What is the mythological history of navratri ? Why we playing Garba (Chhand) ?

Answer 1

Navratri, Navaratri or Navaratra is a Hindu festival of worship and dance. The word Navaratri literally means nine nights in Sanskrit; Nava - Nine and Ratri - nights. The festival is celebrated for nine nights twice every year during mid-March and the beginning of October, although as the dates of the festival are determined according to the Hindu lunar calendar, the festival may be held for a day more or a day less depending on the calendar.

Navaratri is divided into sets of three days to adore three different aspects of the supreme goddess or goddesses. On the first three days, the goddess is invoked as a powerful spiritual force called Durga in order to destroy all our impurities, vices and defects. During the next three days, the Mother is adored as a giver of spiritual wealth, Lakshmi, who is considered to have the power of bestowing on her devotees the inexhaustible wealth. The final set of three days is spent in worshipping the daughter of brahma as the goddess of wisdom, Saraswati. In order to have all-round success in life, we need the blessings of all three aspects of the divine femininity, hence, the worship for nine nights.

During Navaratri, some devotees of Durga observe a fast and prayers are offered for the protection of health and property. A period of introspection and purification, Navaratri is traditionally an auspicious time for starting new ventures.

On the tenth day of October Navratri, the holiday of Dussehra, an effigy of Ravana is burnt to celebrate the victory of good (Rama) over evil.

Answer 2

Festival of Navratri is essentially religious in nature. The nine day festival of Navratri is the worship of the Divine Mother. It is celebrated with true devotion in the various temples dedicated to the Mother. This is a festival that is sole dedicated to female aspect of nature know as Durga, Bhawani, Amba, Uma, Parvati, Gauri..etc. Durga is a personification of Divine Shakti (power). Shakti is the omnipotent power of the Lord, or the Cosmic Energy. The Divine Mother is represented as having ten different weapons in Her hands. She sits on a lion. She is “Mahishasurmardini” the destroyer of evil. You can find more info at the following location.

http://www.indisamaj.com/bhakti/index.html


http://www.indisamaj.com/bhakti/Festivals/Navratri/bramacharini.htm

Answer 3

Links to many explanation of Navaratri:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/hinduism/holydays/navaratri.shtml (this one is probably the best in my opinion)
http://www.geocities.com/athens/7830/navratri.htm
http://www.ahmedabadcity.com/tourism/html/navratri.html
http://search.bbc.co.uk/cgi-bin/search/results.pl?uri=%2Freligion%2Findex.shtml&q=navaratri+%2Breligion&submit=Search
http://www.google.ca/search?q=navratri+&start=0&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official

Wikipedia article aboout Navaratri in Wikipedia, contains many links:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Navratri

A description of the different ways that Navaratri is celebrated in various regions of India:
http://www.cuisinecuisine.com/Festival%20of%20Navrati.htm

a calculator that shows when Navaretri is celebrated:
http://www.when-is.com/navaratri.asp

Answer 4

almost every society, but restricted to the residents

Answer 5

hmm.. with bread?

Answer 6

what?