10 Days Of Navratri Celebrations

As I mentioned above, nine nights and ten days are celebrated and the festival is based on the worship of the Hindu Mother Goddess Shakthi. Nine forms of the goddess are worshipped during these nine nights and finally on the tenth day, Dussehra is celebrated to remember the victory of the goddess over the evils.

The different forms of the goddess is believed to represent the different forms of nature, starting from the peaceful form to the fierce form of existence.

In temples, the goddess is worshipped carrying out poojas or rituals and the devotees worship the goddess in their own homes or in the temples by reciting specific prayers and devotional songs. The poojas are also known as Durga Pooja, where Durga is another name for goddess Shakthi.

Actually, the festival will be really grand on areas near to temples where the goddess is worshipped as the main deity. However, in other temples too, the goddess is worshipped with special rituals, prayers and offerings during the festival time.

Dussehra is the tenth day of navratri celebrations. It is also commonly known by the name Vijayadashami. Both the names can be translated as 'victory on the tenth day'. Dussehra is also sometimes referred as 'Dasara'. The ninth day of navrathri celebrations is also very important for worship, and the day is commonly known as Maha Navami. 

The celebrations are based on the Hindu lunar calendar.

In 2014, the Navratri celebrations start on September 24th night and so the first day of celebration is on September 25th. Dussehra falls on October 3rd.

The celebrations may vary according to the different regions of the country, however vijayadashami day is considered very auspicious day to start education for young children.

It is a belief that the things that you start on the Vijayadashami day will be mostly successful.

The word 'Vijaya' means success.

In India, traditionally children started education around five years of age. Years back, this was possible. But in today's life, this is not practical and so we all start our kids education early. Among the Hindus, young children between ages of 2 to 3 years formally start their education on an auspicious day, mostly on the Vijayadashami day.

Either a priest or one of the parents usually help the child to write on a plate full of raw rice. Sometimes a grandparent, or someone else who is respectable may also do the function.

Either a stone pencil or a dried piece of fresh, dried turmeric is used to write on the rice. What the children write on the rice can vary depending on the region, but it will be definitely include prayers to the goddess Saraswati, Lord Ganesha and also other gods.

Goddess Saraswathi, one of the nine forms of the goddess, is seen as the goddess of education.

After writing on the rice, kids can write on papers or books. The function is known as Vidyarambham which can be translated as the beginning of education.

Two days prior to the Vijayadashami day, the prayers and celebrations intensifies and actually the last three days including the Vijayadashami day have more importance than other days. People usually displays small figurines or statues of different forms of gods and goddesses. These figurines are generally known as Golu.

The three days are considered very important for school going children too, as this is a time particularly related with prayers on education. Students may keep their books and study materials for worship and they are not expected to read or write on those three days. Schools usually remain closed for these three days.

On the Vijayadashami day, after the morning prayers are offered, the books can be taken back. In most of the places, all the little kids usually write prayers on either rice or papers, even though this is not mandatory. 

The information I have entered above is based on my knowledge on the festival. The celebrations may vary from place to place.