Sharadiya Navratri is among the most important festivals in the Hindu tradition. Today we will give you information about 2 popular stories related to this festival in this article.
The holy festival of Navratri will start from 3rd October in the year 2024. During Navratri, devotees worship nine forms of Mother Goddess, and many people also keep fast for nine days during this period. Worshiping the nine forms of Goddess Durga brings happiness, prosperity, and paves the way for progress in life.
Navratri is one of the major festivals of Hindu religion, the tradition of celebrating the festival of Navratri has been going on since ancient times. In such a situation, today we are going to tell you about two mythological stories related to Navratri.
First story related to Navratri
The story of Goddess Durga and Mahishasura is mentioned in Hindu religious texts. Through this story we get the message of victory of religion over power and unrighteousness. According to this legend, there was a powerful demon named Mahishasura, who, intoxicated with his power, started committing atrocities on heaven and earth.
Mahishasura had obtained a boon from Lord Brahma by doing penance that no god, demon or human could kill him. The gods had prayed to Lord Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva for freedom from his atrocities.
After this the three gods combined their powers and manifested Goddess Durga. Also, all the gods gave their best weapons to Goddess Durga.
After this a fierce battle took place between Mahishasura and Goddess Durga. Mahishasura changed many forms, but Goddess Durga defeated every form of Mahishasura. At the end of the war, Mother Durga killed Mahishasura.
It is believed that Goddess Durga fought a war with Mahishasura for 9 days and killed Mahishasura on the tenth day. To commemorate the victory, the gods praised Mother Durga and named her Mahishasuramardini. Even today, Mother Shakti is worshiped during the nine days of Navratri, remembering the nine-day long battle of Mother Durga with Mahishasura.
Second story related to Navratri
According to the story narrated in Ramayana, Lord Rama worshiped Goddess Durga for 9 days before going to war against Ravana in Lanka. Pleased with the devotion of Lord Ram, Mother Bhagwati gave him the boon of victory in the war. On the tenth day, Lord Rama emerged victorious by defeating Ravana in the war. Therefore, the tenth day after Navratri is also known as Vijayadashami. It is believed that Ramji worshiped Goddess Durga for 9 days, from then onwards the festival of Navratri started.