Thursday, July 9, 2009

Navratri

The festival of nine nights in October, preceding the Dussera is a special feature of Gujarat when people assemble in village squares and temple compounds and sing and dance till the wee hours in the morning. They worship the mother goddess and her numerous manifestations during the festival. The festival ends on the Dussera day, when artisans worship their instruments, agriculturists their ploughs, warriors their weapons and students their books.

The Navaratri festival is closely followed by the Sharad Purnima, the full moon night in the Asvina month, when under the moon light people partake of prasad rice and milk. The people of Surat make merry on the Tapi bank.

Gujarat has two temples dedicated to two most popular mother goddesses of Gujarat, Amba Mata and Becharji Mata. On Kartika and Chaitra Purnima days and during the Navaratri days, people visit these temples and enjoy Gujarati's typical folk drama, the Bhavai.

No comments:

Post a Comment