The grandest of festivals in India following the South
West monsoon and immediately preceding the North East monsoon season in India is Navaratri,
or the festival of nine nights. The feminine aspect of Divinity i.e. Shakti is celebrated
in great splendour for a period of nine nights (and days).
Beginning on the first phase of the moon after the
dark Mahalaya AMavasya, the ninth day of the festival falls on the 9th phase of the moon,
i.e. Maha Navami, and concludes with Vijaya Dasami or Dassara. Navaratri celebrations take
various forms across the length and breadth of the subcontinent.
Templenet is pleased to feature take you on a journey
through several temples all over India during Navaratri 2000 (September 28 - October 7 -
2000).
September 28: The first of the
featured temples is the Kanyakumari temple
at the southernmost tip of the Indian subcontinent. Formerly in the princely state of
Travancore, this temple is now in Tamilnadu and it enshrines Parvati as a
child. It is a temple rich in legends, festivals and traditions.
September 29: Featured today, are
four well known shrines on the West coast of India,
two in Kerala and two in Karnataka.
September 30: Featured today, are two
of the Shakti Peetha shrines of Maharashtra, Mahalakshmi at Kolhapur and Bhavani at Tuljapur.
October 1: Featured today, are two of
the Shakti Peetha shrines of Gujarat, Pavagadh
and Ambaji.
October 2: Today's Navaratri feature
highlights four of the Shakti shrines of India associated with the spiritual leader Aadi Sankaracharya of the 1st millennium CE.
October 3: Kritis composed by the
Karnatic Music Composer, Mutthuswamy Deekshitar in Sanskrit, on several of the Shakti
shrines - find life in concert platforms today. These kritis reflect the traditions,
legends and beliefs associated with the temples visited by the composer. Please visit our
feature from Navaratri 1999, highlighting some
of the kritis of Deekshitar. (The temples covered here are Jambukeswaram, Madurai, Tiruvarur
and Kanchipuram).
October 4: Visit Tirukkarugavur,
a remote hamlet near Thanjavur in
Tamilnadu, with a celebrated shrine to Garbarakshakambika.
Also experience the magnificient Periyanayaki temple now in a state of disrepair, in the
village of Devikapuram, near
Polur (Tiruvannamalai) in Northern
Tamilnadu.
October 5: Featured today, is
the wel known Kalighat Kali
Temple, in Calcutta.
October 6: On the occaison of Saraswati
Puja Maha Navami (the 9th day of Navaratri), visit the 900 year old Saraswati
Ambal temple at Koothanur,
near Thanjavur in Tamilnadu. Also
visit the modern Saraswati Temple at Pilani,
Rajasthan.
Also see:
Abodes of Shakti
All about Shakti
