Navaratri- The Celebration of Hinduism’s Coolest Female
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navaratri festival in india, by hubpages.com
Folklores, parties, basking in feminism. With the wrap-up of September and the entry of October, you may notice many Hindus missing class and going off to party all dressed up in formal clothes. That’s because Navaratri is underway.
It’s a celebration honoring one of the main goddesses in Hinduism- the goddess of power, motherhood and war- Durga. The festivities last a complete nine days and nine nights, where families get together to dance, pray, sing, and of course, eat!
But what is Navaratri really celebrating?
DEPICTION OF Lord brahma bestowing immortality on mahishasura, from herzindagi.com
The story goes like this- a long time ago, an almighty God, Lord Brahma, decided to give his loyal subject Mahishasura a gift for his years of devotion. It was the gift of immortality. Of course, with every gift a God gives, there must be some kind of catch- and Lord Brahma’s was a single exception to Mahishasura’s immortality. The only way for Mahishasura to die would be at the hands of a woman.
Well, back in the day, all men were sexist, so Mahishasura decided he could kick his feet up and enjoy his immortality to the fullest, because, well, what woman would be able to beat him?
So off he went with his other, kind of evil, friends, attacking people for fun and wreaking havoc. All was fine and dandy until the days went on, and Mahishasura became stronger and stronger, basking in his immortality and doing evil. The lower Gods all tried to fight and tame him to no avail. He was too powerful.
Depiction of Durga from thegoddessgarden.com
Eventually, Lord Brahma who gave him the gift, decided something had to be done. Him and the other two almighty Hindu Gods, Lord Vishnu and Lord Shiva, came together to create a powerful goddess who would be tasked with destroying Mahishasura.
That goddess was Durga.
She had eight arms, and each held a weapon given to her by the three Lords. Her means of transportation was riding on the back of her sidekick- a giant, wide-toothed tiger. Pretty cool, huh?
Durga and her tiger headed into battle with Mahishasura, who assumed the appearance of an enormous buffalo (strange, but he was immortal, so, why not?).
Depiction of durga’s battle against mahishasura, by artist kevin sidharta
The battle was intense. With her armament and tiger, Durga fought against Mahishasura’s rage and power, and the battle lasted a whole nine days and nine nights. On the last day, Durga’s powerful spear managed to behead the evil buffalo Mahishasura. He was defeated for good.
Navaratri is a celebration of Durga’s victory- a tale that demonstrates the triumph of good against evil. It is also seen as a celebration of women- celebrating their strength and wisdom as a way of honouring them.
Just like Durga’s battle against Mahishasura, Navaratri lasts for over a week. Durga worshipers get together to dance and sing in her name, staying up to sunrise and enjoying many kinds of traditional foods. Some Hindus will also fast during the nine days, only drinking milk and water until after midnight.
In India, Navaratri is serious business. It’s held as one of the most important and large festivals of the year. If you decide to visit India during Navaratri, be ready to see lots of colours and hear lots of incomprehensible screaming.
All in all, I think it’s safe to say that Durga is one of the coolest goddesses in Hindu folklore. Nine days and nights may seem like a lot, but hey, she deserves it. What would we be doing if that buffalo Mahishasura was still roaming around the streets? Probably dying.
So, thanks Durga. Happy Navratri!
Anusha Nimalaranjan is a second-year wannabe writer at Algonquin College. She is inept at small talk and is a side character in her dog’s life. Her talents include doing the bare minimum, putting too much hot sauce in her food, and staying up at 3AM being haunted by her past life as a fanfiction author.
