Geetha Patil
CHICAGO: The Hindu Mandir of Lake County, Grayslake, a Chicago suburb celebrated Navratri – a nine-day long festival (October 06 to 13, 2021) to honor the nine forms of Goddess Durga and her mighty valor.The celebration was with much zeal and fervor.
This festival symbolizes the victory of Goddess Durga on demon king Mahishasura. Dashahara (Vijayadashami) is celebrated on the Dashami (tenth, 14th Oct.) of Shukla Paksha in Ashwini month, that symbolizes the victory of good over evil -on this day, Lord Rama killed Ravana.
Like last year, this year too, the festival was observed with less fanfare due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The temple has urged people to participate in Pujas only after being vaccinated and has asked priests to ensure no large crowd gathers at any puja venue.
Celebrations included worshipping of nine Goddesses in nine days, for that, a special stage was setup with grand decorations, chanting of the Deviscriptures, singing of Bhajans, Devi Stutis, Kathasand more. Each day of the Navratri is dedicated to worshipping and glorifying the gallantry of nine incarnations of Ma Durga.
On the first day, temple priest, Pt. Anil Joshi performed Ganesh Pujanalong with Kalash sthapanam following all Vedic traditions and chanting of Mantras. Then he setup Ma Durga, Ma Sarasvati and Ma Lakshmi idols ( murtis) with Chausath Yoginis and performed their majestic Puja by chanting powerful Vedic Mantras.
Every day, devotees sponsored Devis’ Alankaram, with sarees, flowers, fruits and homemade Naivedyam and Pt. Joshi Ji performed Pujas, Archanas, and blessed everyone with his Ashirvachan.
On Saturday, the Ashtami (Oct 13) day, Kanya Pujan was performed, and all the young girls were worshipped as Goddesses and were given useful gifts. On Sunday, Oct 14th Devi Homam was performed and offered all the Shringar Samans to Jwala Rupa Ma and prayed her with much devotion to remove Corona, ignorance, and cruelties from the world soon.
On the day of Vijayadashami, Pt. Joshi delivered an enlightening discourse that highlighted how a real success comes to us. For that, we need to follow Dharma, principles, and righteous ways. We see the success of Rama, an avatar of Vishnu, over the 10-headed demon king Ravana who failed to follow Dharma and Satya Marga. He further asked devotees to respect the very earth that we walk upon, the air that we breathe, the water that we drink, the food that we eat, the people that we come in touch with including our body and mind. The respect and gratitude towards everything in life lead to success and victory at the end.
On Friday and Saturday, the Temple also organized Garbaa joyful style of dance, based on a circular pattern and characterized by a sweeping action from side to side that includes singing and a musical accompaniments it is commonly performed at festivals and on other special occasions in the state of Gujarat, India.
“Dashahara is always very vibrant festivaland has tremendous cultural significance for all who live in this world irrespective of their race or religion and should be celebrated with gaiety and love,” a devotee told this reporter.
“We celebrate Dashahara with total involvement, joy and love,” said another devotee.
Thank You For Your Vote!
Sorry You have Already Voted!
