Happy Navratri

Navratri is a 9-day Hindu festival observed in order to celebrate fertility, honor womanhood, and pay regard to any of an array of mother goddesses.

Like most other Hindu festivals, Navratri is observed differently in different parts of India. Many people use this time for religious thought and fasting, while others use it for dancing and feasting. Fasting traditions include following a strict vegetarian diet and refraining from alcohol and some spices.   Typically, the festival’s nine nights are often dedicated to various facets of the divine feminine spirit.

Mainly people with Gujarati heritage are known for performing Garba, in which dancers dance in circles around this clay pot, performing circular gestures with their hands and feet. This gesture represents the circle of life, which progresses from life to death to rebirth, leaving alone the Mother Divine undisturbed, unchanging, and unconquerable.

This year Navratri began on Monday, September 26, and ended on October 5.

Wishing those who celebrate a happy Navratri!