Observing Navratri in India, Guyana and NY

Dear Editor,
The Hindu festival of Navratri, nine nights of worshipping Mother Durga and her incarnations, is being observed (from April 7 to 16 – a one day difference in dates from the East due to lunar calendar) by Hindus throughout the metropolitan area and worldwide.
Navratri is associated with the propitiation of the feminine aspects of the Almighty. This year, I was fortunate to observe Navratri in India and have noted many similarities between the celebrations there, Guyana, the Caribbean and among Indo-Caribbean people in the US. All over India, as in the US and is a tradition in the Caribbean, temples are beautifully decorated with attractive electronic lighting. In India as in the US, temples are packed with worshippers during those nine nights.
Navratri is an extremely pretty festival, highly inspiring and instructive on how to live. People were observed praying during this period with great fervor and devotion. Temples are holding discourses from the Ramayana or other holy books. Navratri is one of the most auspicious festivals of Hindus and it concluded on Friday evening with the celebration of Ram Naumi (a holiday in India) or the appearance of Lord Rama thousands of years ago. Some temples in the US will observethe finale on Saturday, celebrating birth of Lord Rama, as is also the case in India. Navratri is the worshipping of the Goddess Durga and the feminine aspects of God – Goddesses Durga, Laxmi and Saraswati.
The famed Lord Rama is also associated with Navratri – his appearance, disappearance and reappearance in the holy city of Ayodha. In India, unlike in the US and Caribbean, all focus is on Durga who is accepted as the incarnations of the other Goddesses. It is noted that in Hinduism, God is neither male nor female, is shapeless and formless. Gods as well as Goddesses are worshipped and for every God there is a corresponding Goddess as his consort.
So, Hindus do not discriminate between the genders. Lord Krishna is quoted in the Bhagavad Gita as saying that God is neither male nor female. “I am the father and mother,” suggesting that God transcends gender. Also, when Hindus pray, they always pay obeisance to their mother and father and at every pooja, they aarti both parents and elderly males and females.
During Navratri, Durga is the collective manifestation of Brahma (creator), Vishnu (preserver), and Shiva (destroyer). As such, when people worship Durga, they are worshipping the other manifestations of God as well. Hindus worship Durga for protection, love and comfort; Goddess Durga offers divine protection and removal ofdisease.
In India, as is the Caribbean, Hindus are seen making their way early in the morning to the temples for special offerings to the universal mother – jal or dhar (offerings of water or specially prepared milk). In the US, it is done mostly in the home because work schedule does not allow for temple visits in the mornings. Special prayers are also held in the evenings for the Universal Mother at the temples which are packed to capacity in India (overflowing with worshippers), the Caribbean and in the US. The mother provides her children with sustenance, and, as such, she is propitiated in the worshipping of the three Devis – Durga (protection), Saraswati (knowledge and education) and Laxmi (prosperity and wealth) – for three nights each for a total of nine nights – “nav” means nine. “Nav” also means new – signaling the beginning of a new season.
Navratri is observed to mark the beginning of the Spring season (when Lord Rama is born) and is also observed in the Fall (when Lord defeats Ravan and return to the kingdom of Ayodha). As explained, since people begin the seasons (planting and harvesting) with new inspiration and new enthusiasm and are often confronted with challenges and illnesses, they pay obeisance to the universal mother for healthy life, prosperity and protection in both navratris”. Navratri is an auspicious time to conduct poojas and for youngster to get married right after the observance. Many Hindus hold on to this tradition in the Caribbean and America. So during navratri, it is traditional for Hindus to invite priests to conduct pujas in their homes or visit the temples where there is usually a nightly discourse from the Ramayana. Worshippers tend to fast for the entire period, avoiding meat, sex, fish, eggs and maintain cleanliness in the homes for almost two weeks. It is the tradition among Indo-Caribbean Hindus (in North America and the Caribbean) as is also the norm in India, during the mornings of these auspicious days to offer jaal or dhar which is a mixture of curd, milk, honey, sugar, cloves, hardi, tills, and other sweet spices. Then at prayer services, worshippers make offerings of prasadam, flowers, fruits, neem and bail leaves, other paraphernalia such as sandal paste, and chandan, and burn incenses (agarbati, gugul, cloves, camphor, Kasturi) at the feet of the universal mother and Lord Rama.
On the last evening of navratri, devotees also pay obeisance to Lord Rama by making offerings to him in a symbolic rocking hammock and nine young ladies (kumaris) are also honoured with gifts (called Devi orkanyakumari puja). All of the temples in NY are conducting nightly Navratri poojas that are accompanied by bhajan and kirtan singing. This was followed by bhojan. As one Pandit explains, it is not enough to celebrate navratri twice a year. He advices that we must see our own mothers and every female as the manifestation of these attributes of the universal mother and make every day navratri.

Yours truly,
Vishnu Bisram