Navratri
Navratri is celebrated by Hindus all over the world. It is a festival of nine nights of celebration dedicated to goddess Durga or Parvati, the mother of Lord Ganesh. The beauty of this festival is that it is celebrated in a different way in different parts of India. Even today Hindus spread across the world maintain their own traditional way of celebrating Navratri. Since Hinduism does not prescribe a rigid way of worship, different parts of India have developed their own very strong traditions of Navratri celebrations. All are equally beautiful and very colorful.
In the western parts of India this festival is celebrated with Garba and Dandiya Raas. This is traditional folk dance of Gujarat. When performing the garba a lamp is placed inside a decorated earthen pot. Women folk form a circle around it and dance while singing bhajans in praise of goddess Durga or Parvati. In Gujarat Durga ma is also known as "Ambe ma". The light inside the pot represents life within a womb and the mother goddess "Amba Mata" is worshiped.
The Dandiya raas is performed using colorful sticks that are sometimes festooned and traditionally is performed in a circle around the central deity.
In Bengal and the eastern part of India the Navratri festival is the most important Hindu festival. It is celebrated with great fervor and preparations for it start well in advance. Exquisite durga idols are crafted months in advance for the Durga pooja. Many skilled artisans take orders at least a year in advance to create the idols. The durga idols depict different avatars of parvati.The Durga pooja idols are immersed into the water after Navratri. This is the most important festival for Bengali people.