Nagpur: Pendals have been erected in many places and city streets are lit-up with series of lights. The idols of Goddess Durga have been given final touches and ready for being lifted and carried with much fanfare to various Durga Puja Pendals.
For the youngsters, it is a time when they can be gay and enjoy freedom from their parents’ constraints. They get to enjoy nine-days of playing Garba with their friends and enjoy late-nights outside.
Navratri 2015 starts on October 13, 2015. Navratri which is a nine-day festival celebrated by Hindus and especially by Bengalis, to revere and worship the nine manifestations of the powerful and benevolent Goddess Durga. Maa Durga (also known as Navdurga) is worshipped in Her different incarnations for ten days and nine nights during the festival which is celebrated all over India. Worshipping the nine forms of Durga is the main ritual during the Navratri Puja. It is the most auspicious period to perform devotional Sadhanas, pray to Goddess Durga and perform the Navratri puja. On the tenth day of this festival, known as Vijayadashami or Dussehra (Dasara) the idols of Goddess Durga is immersed in a water body.
The Gujrati and Marwadi community too observe and celebrate Navratri with religious zeal and fervor. While there are many Indians, both men and women who observe nine days of fasting, they follow rigorous restrictions like avoiding shaving, not wearing sandals and shoes etc.
Many Nagpur Restaurants and Hotels capitalize on this opportunity by serving Fasting Thalis and other snacks which include Sabudana Wada (A favourite dish of Maharashtrians.
However, lately this religious festival has turned into a commercial enterprise. Many Event Management Companies and leading Hotels of the city avail this craze for Garba by the youth to organize Garba by professional troupes and singers from Gujarat. The bring celebrities from Bollywood to act as an added attraction to the film crazy youth of the city.
By Samuel Gunasekharan
