Tag: #Navaratri2015

Navaratri Festival and Dusshera

Events and Festivals Food India No Comments

Continuing from my previous posts on Navratri …….

On the days of Indian rituals and religious festivals, vegetarian food is prepared at home.  There are households who do not have onions and garlic. Thus, the choice becomes limited about what to cook.

The most common dishes for Navaratri are:

  1. Sabudana puris and vadas which are made of tapioca
  2. Sabudana kheer- Pudding made of tapioca
  3. Sabudana khichdi- Made from tapioca
  4. Vrat ke chawal- The rice that is made during fasting
  5. Singhare ka halwa- Water chestnut pudding.
  6. Lauki halwa- Pudding made from Bottle gourd
  7. Vegetable rice cutlets- cutlets made of mixed vegetables and rice.

Below are videos where Manjula shows how to prepare these dishes for Navratri in her kitchen

Tomorrow shall mark the tenth day of Ashwin in the Hindu lunisolar calendar. The first nine days being celebrated as Navaratri. This Hindu festival is celebrated across India, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. Dussehra or Vijayadashami marks the victory of Goddess Durga over Mahishasur, the demon. Durga Puja ends on this day with the immersion of idols. People visit each other’s house and exchange gifts. The saffron-colored Marigold are particularly associated with this festival and sold in abundance during this festive period. They are used for worship and decorating workplaces and homes.

Marigold garlands
Marigold garlands

In northern India, mainly Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Punjab and western Bihar, there is a tradition to plant barley seeds in earthen pots on the first day of Navratri. The sprouts on the tenth day, Dussehra, are used as symbols of luck. Many plays and dramas based on Ramayana are performed during this period known as ‘Ramlila’. The effigies of Ravana filled with firecrackers containing phosphorus are burned on Dussehra. The ceremonial burning of effigies of Ravana celebrates the victory of Rama. Dussehra is a festival of victory of Good over Evil.

Effigy of Ravana
Effigy of Ravana

Wish u all a Happy Dusshera

lets-celebrate-the-victory-of-forces-of-good-over-evil-wishing-you-all-a-very-happy-dussehra

Navaratri Festival

Events and Festivals India 1 Comment

Navaratri is a festival devoted to the worship of the Hindu deity Durga. The word Navaratri signifies ‘nine evenings’ in Sanskrit, ‘nava’ which means nine and ‘ratri’ which means nights. During these nine nights and ten days, nine types of Devi are venerated. The tenth day is known as Vijayadashami or ‘Dussehra’ (Dasera). Navaratri is a vivacious celebration all over India and Nepal. This year Navratri started on October 13, 2015 and shall end on October 22, 2015

Jai Durga Maa
Jai Durga Maa

Durga is “Devi” (goddess) or “Shakti” (vitality or force). It is this vitality, which helps God to continue with the work of creation, safeguarding and demolition. As such, you can say that God is still, totally immutable, and the Divine Mother Durga, does everything. Really talking, our love of Shakti re-affirms the exploratory hypothesis that vitality is perpetual. It can’t be made or annihilated. It is always there.

Navaratri is bifurcated into sets of three days to revere diverse parts of the incomparable goddess. On the initial three days, the Mother’s power is invoked called Durga keeping in mind the end goal to annihilate every one of our debasements, vices and imperfections. The following three days, the Mother is loved as a supplier of otherworldly riches, Lakshmi, is considered to have the influence of presenting to her devotees the endless riches. The last arrangement of three days is spent in revering the mother as the goddess of wisdom, Saraswati. All together have all-round accomplishment in life, we require the gifts of every one of the three parts of the perfect mother; thus, the worship for nine nights.

Devotees have nine different colors for each day of this festival. The nine colors are

First Day- Yellow

Second Day- Green

Third Day-Grey

Fourth Day- Orange

Fifth Day- White

Sixth Day- Red

Seventh Day-Blue

Eight Day- Pink

Ninth Day/ Tenth Day-Purple

Dandiya Raas
Dandiya Raas

‘Garba Raas’ and ‘Dandiya Raas’ are the most celebrated Indian folk dance during Navratri garba festival. A popular dance from Gujarat and is being performed not only all over India but all over the world by the Gujaratis.

Devotees observe fast for all nine days during Navaratri. Fasting is not just for spirituality, but it makes us self-disciplined also. It trains our mind and body to be prepared for any hardship in life. It teaches us not to give up!

You may like to read 4 finger-licking recipes for this festive season

Copyright 2022

MENU

Navigation

You cannot copy content of this page

%d bloggers like this: