Navratri stories

Goddess Durga is considered to be a united front of all Divine forces against the evil and wickedness existing in the society. It is said that whenever the evil would upsurge on earth, the Gods will unite together to eliminate those forces and establish a kingdom of peace and prosperity. Likewise, when the terror of the buffalo headed ‘Mahishasura’ took a toll on the life of innocent and poor devotees of the Gods, the gods in heaven decided to create an all-powerful being to kill the demon king Mahishasura. As Mahishasura was destined to be killed only a women, Brahma, Vishnu and Mahesh created a beautiful, magnificent woman with ten hands with their power. All the gods then furnished her with their special weapons. She was then named Durga i.e ‘the invincible’. She fought against Mahishasura for nine days (Navratri) and finally killed him on the occasion of ‘Vijayadashmi’. Durga is worshipped suring the Navratri festival all over the india and its neighbouring countries.

 

Another story associated with Navratri or Durga puja has been taken from the great epic ‘Mahabharat’. It is said that on the occasion of Vijayadashmi, the Pandavas declared their true identity after spending their last year of exile in disguise. They brought down the weapons from the Shami tree which they had hung over there before entering the palace of King Virat and entering into the phase of disguise. It is said that since then the exchange of Shami leaves on the Vijayadashmi day became symbol of good, will and victory.  Vjaya Dashmi marks the culmination of Navratri.