The Spiritual significance of celebrating navaratri

The Spiritual significance of celebrating navaratri
By T.Madhavan
Navaratri is one of the important festivals being celebrated across the world by people from various sects of hindu religion. The word ‘ratri ‘implies change.
One of the names of the female deity (Devi) is kaalaratri. Kaalaratri is the one who brings about change in the absolute being of time (kaalpurush).
Rotation is the inherent nature of earth. Changes such as day and night occur on account of the rotation of earth. To be able to withstand such changes effectively, religious observances such as navaratri are undertaken.
Significance
Throughout these nine days, various spiritual practices such as recitation of holy verses in praise of the Goddess, continuous burning of ghee or oil lamp, garlanding of the goddesses, etc, are performed.
Rituals and penance that help in spiritual progress are also undertaken with ardent devotion. During navaratri, one should chant ‘sree Durgadevi Namah’ as much as possible.
According to orator nagai mukundhan, the Tamil calendar year has been divided into six ‘rudhus’and the ‘navaratri’is being celebrated throughout the year.
According to hinduism, the special worship of goddess shankti is done twice a year in the following seasons:Vasantha navaratri (worship during spring )and sharath navaratri (worship during autumn). The scientific reason for this is that during the twilight periods, when one season ends and the next begins, the position of plants and atmosphere are both very conducive for the spiritual progress of human brings.
If one could not do ‘navaratri’ poojas in a grand manner at least they can chant Lalitha sahas ranama, sakalakalavalli Maalai, Abhirami Andhathi or Meenakshi Ammai pillai Thamizh during the nine days to derive the benefits of performing a puja.
Those well-versed in music could recite Muthuswami Dikshithar’s Navavaranam kritis to get the blessings of the goddess. Orator S.Madhivannan puts the significance of Navaratri thus: The nine days /nights of Navaratri are divided into three days each and dedicated to goddesses Durga, Lakshmi and Saraswathi respectively, goddess Durga offers ‘Veeram’ (valour/courage), while goddess Lakshmi offers ‘selvam’(wealth/treasure)and goddess saraswathi offers Knowledge through education.
Persons with enough wealth and Knowledge could not survive in this worlds without courage.
Hence, our ancestors placed shakti worship for the first three days of Navaratri .
In Hinduism, wherever we worship a god, we need the divine blessings of mother goddess to get rid of our sins.
For example, while Lord Narayana the saves us with his divine blessings, Goddess Mahalakshmi gives wealth, to protect us. Lord Siva, often tests his devotees, whereas goddess parvathi saves us with her motherly affection.
Worshipping the goddesses during the Navaratri is sure to bring in happiness in the family and it also paves the way for societal harmony.