Navratri

Navratri, as the name goes, is a festival of nine nights. Besides the fun and revelry, it has its own religious and social significance. But what seems to be lesser known is that this is not the only Navratri that gets celebrated. There are more than one Navratri in a year, though the one that begins today is the more popular one.

According to some, Navratri is celebrated four or five times in a year, but the most common are –

Vasant Navratri during the months of March-April, &
Sharad Navratri during September-October

Vasant is the spring season or beginning of summer and sharad is the beginning of winter. It is important to note that both are celebrated when Mother Nature undergoes important climatic changes. This highlights the significance of the worship of Mother Goddess cult and its most significant aspect of regeneration.

The vasant navratri is generally celebrated in the North, which also coincides with Ram-Navami which falls on the ninth day of the month of chaitra (thus vasant navratri is also sometimes referred to as chaitra-navratri). The sharad-navratri is generally celebrated in the West and other parts of the country, and in the East, it is celebrated as Durga Puja, which marks the slaying of the demon Mahishasura.

Navratri is the worship of the divine Mother and is a part of the Mother Goddess cult, a practice that found its origin during the Vedic times. The worship of

Shakti, the feminine creative principle has been an important practice in India from the times of yore. Worshipping a ghata, an earthen pitcher, (Read This is Utkarsh Speaking: Navratri ) with different grains and allowing them to sprout during the days of the festival is another very important ritual, which brings out the fertility aspects of nature. The sprouts are an indication of nature’s bounty, which was the prime concern of the primitive society which was agrarian. The fertility aspect makes Navratri a predominantly women centric festival, which however, has emerged as a social festival to reckon with. The importance of the cult of Shakti is such, that according to the Skanda Purana, even Lord Shiva is like a shava (a dead body) without Shakti! Needless to say, that Shakti is the primordial energy and the nine days of Navratri are to honour the nine different forms of Shakti, also known as the nava-Durga, or the nine-Durgas.

To conclude, Goa has an interesting version of the Navratri, which brings out the cult of Mother Nature worship very effectively. In Goa, goddess Durga is known by many names, some of them being Bhumika, Shantadurga, Sateri, etc. all of which are a form of earth goddess. On the first day of the Navratri, a copper pitcher is installed in some temples. The pitcher is surrounded with clay around it and in it are sown nine different grains. During the nights, folk songs and traditional dances take place amidst the worship of different village deities. The rituals are to seek abundance in harvest from the earth mother, and on the tenth day, the village deities are taken out in a procession. With time the folk dances have given way to the more popular dandiya and garba, but the rituals have not undergone much change and nor has the belief system.

During Navratri, over the next few days, we will focus on some aspects of the same, with a special emphasis on the ensuing Durga Puja.

So keep reading…..

Mahalaya Amavasya

Today is Mahalaya Amavasya, also known as Mahalaya, the last day of the Pitru Paksha (the fortnight for the ancestors) and also the final day to offer oblations to ones ancestors.  According to Hindu religion, the souls of the three preceding generations reside in ‘pitru-loka’ a realm between the earth and the heavens and governed by the Lord of Death, Yama. However, during the pitru-paksha, the souls come down to earth and hover around the homes of their descendants and it becomes imperative for the descendants to feed their hungry souls. One of the ways to feed them is to feed the poor, though feeding the crows (also considered to be harbingers of death) or cows is a ritual many follow during the fortnight.

Details and significance of the day can be read in my article “Mahalaya” dated 7/10/2010 in the link - http://utkarshspeak.blogspot.com/2010/10/mahalaya.html

However, I would like to delve into another aspect of Mahalaya which is very important. This day is also marked as an important day for daan or charity which is considered to be a virtue. Many offer food, grains, clothes, etc. however, the most important of charities is donating food to the poor. This aspect of donation has its significance in an episode from the epic Mahabharata.

Karna, in Mahabharata was a well-known philanthropist and was also referred to as ‘daanveer’ – the hero of charities. All his life he had donated great wealth in the form of gold and jewels and at a crucial moment, he even donated his kavach, armour and kundal, gold earrings, (both of which he was born with and made him invincible) to Lord Indra who asks for it as alms in the guise of a Brahmin. Though Karna was well aware that he would need then during the forthcoming war and could be the only saviour, and the fact that the Brahmin was none other than Lord Indra, he gave them up as they were asked for in the form of alms and he could never deny anybody, not in the least a Brahmin, alms as long as he could.

After his death when his wounded and tired soul reaches the heavens, the way to heavens is strewn all around with the riches of the world. When in heaven, there was no food for him, just gold and silver. When he asks Yama, as to why was he not given any food, he was told that all he ever donated was gold and silver and never offered any food and water, especially to his ancestors. Karna went on to say that he did not offer anything to his ancestors, because he didn’t know who his ancestors were. He then requested Yama to grant him permission to go back to earth and feed his ancestors, so that their souls could seek salvation. Since his sons had all died during the war and there was none to do the same for him, the least he could do was seek salvation for his ancestors. Yama agreed to his request and Karna is supposed to have visited the earth for a fortnight where he fed the poor and offered water to his ancestors. It is this fortnight which is now known as ‘pitru-paksha’ and Lord Yama is supposed to have decreed that anybody who offered charities during this period would be rewarded hundred-fold in his afterlife!

The day ends with heralding of autumn and the Devi-paksha, from when the nine days of Durga Puja or Navratri starts. The inauspicious period is over and from tomorrow starts the celebrations!

Vijaya Dashami

Yesterday Ravan was burnt in full public view and with a lot of enthusiasm and joy. Quite ironic to see celebrations over a public execution. Some would say, why not after all this is celebration of the victory of good over evil, some prefer to keep quiet and overlook the other salient points of the eternal conflict.

What is good and what is evil? Who decided such standards in the absence of central governance or a common human understanding?

Was it incorrect to questions people who donned the outfit of ‘harmless ascetics’ but carried arms and displayed the physique of warriors? A man should not kidnap another’s wife. But then should people allow their sisters to be insulted?

In which culture did one severe nose in response to what one might call an ‘indecent proposal’? Which is a bigger crime – insulting someone’s sister or kidnapping someone’s wife, in return? Is an individual taken by force the property of the one who has strength and power at his behest? For an individual enmity, is it correct to render the whole nation (read kingdom) vulnerable?

On one had we tell people to feel proud about ones achievements, but the moment we change the adjective (Proud) in to a noun (Pride) we start looking down on the same achievement, why is it like that?

Were there ulterior motives behind the whole apparent plot? Was it destined such? Were the characters just playing small roles in the overall big drama conducted by someone else?

Someone once asked me why do you ask so many questions and my answer was – Why not? He said, there that’s another question, but I thought that was an answer!

Durga – A Feminist Icon?

Goddess Durga is one of the most important and impressive goddess in the entire Hindu pantheon. She is both a warrior goddess as well as epitome of motherhood. Unlike many of the goddess who are seen along with their male consorts, she stands by herself. Her very existence was for something that the male gods could not achieve, both individually and collectively.

Does this not make her a formidable entity? How is she different, if at all? After all she was created by the male gods and given a task to accomplish, so is she not abiding by the dictates of the male gods? So what makes her so different?

If we analyse closely Durga goes against all that a Hindu woman represents (please take note that here we are not talking of the woman of the 21^st century, English speaking, blog-reading, urban educated woman, we are referring to the woman of the yester-ages – phew…..that was on time!). In majority of our mythologies, a woman is generally with a consort, derives succor from her male partner and is at the whims and mercy of the males around her (I will not be dragged into controversy by naming a few of the mythical female characters who personify such a state). A general impression of the females has been that of subjugation, surrender and those who live in the shadows of the male deity/partner.

But Durga is different. She is a woman in the male domain of activities. She is a warrior who fights a mighty demon who could not be vanquished by all the gods together. She is adept in the use of all arms and has the energy to wage a battle for nine days.  Another aspect is the dwelling grounds of the goddess. She is the one who stays in mountains, a space which is generally kept outside the boundaries of the society or civilisation. The hard terrain, unlivable conditions of the mountains does not deter her. Sometimes she is the daughter of Himalaya and sometimes she is the resident of Vindhyas (as Vidhyavasini), or as Ma Sherawali, all are mountainous abodes. She rides a lion or a tiger, both ferocious animals, on whom she has total control, again a shade far from feminine.

References of worshiping Durga is found in both Ramayana (Ram worshiping before his battle with Ravana) and in Mahabharata (first by Yudhishtira in Virata-parva and then by Arjuna in Bhisma-parva). In all the instances, it is to achieve victory in the impending war. This led to the practice of Kings later worshiping Durga as a goddess who aids achieving military success and is followed even today in some parts of the country where arms and weapons are worshiped as a part of the festival. There are references of Shivaji worshiping Ma Bhavani (a form of Durga) in History.

Some would say that a Mother is she who takes care of her children and saves them from all dangers (whatever they be), and that the role Durga has played is still within the larger domain of the feminine sphere of activities – as defined by the patriarchy!

Do you agree?

Kumari Puja

Kumari Puja, literally means ‘virgin worship’. During the course of nine days, Goddess Durga is worshipped in different forms, primarily in the form of Mother Goddess, then in the form of a warrior goddess, etc. But one of the forms of worship is in the form of a virgin. The virgin form of this shakti is considered to be very powerful.

For this a girl with a calm and quite personality between the ages of one and sixteen, who has not attained puberty, is selected. The age of the girl selected denotes a different name for the goddess, for example a one year old girl is called Sandhya while a two year old is referred to as Saraswati and so on right up to sixteen.

Kumari puja takes place on the Mahaashtami (the eighth day of the nine nights), though sometimes it is done on the ninth day. On the day, the selected girl is given a ritual bath and draped in a red saree and is seated in front of the idol of Durga and the ritual worship of the girl takes place. She is decked with flowers, ornaments and ‘alta’ smeared on her feet. She is showered with gifts of gold, silver, clothes, etc. After the puja the girl is considered to be the incarnate of Devi Durga herself.

This kind of a puja is found in Nepal and generally in all places where the female form of divinity is worshipped, especially in some of the Shaktipeeths.

In Bengal, this form of worship was made popular by Swami Vivekananda in the early 1900 and the practice is still followed in the Order created by him at Belur Math, in the outskirts of Kolkata. So what is behind such worship? Our religious texts have insisted on Kumari Puja ‘to evolve the purity and the divinity of our women in the society.’

Durga Puja was a regular practice at Belur Math from the very beginning, except that it was done without the installation of any idols and was more of a celebration of the Order. Swami Vivekananda first started the practice of idol worship of Durga Puja. It is important to mention that the ‘western ways’ of the Swami was not very well accepted by the locals then – things like not believing in caste system and his free mixing with foreigners was seen as unconventional, to put it mildly. The beginning of idol worship at Belur Math was to get the people to accept that the monastic ways were not different from the Hindu-way and that the Swamis were a part of the society.

The Swami during his visits to the western countries was convinced that the advancement of a society was mainly due to their treatment of their womenfolk, as that of equals. His observation was that the same was not happening in our country and that the neglect of Indian womenfolk was amongst the main reasons of the general backwardness of our country. His idea was that institutionalising the Kumari Puja would bring people’s attention on the neglect of the womenfolk and also bring out the inherent divinity of women and the much needed respect they deserved. It is pertinent to recall that back then girls were not given education, were given away in marriage at early ages and sometimes to men much older than them and the ill-treatment of child-widow’s was also quite prevalent. So way back in 1901, when the first Durga Puja was conducted at Belur Math, Swami Vivekananda undertook the Kumari Puja of several girls, not just one. He wanted to highlight the elevated position women deserved and more importantly, needed.

This is a perfect example of sending social messages through religious rituals. An example of contemporary interpretation of an otherwise archaic ritual.

Mahishasura

All of us know who is Durga and how she kills the demon called Mahishasura.

But who is Mahishasura?

Once upon a time there were two demons by the name of Ramba and Karamba who were the sons of the demon Danu. They decided to undertake penance and so Karamba entered in water and Ramba entered in fire. Seeing the severity of the penance, Indra (the king of gods) felt insecure and decided to eliminate them before they could become a threat. Indra took the form of a crocodile and killed Karamba who was in the water. Seeing his brother dead, Ramba got scared and decided to commit suicide before Indra reached him.

Seeing the plight of Ramba, Lord Agni stopped him and granted him a boon. Ramba asked for a son, who could never be killed by a mortal or an immortal. Agni granted him the boon. On his way back, Ramba saw a beautiful demoness who was in the form a buffalo. He fell in love with her and took her home. At night when they were making love a buffalo charged in and killed Ramba. The grief-stricken demoness decided to kill herself and jumped onto the funeral pyre of Ramba.

But the boon of Agni could not be wasted, so from the funeral fire was born a child who was later known as Mahishasura – the buffalo demon.

Ramba’s relatives brought up Mahishasura to be their king. When Mahishasura grew up, he undertook a severe penance and pleased Lord Brahma. On Lord Brahma’s asking he got a boon from him that no man could kill him. At that point of time, it had never occurred to him that a woman could even think of killing him. Having got the boon, Mahishasura became a threat to the gods, till the gods invoked their energy to create a female principle in the form of Devi Durga to kill him after a violent nine day battle.

This is the story of Mahishasura – the buffalo demon.

The above is a statue of Mahishasura at Chamundi Hills in Mysore

Clay for Durga Idols

I am sure many of my readers will recollect a scene from the Hindi movie ‘Devdas’ (any version, but latest being that of Mr. Bhansali), where Paro goes to Chandramukhi’s house (read brothel) to take clay for usage in making the idol of Devi Durga.

An age old practice is to collect the punya mati (blessed soil) from outside the nishiddha pallis (forbidden territories) of Calcutta to be used amongst other things to make the idol of Devi Durga by the now-famous artisans from Kumartuli (the potters town in Kolkata). It is now a ritual and the practitioners feel that this is a vital ingredient in the clay to be used in the idol making, without which, one cannot proceed.

So what could be the reason behind this practice of collecting mud from the doorstep of a sex-worker?

The most prominent reason cited is that when a man enters these dens of vice, he leaves his virtues outside the doorstep, making the soil virtuous. When the man comes out of the house, he has left all his vices at the house of the sex-worker. Another reason given is that this is to ‘purge’ the sex-workers of their sins! This sounds quite ironic as it is well known that no woman in the area is there out of choice and no man is there out of force. So to use this reason is quite unfair to the already wronged women of the area.

But then, let us look at the same practice differently. This practice could have been initiated by some, to include the otherwise ostracised members of the society. It could also have been a way to honour the erstwhile courtesans who were proficient in different form of arts. Or could it be that people of all religions and communities come to a brothel and involving the soil from there in the ritual could just be a fitting tribute to the all-encompassing nature of the Mother?

So does the practice have a religious reason or does it have a social relevance? Has the ritual made any difference to the way a layman looks at them? What kind of ‘elevation of status’ (if any) is it when they are so important for a day, but whores for the rest of the year? If worship of Durga is of stree-shakti (feminine power), then why is this practice so demeaning to a set of the womenfolk who seem to be so integral to the ritual? Unfortunately, all I can say is that the practice is still on; the sex-workers are in as squalid condition as they were but definitely the ritual has lost its social relevance, if it had any.

It sure is quite a blotch on the land of social reformers like Raja Ram Mohun Roy and Swami Vivekananda, to say the least.

Navratri

Navratri literally means ‘nine nights’ – a festival of nine nights. Navratri is the festival of the feminine power, Shakti, the fountainhead of all creation and energy on the earth. This Shakti is worshipped in the form of goddess Durga, who in turn is referred by different regional names, like Sherawali, Vaishno devi or simply Mataji.

Durga derives her name from the Sanskrit word durg, meaning a fort. Devi Durga stands like a fort in front of her believers and shields them from all sufferings on the earth, and needless to say is the universal mother.

This day also is the beginning of the traditional dance form in Gujarat called Garba, which derives from the word ‘garbha’ or the womb. A pot is worshiped for the nine days by all women and all dance around the same. The jar is a common symbol for a womb and a recurrent theme in both mythology as well as folklore. The pot is a very prominent symbol of fertility and the same is used in many forms during the entire life cycle of human beings. But, we will discuss symbolism of a pot or jar on some other day.

The nine days also signify the battle between Ram and Ravana, with the victory of all that is good over evil and the tenth day is thus known as Vijaya Dashami, with the death of Ravana.