Navaratri means nine nights. Darkness is associated with the night. What is this darkness? It is the darkness of ignorance. The purpose of celebrating Navaratri is to enable man to get rid of the nine types of darkness which have taken hold of him.

The beginning of summer and the beginning of winter are two very important junctions of climatic and solar influence. These two periods are taken as sacred opportunities for the worship of the Divine Mother. They are indicated by Rama Navaratri in Chaitra (April-May) and Durga Navaratri in Aswayuja (September-October). The bodies and minds of people undergo a considerable change on account of the changes in Nature. Sri Rama is worshipped during Ramnavami and Mother Durga during Navaratri.

Navaratri also represents energy or shakthi which is life-giving. Shakthi is the energy that accounts for all the phenomena of Prakruthi (Nature). Nature is represented as three gunas - Sathwa, Rajas and Thamas. Saraswathi represents the Sathya Guna. Lakshmi represents the Raja Guna and Parvathi represents the Thama Guna. In humans, these three gunas keep oscillating and determine the thoughts of our mind and action. Most of these festivals are celebrated to gain control of the mind.

Navaratri is celebrated as three sets of three days each. For the first three days, the divine mother is adored as a supreme power and force, as Durga the Terrible. One should pray to Mother Durga to destroy all impurities, vices and defects. She will fight with and annihilate the baser animal qualities in the spiritual aspirant, the lower, diabolical nature in him.

In the next 3 days, Satvaguni Goddess Mahalakshmi is worshipped to increase the satva gun. The pleasanter side of the aspirant's Sadhana is depicted by the worship of Mother Lakshmi. She will bestow on her devotees the inexhaustible divine wealth or Deivi Sampath . Lakshmi is the wealth-giving aspect of God. She is purity itself.

Once the aspirant succeeds in routing out the evil propensities and develops Sattwic or pure, divine qualities, he/she becomes competent to attain wisdom. He is now ready to receive the light of supreme wisdom. He is fit to receive divine knowledge. At this stage, comes the devout worship of Mother Saraswathi, who is divine knowledge personified, the embodiment of knowledge of the absolute. The last three days are hence meant for the worship for goddess Saraswathi.

In South India, Saraswathi pooja is performed on the 7th day. The eighth day is traditionally Durgashtami which is big in Bengal. The ninth day is Ayudha Pooja when everyone gives their tools of the trade -- pens, machinery, books, automobiles, school work, etc. a rest and ritually worships them. They start afresh from the next day, the 10th day, which is considered as 'Vijaya Dashami'.

The religious observance of Navaratri

1. Installation of the Deity - for many south Indians it means keeping kolu. The origin of the word Kolu can be traced to Tamil Kolu or Telugu Koluvai, which means a sovereign sitting in his royal durbar. As per popular belief, the concept of arranging these Navaratri dolls on the plank is to depict Goddess Mahishasura mardini sitting in her Kolu, prior to the slaying of the demon Mahishasura. It also means inviting shakthi to clear the negative thoughts and vibrations in the house.
2. Worship - Worship of a young girl who is considered as the embodiment of shakthi herself.
3. Lamps - Continuous burning of a lamp so the Devi stays in the house for the nine days .
4. Giving Prasad - As we pray to Devi and ask her to stay in the house, the deity may get hungry. We offer food as naivedhyam to the deity. We hence distribute the naivedhyam as prasad to people who are the physical representation of the deity .
5. Making Sundal - Using sprouts to make the sundal as it contains all the life substance for a new plant to grow.
6. Avoiding Needles and Sewing - It has been said in the scriptures that the devi did penance on the tip of a needle for nine days before she destroyed mahishasuran. So we should avoid sewing.
7. Offering Vermillion (Kumkumarchan) to the Deity - Offering vermillion (Kumkumarchan) to the deity means offering vermillion at her feet whilst chanting the deity's name. Vermillion is a form of energy. In other words, vermillion has a great potential of attracting the deity principle. When the deity is worshipped with vermillion, the energy principle from the deity's idol gets assimilated in it. When we apply that vermillion to our forehead, we absorb the deity's energy.
8. Offering of a Sari and a blouse piece to the Deity - While concluding the worship of the deity, one should offer a blouse piece and a sari to the deity.
9. Chanting of the name of Sree Durgadevi during Navaratri - One should chant 'Om Sree Durgadevyai Namaha' as much as possible during Navaratri to be worthy of absorbing the principle of Sree Durgadevi which is more active during this period. Besides Navaratri, it is beneficial to chant the name of our family deity everyday. This will help to increase our consciousness.
10. Visiting Temples - Besides worshipping the deity at home, during Navaratri, many devotees also visit temples for paying obeisance.

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