successes. The goddess herself, especially in her form as Durga, is associated with military prowess as she was originally created by the major male gods Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva for the purpose of defeating a buffalo demon, Mahishasur. This demon was incredibly powerful in part because he had been granted a boon that he could be killed by no one except a woman (and, his assumption was that no woman would be capable of defeating him). According to some Hindu scriptures, Ram himself worshipped Durga to ensure his defeat of Ravan. 

This festival is celebrated in various ways in different parts of South Asia and amongst overseas South Asian communities, but one of the more popular ways of celebrating it is the Gujarati “Garba” (गरबा), which is an exuberant dance that usually moves in circular patterns and is accompanied by a group of musicians and the singing of devotional songs; at the center of the circles of dancers is a “deep”/दीप or candle within a small, clay pot or a picture or statue (मूर्ति) of the goddess herself, which are viewed as objects of worship. The word “garba” itself is actually derived from two Sanskrit words: “garbha/गरभा” (or “womb” but can also refer to the innermost sanctum of a Hindu temple) and “deep/दीप” (or the candle referred to above).

Another popular Gujarati dance performed during this festival is “Dandiya Raas/डंडिया रास,” in which people dance while brandishing colorful, polished sticks or “dandiya/डंडिया” that are supposed to represent the swords used in the battle between Durga and the buffalo demon or in Ram’s battle with the demon king, Ravan. The word “raas/रास” (masc. noun) itself refers to a round dance, especially in the context of the dances of Krishna (one of the avatars or earthly incarnations of the Hindu god Vishnu) and female cow herders, also known as “Gopis/गोपियाँ.” Thus, the name of this dance is appropriate as the devotional songs performed during both a “Garba” and “Dandiya Raas” are usually about Krishna (कृष्ण) and his amorous exploits with the gopis or about the different forms of the goddess.

A further way of celebrating this festival that is not as visible as Garba or Raas but is just as interesting are the Dussehra celebrations in Kullu (कुल्लू), which is the capital city in a region of the same name located in the northern Indian state of Himachal Pradesh (हिमाचल प्रदेश). Interestingly, the Dussehra festivities in Kullu commence on the same day that most other Dussehra celebrations in the rest of the country come to an end. The celebrations continue for seven days in honor of Lord Raghunath (रघुनाथ, which can be another name for Ram), who is considered the divine king of the valley in which Kullu is located. This festival is so popular that it has been officially named an “International Festival” by the government of Himachal Pradesh and, thus, draws around 500,000 national and international tourists to the area during this time.

And, just when you thought the festivities were over, Diwali, the famous Hindu festival of lights, will take place on October 30th!

Vocabulary List (शब्दावली की सूची):  

1. शुभकामनाएँ/Shubhkaamnaaye (fem. noun, plural): good wishes (commonly used during Hindu festivities)
2. शरद/Sharad (fem. noun, formal) or पतझड़/Patjhad (masc. noun, informal): autumn
3. शक्ति/Shakti (fem. noun): power
4. ऋतु/Ritu (fem. noun, formal) or मौसम/Mausam (masc. noun, informal): season
5. दीप/Deep (masc. noun) or दीया/Diyaa (masc. noun): lamp or candle within a small, earthenware container, usually with perforations
6. मूर्ति/Moorti (fem. noun): a statue of a deity, usually used for worship
7. गर्भ गृह/Garbh grih (masc. noun): the innermost sanctum of a Hindu temple and thus the most sacred space that only priests (पुजारी/Poojari) are allowed to enter
8. डंडिया/Dandiya (fem. noun, specific) or डंड/Dand (masc. noun, general): stick, rod
9. आर्शीवाद/Aasheervaad (masc. noun): good wishes or blessing

 Festive Phrases (उत्सव-संबंधित वाक्य):

1. शुभ नवरात्रि/Shubh Navratri: Happy (literally: auspicious) Navratri!
2. नवरात्रि की हार्दिक शुभकामनाएँ/Navratri ki haardik shubhkaamnaaye: Heartfelt good wishes on Navratri!
3. जय माता दी/Jay Mata di: May Mother (the Goddess) be victorious! or Hail the (divine) Mother!

To get you even more into the spirit of celebration, here’s a garba song and dance from director Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s film Ram-Leela (2013):