When is Navratra?
Navratra is a nine-day festival that ends on Ram Navami. The first day is a gazetted holiday in the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir.
As Ram Navami takes place on the ninth day of Chaitra month (the first month in the Hindu lunar calendar), 1st Navratra is the first (new moon) day of Chaitra.
Traditions of Navratra
Navratra is a name given to a nine-day Hindu festival. Navratri may take place at different times of the year, in theory there can be four seasonal Navratri, the most famous is in the run-up to the major late-autumn festivals of Dussehra and Durga Puja.
The Navratra Festival in Jammu region that precedes Ram Navami is famous for its celebrations in Katra, at Vaishno Devi Mandir, the shrine of Shri Mata Vaishno Devi, a manifestation of the Hindu Goddess Mata Adi Shakti.
Though the Yātrā (pilgrimage) to the shrine is a round-the-year event, the one undertaken during the Navratras is considered the most auspicious.
In order to have all-round success in life, believers seek the blessings of all three aspects of the divine femininity - Goddess Kali, Goddess Lakshmi and Goddess Saraswati.
A large number of tourists pay their respect to the deity during this period.
Here is a list of the goddesses prayed to on the different days of Chaitra Navratri:
- Ghatasthapana Puja, Maa Shailputri
- Maa Brahmacharini
- Maa Chandraghanta
- Maa Kushmanda
- Skanda Mata
- Maa Katyayani
- Maha Saptami, Maa Kaalratri
- Maha Ashtami, Maa Mahagauri Puja
- Rama Navami, Maa Siddhidatri.
