Since Navratri has started can you please talk about all forms of Durga?
mmkay sure
first up : the navaratri calendar - which makes zero sense. since hinduism follows the lunar calendar, sometimes you end up with two navaratris on the same damn day, which is why the navaratri this time is 8 days instead of 9.
secondly, like i keep saying over here, you cannot consume onion, garlic, eggs and non veg until after Dussehra, which is a bummer
thirdly, in my house, we establish an akhand jyoti and a pot full of barley. the akhand jyoti, as the name suggests, has to be lit 24X7 until Dussehra is over, and has to be continuously fed and taken care of - once lit, it cannot be extinguished. the barley we sow on day one, it's saplings are used in the Dussehra pooja in my house.
so now onto the ladies :D
Prathamaa : Shailaputri - Daughter of the Mountains, this form of the goddess celebrates her as Sati Bhawani or Uma, when she was still a girl and unmarried.
Dwitiyaa : Brahmacharini - The Celibate, this form of the goddess celebrates her knowledge seeking and withdrawn form. Parvati had taken this form when she underwent severe penance to please Shiva and win his heart, and this form is also known as Aparna (she who forsook leaves, for parvati didn't consume anything during her tapas).
Tritiyaa : Chandraghanta - The Goddess with the Moonbell, this form of the goddess celebrates her royalty and bravery. A crescent moon lies on her forehead, or she wears earrings resembling the moon, thus her name. She is the first goddess who appears with ten hands, wielding weapons and riding a lion.
Chaturthi : Kushmanda - The Cosmic Egg, this form of the goddess celebrates her primordial form. It is said that Kushmanda created the entire universe just by a small smile. Yogamaya is another one of her forms.
Panchami : Skandamata - Mother of Skanda, this form of the goddess celebrates her motherly nature, and her affection towards children. She is shown as holding her infant son Skanda (also known as Kartikeya, the god of war) and wielding weapons, symbolising her protectiveness. In some depictions, she simply holds a lotus, symbolising her gentleness.
Shashti : Katyayini - Daughter of Katyayana, this form of the goddess is the most fierce. She was born of Sage Katyayana, hence the name. This is the first form the goddess took while fighting Mahishasura.
Saptami : Kaalaratri - She Who is Dark as Night, this form of the goddess is quite similar to Goddess Kali, in both character and depiction, the only difference being is that she rides a donkey while Kali rites a ghost. She is gentler than Kali, scaring away and protecting us from negative energies.
Ashtami : Mahagauri - Gauri the Great, this form celebrates Goddess Gauri as Lord Shiva's wife. She grants knowledge and wisdom to everybody. Unmarried women worship her for a suitable partner, while married women worship her to maintain marital bliss. Teej, a big festival here in North India and Rajasthan, is her own festival.
Navami : Siddhidatri - She Who Grants Power (Siddhis), Siddhidatri is the goddess' ultimate magnificent form. She bears the fruit of all the devotion and rituals during the course of these nine days, and grants the devotee whatever their heart desires.
In North India, in certain families, Navaratri ends on the seventh or eighth day only (in my family it's the eighth day). Whichever day you conclude the festival, we invite nine girls to our house and feed and worship them. The holy prasad served to the goddess that day is first given to them, untouched except for being served. Then the youngest one is given a chunari (a red, filigreed scarf which was used in the rituals), while all the girls receive gifts and money, and the hosts (ie my parents) touch all of their feet. This practice is called Kanjak. Sometimes, a boy is also invited who represents the "langur", or the monkey which guards the temples of goddesses in North India.
During this course, Ramleelas are staged parallely, which depict the entirety of Tulsidas' Ramayana, at night during stage plays and big carnivals in North India. On the tenth day, while Bengalis and South Indians submerge the goddess' idol and celebrate her victory over Mahishasura, North Indians instead celebrate Ram's victory over Ravana which is symbolised at the end of the Ramleela - the actor who plays Rama burns the giant effigies of Ravana, his brother Kumbhakarna, and his son Indrajit, by shooting flaming arrows at them.
