NAVRATRI

An Indian festival

Introduction
To start Navratri means 9 nights
in Sanskrit (a language.). It is an
Indian festival in which we pray
to goddess Durga for 9 days. I
know what youre thinking! Who
is goddess Durga? Well Im just
about to tell you!! Let me tell you
a story.

DURGA MATA (GODDESS DURGA)

The story of Durga

One day, one of the Devas(Gods) told
Indra(The god of lightning and King of
Devas.)some horrible news. The demon
Mahishasura had been granted a terrible
boon-he could not be killed by any human
being or god-plus he had conquered the
Underworld and the earth. He was now
coming to conquer Heaven!! What shall
we do Indra?!asked the other Devas with
frustration. I cannot give my own

Continued
kingdom away !Let us fight and have a
battle! Get our best soldiers ready!
Wheres my armour?! Get ready to
fight!!!!!he said. When they reached the
battlefield Mahishasura was already
there! Ha ha! So Indra, the great fool has
finally reached the battlefield.
CHHHHAAARRRRRGGGGEEEE!!.

The battle!!
And so the great battle for the heavens
begins.CLASH!BANG!THUD!
BADABOOM!......in the end guess who
won? Mahishasura. Indra was thrown
out of his own kingdom and landed on
earth. He and the other Devas went to
the Himalayas where they found
Vishnu, Shiva and Brahma. Save us
oh great lords. pleaded Indra. Let us
sit and think. "replied Brahma calmly.

The Idea
Suddenly, Shiva spoke We
are stronger together than
alone. Of course! We can
combine our powers and
create a shakti that will
destroy Mahishasura and his
evil ways forever!!. So they
put their powers together
and Durga mata was born!
Do not fear great lords I will
destroy Mahishasura and
return victorious! the Devi
said confidently after being
given some weapons.

Navratri
Mahishasura tried to turn himself into lots of
different forms but in the end. Before he
could turn from a bull to a human. He was
killed!!!

Jai Mata di! Or Hail to the goddess.

Now.Im going to tell you, how Navratri is
celebrated!

THE 9 DAYS
The first three days of Navratri are dedicated to Goddess
Durga (Warrior Goddess) dressed in red and mounted on
a lion/tiger.
The next three days are dedicated to Goddess Laxmi. She
is the goddess of wealth and is another form of Durga.
She sits on a lotus and gold falls out of her hands.
The last three days are dedicated to Goddess Saraswati.
She is the goddess of knowledge and is another form of
Durga. Dressed all in white, she plays a sitar and has a
swan near her.

9 Days of Dancing
Every evening people dress up in their
beautiful indian clothes and jewellery
and go to dance in halls.
They do Dandiya and Garba(2 different
kinds of indian dances.)
In Peterborough it is done in The
Cresset, you are very welcome to
come and watch and maybe join!

So keep celebrating the

power in you!
JAI MATA DI!!!!