Nav-Ratri - The festival of nine nights is one of the most prominent festivals of Hinduism dedicated to chiefly Mother Durga an incarnation of Goddess Parvati, the consort of Lord Shiva. This is the most pious and pure time in the complete Hindu calendar. These nine nights are dedicated to the three main goddesses of Hinduism - Parvati, Lakshmi and Sarasvati.

The first three nights are dedicated to the goddess of action and energy. Her different manifestations viz Kumari, Parvati and Kali are worshipped during these days.

Goddess Lakshmi is worshipped for the next three days in her various aspects as the goddesses of peace, plenty and bliss. Fulfilment is more important than wealth itself. As the goddess of wealth, Goddess Lakshmi bestows wealth, success and fame and fortune to her worshippers and devotees. The four hands of Goddess Lakshmi indicate that she has the power to bestow on humanity the four ends of human life. In one hand she holds a lotus flower - reminding us of ever-lasting life and the immortality of the soul. The other hand that holds another lotus symbolizes to us to detach ourselves from too much of the worldly power, position, considerations, etc. Another hand holds what symbolizes material wealth, prosperity which are to be used as a means / tools for the achievements or goal in life; while the other hand, the fourth one is shown open and pointing downward, showering wealth and reinforcing the message of sharing.

On Lalita Panchami (the fifth day), children gather all the books in the house before a sacred lamp and invoke the blessings of Goddess Saraswati. It is also the occasion for all artisans to lay down their tools before the goddess and seek her benediction upon their trade. Goddess Saraswati is the goddess of knowledge. She is the goddess of the spiritual knowledge and the knowledge that frees us from this bind of this materialistic world. She is worshipped during the final three days of the Navratri.

On the eighth and ninth days of the festival, Yagnas are performed as a final act of farewell that marks the conclusion of the ceremonies. Ghee or clarified butter, a sweet concoction of rice cooked in condensed milk (paayas or kheer) and sesame seeds are traditional items used in the yagna to the chanting of mantras conveying the theme-"This is my offering to God".

On the tenth day or Vijaya Dasami, more popularly known as Dussehra, enormous effigies of Ravana stuffed with firecrackers are torched with flaming arrows to the delight of throngs of revellers. It is also valued by devotees as an auspicious occasion to start an enterprise and for the business communities to open their annual books of account.

Navratri, is one of the major events of the Hindu calendar and is celebrated all over India from Bombay to Tamil Nadu. It coincides with the harvest season and this year begins on October 4 th.

Gujarat is renowned for its Navratri celebrations in which there is folk dancing through the night. The famous garba dance takes it name from the garbo, an earthen pot from which the light of a lamp shines and around which women and girls dance. In the dandia ras the dancers carry sticks, which they strike together.

In West Bengal the festival is known as Durga Pooja and commemorates the victory of the Goddess Durga over the demon king Mahishsura. It is celebrated with intense fervour and zest and for the last five days of the festival Calcutta never sleeps.

These days Navratri is celebrated across the Hindu Diaspora. There are major celebrations in North America, Europe, South Africa and Australia. In the UK Navratri is celebrated in temples and halls across the country.