Sixth Day Old Navaratri: Katyayni Devi

The Sixth Day is devoted to Mata Katyayni Devi, the Sixth Avatar of the Holy Goddess. This incarnation of the Divine Mother is said to have been born to the sage Katya. On this day, people observe a fast for the Mother known as the Sri Katyayni Vrat. This is categorically done by women as they believe that this will help them, get the most ideal husband. Other details about this incarnation can be found in the Matsya Puran, Agni Puran and Vamana Puran.

The Devi is said to be one of the most popular ones to have existed during the tenure of Lord Krishna. She was thoroughly worshipped and prayed by all the Gopis and Gopas who resided in Gokul. An idol of Katyayni Devi is made from clay and mud from the River Yamuna, worshipped and then subsequently dissolved in the river itself. This form of worshipping and eventual immersion is very famous in the Tamil Culture. The number of arms the Mother has is said to vary from four to eighteen, as stated in mythical folklore. All these have supposedly been presented to her by Trimurtis and the Devas. Some of the Hindu Scriptures have mentioned that she has the congregated powers of Shiva, Brahma and Mahesh. The colour of her body is said to be that of the Atasi Flower.

Her escort is the Sardula, a mythical animal regarded as the Mother of Tigers. Contrary to this, she has been shown on a Lion in some of the textures. She is said to wear subtle embellishments and a crown with a crescent moon stuck on it. Those who pray their hearts out are said to be the blessed ones receiving enormous peace, wealth, health and prosperity. The Mother is said to never turn a blind eye to her devotees.

Fifth Day of Navratri: Skandmata Devi

Day 5 of the Holy Navratri has a lot to offer. The Fifth Day of this auspicious and pious time is devoted to Skandmata Devi. Skandmata devi is considered to be the Mother and Chief Warrior of the Gods Army, the Skanda. She is considered to be the Goddess of Fire and is the Mother of Skanda, sired after a successful matrimonial alliance with Lord Shiva. Her portrait has been described as the Goddess with Three Eyes and Four Hands, at times seated on a Lotus and at times seated on a Lion. It is widely said that with the blessings of Mother Skandmata, even a moron can become the enlightened one blessed with all the worldly knowledge.

“Om Nityaya Namah” and “Om Hreeng Mahadurgaya Namah” are the two mantras chanted while remembering the Goddess. A lot of items are offered while paying homage to the Goddess such as fragrant flowers, fruits, gems and clothing. It is said that those who pray to the Divine Mother with all their hearts are those blessed ones whose dreams come true. The Mother is said to bless all her devotees praying with their hearts and souls with the wealth they need to lead a comfortable life.

The Puja starts in the wee hours of the morning with the portrait of the Goddess being decorated with good clothing and expensive embellishments. A diverse range of sweets are offered to her, along with other items and cash. The Priest starts off with his chants and people lose themselves in the quest to enlighten themselves by remembering the Mother who has the onus of taking care of millions of her loyal and faithful devotees. The day is for those devout worshippers believing blindly in the Mother and knowing that Good karma and the path of righteousness will do them well.

Fourth Navratri: Devoted to Kushmanda Devi

Fourth day of the Navratri begins with the chant, "Om Dukha Hantraya Namah". This chant is meant to please Kushmanda Devi, the fourth manifestation of the Divine Goddess. The Goddess is this incarnation is said to have Eight Arms, holding weapons and a mala. She is said to be seated on a Tiger and radiates as shiningly as the Sun.

White is the color meant to be worn on this day along with draping the Goddess with a cloth of the same color. This manifestation of the Divine Mother is said to annihilate sorrow of the mind and get rid of ego. She is said to possess divine powers through which the macro universe synchronizes with the micro universe and creates a lot of peace and tranquility around the person. She is the mother responsible for Birth and Rebirth.

The chant mentioned above is started off by priests at the crack of dawn along with all of those who start worshipping with them. Delicacies are prepared, which are first offered to the Mother and kept outside for crows and pigeons to come and feed on. Once that happens, then it is all open for people to take a certain portion of. The Prashaad, they say is a very noble way of ensuring that the person becomes an integral part of that festivity and is able to get into the realm of worship.

The Fourth Day of the Navratri marks the half way stage. It marks for an occasion where worshippers and devotees have been incessantly praying to the Divine Mother for the past four days with the hope that she would come and bless them with a lot of peace and happiness. Kushmanda Devi is said to bring in all these virtues and hence, is worshipped with all heart and soul on this day.

Chandraghanta Devi-Third Day of Navratri

The festivities of the Holy Navratri continue into the Third Day, with Day 3 belonging exquisitely to the third incarnation of the Divine Mother known as Chandraghanta Devi. The colour of the day is Pink, and the Goddess is dressed in the same colour as well. The dress again can be a choice between a Saree and a Lehenga, depending on the one that the people worshipping decide to drape her with.

This day, belonging to Chandraghanta Devi, is also known as the day of Sthana Vriddhi Gauri Vratha or Ashwin Masa Shudda Tritiya. The colour pink is the most auspicious colour, and reflects the femine side of the Divine Goddess who is known to be equally ferocious in her deadly avatar as calm and serene as she can be. The Holy manifestation of Chandraghanta Devi is that of the Goddess sitting on a Tiger and exuding a Golden Hue.

Her portrait is shown having 10 hands and three eyes. Eight of these upper limbs display the various wea[pons that Candraghanta Devi possess where as the other two are vacant and used to bless the world.

This day is categorically prayed to attain a lot of worldly and earthly benefits. These include the likes of Bliss, Knowledge, Peace, Serenity, Growth and Purpose of Life. The mother is prayed for to grace the occasion and bless all of mankind with these holy and blissful virtues that would help people live a better life. The third day of the Navratras is for this manifestation of the Mother, who is said to have 9 forms and each day is dedicated to one manifestation. Pink colored cloth can be seen sporting all around and the people prefer wearing clothes of the same color as well on this day.

Navratri: Day 2

The Second Day in the auspicious Navratras is about Durga Navratri. The day is named after the second form of the Goddess, Durga. The holy colour for the day is the colour Grey and subsequently, the Goddess is dressed up in the same colour. On this day, Preethi Dwitiya/Ashwin Dwitiya is celebrated and the festivities are taken forward. Durga, also known as the Bramcharini Devi, is worshipped categorically by those who take a vow of celibacy for all their lives.

Grey coloured cloth can be seen all over the place, right from the dais where the Goddess is kept to the cloth that is put over the coconut kept on the Kalash near the picture of the Divine Mother. The colour comes with its own symbolic meaning, and is considered to be one of the most pious signs of paying homage.

Again, the prayers and chants are continued from where they were left the day earlier. Since a day has already gone by and the festivities are into the second day, all the attributes and virtues of the Bramcharini are remembered and the Mother is praised all day. The ones to have taken vows of celibacy for life are told stories from folklore about the way the Mother went about living her life in ancient times, when her incarnation was on Earth.

This, like the previous day, begins at the crack of dawn and goes on till the late hours of the morning when the Puja finally culminates and the routine is gone ahead with. One remembers all the virtues of the second form of the Divine Mother and prays to her for good health and well being and most importantly, to make the coming 7 days as eventful as the first two have been. With this thought, the day is called.

Kalash Sthapna-First Day of Navratri

The very first day in the auspicious nine day long Navratri is known as the day of Kalash Sthapna. The color for the day is the Color Green and the Goddess too is dressed up in the same color as a symbolic gesture to ethos. The apparel is either a Green Colored Lehenga, or a Green shaded saree. The day begins on a very positive and auspicious note for the fact that the holy week begins, and has to start off well. The very first thing that happens in the morning is the Prathmi Puja. This Puja sees women all around getting dressed quickly and decorating the place of worship with a lot of diyas and flowers. The Goddess is worshipped from the heart and prayers are chanted for her to come over and reside in the house, as it is perceived that her presence guarantees an unlimited influx of wealth and happiness.

A Kalash, an earthen pot, is placed near the Goddess upon which a coconut is kept, which is further draped in a holy cloth. The Kalash is revered for the fact that it happens to be a token of homage and way to welcome the Divine Mother into one’s abode.

Chants and prayers start at the crack of dawn and go on till the sun rises, into the late hours of the morning. Priests can be seen pounding the bells hard to make noise resonate in high decibels. People completely lose themselves in the quest to reach out to the divine power, which is requested with all humility to come and grace the occasion and bless everyone with wealth and prosperity. The day cannot begin on a better note than this, which promises the coming 8 days to be unforgettable. Hail the Divine Mother!

Navratri: The 9 Holy Nights, All for the Goddesses

The Goddess Kali/Devi has these 9 days to her name every year twice. The commencement of spring and the beginning of autumn are the two junctions when Navratri begins. These 9 days are considered to be very auspicious, for the Goddess is worshipped all across India with a lot of fervor and passion. The Divine Mother is said to enter every household that worships her truly, with loyalty and belief. The Lunar calendar determines the dates every year and people getting ready during that time for the days to begin.

Though a festival meant for Hinduism and Hindus, people all over the country celebrate these days with a lot of happiness and belief. They fast, sing bhajans, put up Golus in their homes and pray from their hearts. The celebrations go over a period of nine days because the Divine Mother being thought of in her 9 manifestations. The 10^th day that follows these 9 days is the day when Vijayadashmi is celebrated, culminating the whole festivity and being called as ‘Dusshera’.

A lot of fuzz and activity can be witnessed during this time all over the nation. Various dance forms can be seen, people light candles and diyas, lights illuminate neighborhoods and the whole ambience is bustling with a lot of joy and ecstasy. One has the time of his life celebrating these 9 days for one gets to see all kinds of festivities being done all over. This is the best and most auspicious time as well to show how well one respects the presence of the divine power.

Art and Craft – The Imperial Grace of Artistry

Art and Craft define the world. Scriptures, paintings, encryptions, sketches etc, are all different forms of art. They epitomize creativity and imagination. They tell us about the wonderful times when art was thought of in a very different way and held in a different regard altogether. Art and craft together have undoubtedly been the imperial grace of artistry. They can take any shape and be of any form. They can be depicted through color, through canvas, through collage, through caricatures, through cartoons, through compositions etc. All of them come with a different undertone and they all have a very unique and different significance. Then comes the finishing work, whatever the composition has been, it has to be polished and finished so that it looks presentable and enviable.

Art and Craft have been the finest of ways to show the grace that emanates from natural thoughts and perceptions. The way imaginative concepts are loaded onto something and made into a graphical presentation astonishes the human eye and appeals to it very highly. The best part of it is that such form of art and craft can be found and seen all across the world. Caves, pyramids, tombs, visual descriptions etc. are some of the sites where these can be found and can be said of as very appealing.

Art and Craft describe effort and imagination. They are a showcase of brilliance mixed with skill. They depict the mightiness of those personnel who had the drive to put their thoughts into picture. They represent artistry in a very delectable and revering form. All in all, art and craft are the result of some scintillating imaginative thoughts being brought to life by master craftsmen. This surely entices the eye and takes the imagination a long way ahead.

Ajmer-e-Sharif

The district of Ajmer in the princely state of Rajasthan has the holy shrine of the Sufi Saint, Khwaja Moinuddin Chisti. Known as the ‘Dargah Sharif’, the last resting place of the saint who died in 1235 lies at the foot of a barren hill. The saint’s marble domed mausoleum is India’s most important shrine for Muslims and receives an endless flow of visitors of all religions as the sick, the troubled and the childless come here seeking a boon, a blessing or just peace of mind. Legend has it that the Mughal emperor, Akbar came here to the saint in the 16th century in quest of a boon for an heir and the saint obliged.

The Urs or annual pilgrimage of the devout is celebrated each May at the Dargah with millions of pilgrims arriving in Ajmer to pay homage. Lengthy queues of several kilometres snake their way past the tomb at the shrine while outside the Dargah precincts, two massive cauldrons cook sweet rice garnished with dry fruits and condiments to be served as ‘tabarukh’ or sanctified food. Within the dargah lies a mosque, built by the Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan. Like all of Shah Jahan’s buildings, the mosque too, is an architectural marvel - a magnificent building in white marble with a long and narrow courtyard for the faithful to pray in, richly embellished with ornate calligraphic inscriptions, delicate carvings and detailed trelliswork.


Although Ajmer does not have an airport of its own, there is an airport at Jaipur (130 km away), from where regular buses and taxis come to Ajmer.

Ajmer is very well linked by train; there are frequent (in many cases daily) trains to and from the city to other destinations in India, including Delhi, Mumbai and Jaipur. Delhi is connected to Ajmer by the fast Shatabdi Express, easily the quickest and most comfortable way of getting to Ajmer.

A good national and state highway network links Ajmer to other parts of Rajasthan and many important cities in India. Hired transport is easily available, be it cars, jeeps, minibuses or MUVs and almost all come with experienced drivers. State and interstate roadways buses, RTDC conducted tours and coaches connect Ajmer to most important cities in the region, including Ahmedabad, Jaipur, Udaipur, Jodhpur, Bikaner, Mt. Abu, Jaisalmer, Mumbai and Delhi.

A Tiger Trail in Ranthambore

Ranthambore is lovely place in Rajasthan that is situated at a distance of 180 kilometers from the capital city, Jaipur. It is a national park, sanctuary and a site that was declared as one of the Project Tiger reserves in the 1970s by the Government of India. The place is categorically famous for its Tiger count and also happens to be home to some of the most gorgeous and healthy tigers in India. The beasts can be easily spotted during day time. The months of November and May, when the forests are dry, is the best time when Tigers are visible throughout the day.

Following a Tiger Trail in Ranthambore can be very exciting. One needs to be cautious, for irritating a Tiger would invite trouble. Wherever a Tiger goes, the animal always leaves traces or paw marks behind. You can pretend to be Indianan Jones and follow the trail. If the climate is moist, the trail becomes easier to follow and the footprints would be wet and very clear. You need to be armored well before you take up a trail as you run the risk of being attacked. Some of the accessories you would need while following the trail are a solid net, rifle with magazines and a harpoon in case hunting is allowed and you feel like doing it.

The trails are very exciting. Tigers often have this habit of changing their routes constantly. They have to be tracked or followed with a lot of precision. The trace becomes more intriguing and exhilarating as you have to be very agile. The tiger moves very quickly and within no time will vanish if you do not keep pace with it. Go to Ranthambore and follow a Tiger Trail. You can fancy yourself as 007, as someone on a hot trail left behind by a notorious assassin.