Navratri, a nine-day Hindu festival which begins today, is celebrated across india with fervor and enthusiasm to honor the different avatars of Goddess Durga. As per the Hindu calendar, Navaratri falls during the month of Ashvin in early autumn every year when each day, a different form of the goddess is worshiped.
The festival is concluded with the 10th day's celebration known as 'Dussehra' when the idol of Goddess Durga is immersed in holy water after worshiping. This year, the last day of this festival also called Vijayadashmi which signifies the victory of king Lord Rama over Ravana falls on 8 October. Even though several states in india observe navratri and partake in the revelry, the festival holds upmost prominence for devotees in Bengal and Gujarat.
In Bengal, the streets are decorated with thousands of temporary stages called pandals that house the idol of Goddess Durga. Followers offer their prayers to different incarnations of Goddess Durga on all nine days and on the tenth day a great procession is held where the statue is immersed in the holy river.
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