Talk:Navaratri/Archive 1

Two Navratris?
Navratri is celebrated differently in various part of India and Nepal. Navratras are observed twice a year, once in Chaitra (Vasant Navratri), preceding Rama Navami, and then in Ashvin (September - October) preceding Dussehra. The nine-day Navratra commences with the new moon of Ashvin and terminates with Mahanavami, on the ninth lunar day of the bright half of the month. During these nine days, devotees keep strict fast and Durga is worshipped. The style of observing Navratra in different parts of the country may be different, but its sole aim is to propitiate Mother Durga and to seek her blessings.

The festival of Navratri (nav = nine and ratri = nights) lasts for 9 days with three days each devoted to worship of Maa Durga, the Goddess of Valor, Ma Lakshmi, the Goddess of Wealth and Maa Saraswati, the Goddess of Knowledge. During the nine days of Navratri, feasting and fasting take precedence over all normal daily activities amongst the Hindus. Evenings give rise to the religious dances in order to worhip Goddess Durga Maa. The day after Navratri i.e. the 10th day after Ashwina, is Dussera which celebrates the victory of lord Rama over Ravana. Ravana is burnt in effigy, often giant dummies of Ravana stuffed with fireworks are shot with arrows until they blow up before a large, applauding audience. Chhabra P 13:28, 26 March 2007 (UTC)Parmod ChhabraChhabra P 13:28, 26 March 2007 (UTC)

I am unaware of there being two Navratris; can anyone confirm the March Navratri and its origin? DevanJedi 13:32, 9 February 2006 (UTC)

Yes, Navatri is observed twice a year, once in the month of Chaitra and then in Aswayuja. It lasts for nine days in honour of the nine manifestations of Durga. During Navaratri (the word literally means "nine nights") devotees of Durga observe a fast. Brahmins are fed and prayers are offered for the protection of health and property.

The beginning of summer and the beginning of winter are two very important junctions of climatic and solar influence. These two periods are taken as sacred opportunities for the worship of the Divine Mother. They are indicated respectively by the Rama-Navaratri in Chaitra (April-May) and the Durga Navaratri in Aswayuja (September-October). The bodies and minds of people undergo a considerable change on account of the changes in Nature. Sri Rama is worshipped during Ramnavmi, and Mother Durga during Navaratri.


 * Thanks! DevanJedi 13:45, 13 March 2006 (UTC)


 * Are you South Indian? As I know a number of Hindu South Indians that only observe celebration of the Navaratras in October.  Noble eagle  (Talk)  07:33, 29 March 2006 (UTC)
 * Gujarati, actually. And we only have a Navratri celebration (with Garba) around October (for nine nights before Dusshera). DevanJedi 14:25, 29 March 2006 (UTC)

Dussera and Navratri are different
These are two different festivals. Anit.pimple 09:48, 2 March 2007 (UTC)

They both have different reasons behid celebration, but bacause to dates of Hindu Calendar they are celebrates on same date (thithi). It's good two have in two section. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 12.47.208.34 (talk) 15:31, 12 October 2007 (UTC)

Traditions of Navaratri
I have written about the different Navaratris. This is not OR. A google search of the different names will confirm this. Thanks.--Sankarrukku 14:13, 18 October 2007 (UTC)

Revamp of Article
I have started a revamp of the article.

The Contents could be

1. Significance of Navaratri or Navaratra.

2. Different kind of Navaratri.

3. Common worship in temples.

Sharad Navaratri

Celebration in different states.

As it is celebrated in different styles in different states, details state by state.

Vasanta Navaratri

Celebration in different states.

As it is celebrated in different styles in different states, details state by state.

Ashada Navaratri.

If we can agree on a common content, then the celebrations state by state could be added by members who have knowledge of the same with sources.

Most of the sources have to be necessarily different web sites, as there is hardly any book on this.

So let us set the ball rolling.

Thank you. --Sankarrukku 07:04, 22 October 2007 (UTC)

Title of the article
Why is it redirected NAVARATHRI? This is how it would be translated in south Indian language, but the real English spelling would be, Navaratri, wouldn't it? Nadesai (talk) 15:37, 8 October 2009 (UTC)

Untitled
Can someone help me out here? How does this article relate to the one on Durga puja?--The Lesser Merlin (talk) 11:27, 16 May 2010 (UTC)

Clean up needed; Navratri outside of India
First, I'll say that this article badly needs attention in regards to writing and the proper use of English grammar and Wikipedia-appropriate prose (e.g. "north india" in introduction needs to be "North India"; The Sharad Navaratri section ends with a sentence on the dates of Navaratri (Is it Navaratri or Navarathri or Navratri? The article is not clear) and ends with a random "6.15 am." What does that even mean? Also, the stories present in the section Vasanta Navarati lack citations (another problem with this article, a lack of well-sourced information).

But beyond that, I would also be interested in why this seems to lack any reference to the Navarati celebrations outside of India; I live in the United States and celebrations are widespread here (as, I would imagine, in other parts of the world). Why not mention that? This article seems to lack a worldview.

Zthomas.nc (talk) 00:00, 22 October 2012 (UTC)

Dasara / Dussehra
In the first paragraph, Dasara is referenced without explaining what it is or how it's relevant. Of course, it's an alternate spelling of the Dussehra mentioned in the previous sentence. But that needs to be explained. I've added an "also spelled Dasara" so the reader won't be confused. Omc (talk) 01:29, 15 December 2013 (UTC)

Serious Edits & Cleanups
I believe a real edit and cleanup is needed for this wiki page. currently it seems very less informative and Dussera and Navaratri is confirmed to diffrent festive this are no longer disputable can the merge tag removed ?-- Killerserv (talk)  06:05, 12 October 2007 (UTC)

Wow, the last comment was posted 7 years ago. I think there needs a clean-up and edit too. Sounds like this article was just copy-pasted without editing for context. For example, as a non-Hindu I have no idea what this sentence means: "A whole chapter in the tenth mandal of the Rigveda addresses the devotional sadhanas of Shakti." What's a mandal? What's the Rigveda? What's a sadhana? Who's Shakti? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 42.152.121.228 (talk) 03:02, 2 October 2014 (UTC)

Its name in Sanskrit language
I doubt its name, at least in Sanskrit is not "Navratri" but "Navratra". Of course it is a festival of nine nights and "ratri" (feminine gender) is sanskrit word for Night, but the "duration of nine nights" is "Navratra" (in masculine gender). Can anybody help?-- S at yam Mishra ''' --talk-- 04:31, 25 May 2015 (UTC)

Animal sacrifice
Jonathansammy: A publication from 1871 are not HISTRS, and undue. Further, the size of section on animal sacrifice needs to be measured against its relative size with other sections. If you read the sources, animal sacrifice is a relatively minor practice. It is present, and should be mentioned. But, it is rare among Hindu traditions such as Vaishnavas who observe Navratri. Balance is important for NPOV. Therefore I have trimmed that section. Ms Sarah Welch (talk) 21:14, 12 June 2017 (UTC)
 * Ms Welch, do you statistics on what sect is dominant in Hinduism ? Given the total size of the article, the animal sacrifice section is rather small.We can take the 1871 reference out.The sacrifice at Bhavani temple and Bimla devi at the Jagannath temple should be restored.These are from reliable sources.We can work on it to reduce the size but you can not totally remove their inclusion.Thanks.Jonathansammy (talk) 21:33, 12 June 2017 (UTC)


 * According to Johnson and Grim, Shaktism demographics represents less than 4% of Hinduism. I have already added a note about the rarity of animal sacrifice, with page numbers from the Fuller source. Frankly, I am disappointed with both sides... those who delete that section to pretend it doesn't exist, and those who restore the badly written POV-y content who cherry pick content from Fuller-like sources but ignore the sentences that the animal sacrifice practice is rare. Ms Sarah Welch (talk) 22:25, 12 June 2017 (UTC)


 * Ms Welch,It all depends on ones definition of Shakt. Most Hindu communities have a Goddess as their Kuldevata. Does that make them Shakta ? Not really because at the same time they would be worshippers of Vishnu and his avatars.That is the flexibility of worship in Hinduism and one should not try to pigeon hole people into Vaishnav, Shakta, Shaivite etc.

Yes, animal sacrifice is going down in numbers but it is there in contemporary Hindu society and therefore it should be mentioned in the article.Thanks for your help.Jonathansammy (talk) 13:28, 13 June 2017 (UTC)