Art and Culture:
Why and how is Devi celebrated during the Navaratri festivities?
Bibek Debroy writes: Devi worship is an ancient tradition in India, with different parts of the country honouring different forms of the deity.
The writer is chairman, Economic Advisory Council to the PM.

This is the time of the year when Navaratri (or Navaratra) celebrations take place throughout the country. Navaratri simply means nine nights. The timing of the festival is decided according to lunar tithis and these don’t exactly correspond to solar days. The nine nights (days) are from Pratipada (first lunar day) to Navami (ninth lunar day), though celebrations can also spill over to Dashami (tenth lunar day).

There is Shukla paksha (the lunar fortnight when the moon waxes) and Krishna paksha (the lunar fortnight when the moon wanes). Typically, Krishna paksha is for pitris (ancestor/manes). Devas and Devis will not be worshipped during Krishna paksha, only during Shukla paksha. Since every month will have a Shukla paksha cycle from Pratipada to Purnima (day/night of full moon), in the course of the year, we will have 12 such Navaratri cycles. From the point of view of worshipping Devi, all 12 are not equally important. There are four that are specific to worshipping Devi — Sharada/Ashvina Navaratri, Vasanta/Chaitra Navaratri, Magha Navaratri and Ashada Navaratri. Right now, we are in the middle of Sharada/Ashvina Navratri. Most people I know have heard of Vasanta/Chaitra Navaratri, but have never heard of Magha and Ashada Navaratris. That is because the worship undertaken during Magha and Ashada Navaratri is secret, not public, and these are known as Gupta Navaratris.

There is an ancient tradition of Devi worship in India, going back much before what is perceived as recorded history. Regardless of which part of the country we are in, Navaratri is associated with Devi worship. The form differs. As texts go, one should mention ‘Devi Suktam’. There are several such Devi Suktams from different texts: (1) ‘Devi Suktam’ (Rig Veda); (2) ‘Shri Suktam’ (Rig Veda); (3) ‘Devi Suktam’ (from the tantra texts); (4) ‘Durga Suktam’ (Taittiriya Aranyaka); and (5) ‘Ratri Suktam’ or ‘Devi Stotram’ (from Durga Saptashati).

Apart from the ones from the Rig Veda, the others find their origin in a section of the Markandeya Purana known as ‘Devi Mahatmya’ or ‘Chandi’. For Devi worship, the Markandeya Purana is the most important in the Itihasa-Purana corpus. This does not mean that stories about Shiva and Parvati do not occur elsewhere in the Itihasa-Purana corpus. Not only does the Mahabharata mention both, the ‘Anushasana Parva’ of the Mahabharata describes an incident where Uma tells Shiva about the dharma of women. The Valmiki Ramayana has several references to Shiva and Parvati stories. Other than the Markandeya Purana and the Devi Bhagavata Purana, one should mention the Linga and Skanda Puranas from the Itihasa-Purana corpus. The ‘Lalita Sahasranama’, which gives us 1,000 names of Lalita, a manifestation of Devi, is from the Brahmanda Purana.

Devi is worshipped in many forms, such as Nava Durga or the nine forms of Durga — Shailaputri, Brahmacharini, Chandraghanta, Kushmanda, Skandamata, Katyayani, Kalaratri, Mahagauri and Siddhidhatri. Especially in the tantra forms of worship, she is worshipped as the 10 Mahavidyas — Kali, Tara, Tripurasundari (or Shodashi), Bhuvaneshvari, Tripurabhairavi, Chhinnamasta, Dhumavati, Bagalamukhi, Matangi and Kamala. There is local worship of Devi, often specific to certain temples, at other times of the year. In the Panchayatana Puja (worship of five Murtis), it is customary for Devi to be worshipped along with Shiva, Vishnu, Surya and the specific ishta devata. If it is specific to Devi’s worship during Navaratri and the stories connected with the asura Mahishasura, the Markandeya Purana is the most important. This tells us the story of King Suratha and the Vaishya Samadhi. Reduced to a miserable state, they are advised by Rishi Sumedha to worship Devi. To understand Devi’s worship at the time of Navaratri, one should also consider the Devi Bhagavata Purana, also known as the Devi Bhagavatam. The seventh skandha from this text has the famous ‘Devi Gita’. Since one has mentioned ‘Devi Gita’, one should mention the Devi Upanishad. There are also other Puranas like the Kalika Purana and Chandi Purana.

In Bengal, at this time of the year, Devi worship is equated with Durga worship. Generations have grown up with the belief that Mahalaya signifies the onset of Durga Puja. Mahalaya signifies the beginning of Shukla paksha.
If you want to read more about these other modes, I recommend the work of Raghunandana Bhattacharya, from the 16th century. He was known as Smarta Raghunandana and wrote copiously on several topics. For Durga Puja purposes, the relevant texts are Durgotsav Tattva, Durgapuja Tattva and Kritya Tattva. Raghunandan Bhattacharya wasn’t the only one who wrote about worshipping Durga. For example, before him, there was Acharya Shulapani.

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Must read

*Is ancient India overrated ?*
A mindblowing analysis by *Chinese Ex Professor from University of Toronto*

Author: Pak L. Huide

Seriously? If anything, ancient India is sorely UNDERRATED.

I mean, *I’m an ethnic Chinese living in Canada.* But when I was growing up in Canada, I knew jackshit about India. Besides maybe curry.

I mean, people here have a vague understanding of Chinese history but they have NO idea about Indian history. For example, most people know that the Middle Kingdom is how China referred to herself but how many people know about *Bharat?* How many know about even the Guptas? People know that China was famous for ceramics and tea but how many people know about *ancient India’s achievements in metallurgy?* People k now about the Great Wall, but how many know about the *great temples of southern India?*

This is partly due to the lackluster historical records that ancient Indians kept and also partly because *modern Indians have a tendency to look down upon their ancient heritage and view western ideas and ideals as superior.* China also has this problem but not nearly to the same extent.

The discovery that the *earth is spherical* is credited to the Greek philosopher Aristotle, who was born in 384 BCE. However, very few people know that a man from ancient India established the idea of “spherical earth” during the 8th-9th century BCE. *The man was called Yajnavalkya* who first discovered that the earth is round. He was the first to *propose the heliocentric system of the planets*. In his work Shatapatha Brahmana, he proposed that the earth and the other planets move around the sun. He also *calculated the period of one year as 365.24675 days. This is only 6 minutes longer than the current established time of 365.24220 days*.

Take the example of Kung Fu. The whole world knows about the martial art called Kung Fu. The person who founded *Kung Fu was none other than a prince of the Pallava dynasty from Kanchipuram*, Tamil Nadu who visited China during the 5th century CE. He became the 28th patriarch of Buddhism and *established the Shaolin temple* and founded the martial art which became world famous today. That prince was called Bodhidharma.

But how many people know about that Kung Fu and Shaolin was founded by an Indian?

Precisely, if Indians are unaware of their heritage, why should they expect that someone else will know about their history and achievement?

The achievements of ancient Indians are lost in obscurity. India’s ancestors had invented many ways which eased the basic life of a common man. These inventions may seem primitive today, but we can’t ignore the fact that these were revolutionary achievements during their era.

The Indus Valley civilization is *known for the broad and the sanitized drainage system* which was no less than a miracle during those ancient times. But how many people know that the ancient *Indians from Indus Valley Civilization (IVC) were the first to invent a flush toilet?*

The people around the world use rulers to measure everything. How many people know that *Indus Valley Civi lization was the first to invent the rulers?* A ruler has been found at Lothal which is 4400 years old. Not only this, the people of IVC were *the first to invent buttons*. The world knows that the Chinese discovered the art of weaving silk dresses. How many people know that *IVC people were the first to weave dresses made of cottons?*

The ancient Indians were *first to invent the weighing scales.* Archaeologists have discovered weighs and scales from the excavation sites of Harappa, Mohenjodaro, Lothal etc. These scales were extensively used for trading.

Ancient India has given *Yoga to the world- which is widely practiced almost all over the world to keep people fit and fine.* Models, supermodels, film stars, athletes, etc. regularly attends Yoga session to keep themselves fit.