Navratri - The Festival of Nine Nights
Navratri - It is Hindu Festival celebrated for nine nights, that is why it is called Navratri which means Nine Nights. It is one of the most prominent festivals of Hinduism dedicated to chiefly Goddess Durga an incarnation of Goddess Parvati, the consort of Lord Shiva. This is the most pious and pure time in the complete Hindu calendar. for the worship of the goddess Durga which depicts nine Avtar of Durga.
These nine days of the Ashwin are devoted to the Trinity of God worshipped in a female form- three days for Durga (Goddess of valor) three days for Lakshmi (Goddess of Wealth) and three days for Sarswati (Goddess of Knowledge and Art). Thus nine nights are dedicated to the three main goddesses of Hinduism - Parvati, Lakshmi and Sarasvati.
When it is celebrated - It is celebrated twice in a year. First in Chaitra Month (the first month of the year according to Hindu Calendar, beginning on March 22 (or March 21 in leap years) and ending on April 20) and then it is celebrated in Ashvin or Aswayuja (seventh month of the year according to Hindu calendar, beginning on September 23 and ending on October 22).
Legend - Lord Brahma of the trinity Brahma, Vishnu & Shiva, granted Mahishasura the "buffalo demon" a boon that protected him from any man in the world . Empowered by this gift, Mahishasura set out to conquer the world, heaven and the world, and brought about the defeat of Indra king of deities. At the pleading of Indra, the king of the Gods, Lords Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva created Durga, the female through and amalgamation of their own shakti or divine power. Endowed with the trinity's shakti, Durga proved to be a formidable opponent who fought Mahisa for nine days, beheading him on the tenth. The nine nights simply translated Navratri, symbolize the nine days of battle, while the tenth day, vijayadashami-literally means the victorious tenth day of conquest. This great epic is recounted and celebrated slightly differently in various regions taking on different forms and names. In West Bengal Navratri, and vijayadashami are respectively celebrated as Durga Puja and Dasara. In South India the festival includes other female deities an dedicates three days of the festival to Lakshmi, the female archetype of wealth and fortune, and another three to Saraswathi, the female archetype of learning, music and knowledge. In northern India it takes the form of the great epic Ramyana where Rama, an incarnation of Vishnu is victorious over the evil king Ravana.
Ritual - On the first day of the Navaratras, grains of barley are planted in the puja room of the house.
Every day some water is sprinkled on it. On the tenth day, the shoots are about 3 - 5 inches in length. After the puja, these seedlings are pulled out and given to devotees as a blessing from god. The seedlings are placed on their caps, behind their ears, and inside books to bring good luck. This custom suggests a link to harvesting. The sowing and reaping of barley is symbolic of the "first fruit". In various parts of India, the 'Ram-Leela' is performed during Navratri. Ram-Leela is a stage enaction of Ramayana,the story of Lord Rama to pass a message how truth wins over untruth. During these Navratri days most of the people eat vegetarian food, some people eat food without any form of cereal and some fast for all the eight days. They also perform the 'devi-sthaapna' in their homes wherein they invite the Goddess and perform 'pooja-path' for nine days without consuming any food. It is traditional to perform Yagna (sacrifice offered to the fire) to honor Divine Mother and bid her farewell for all the nine days. After these nine days comes the Dashami (the tenth Day) which is the day of the famous festival of Dussehra or Vijaya Dashami ( the tenth day of victory ). This is the day Lord Rama had killed Ravana, signifying the victory of good over evil.