Happy Navratri / Dusshera!

Dear All,

Hundekar family wishes one and all a very happy Navratri / Dusshera for a prosperous and peaceful celebration.

It's exactly five years ago, I celebrated this festival in Wales, U.K and I was travelling nearby countries in Great Britain as a Rotary Ambassador. I still feel that this was yesterday and the warm moments i spent with British and Welsh citizens experiencing Royal culture, is still lingering in my mind.

Bengaluru had heavy rains in 2005 throughout the year almost like Chiranpunji in Assam and it has repeated similarly in 2010 though not the heavy pour like in 2005!

NAVRATRI FESTIVAL

9th Day  : AYUDHA PUJA Celebrations.

 

The festival falls on the ninth day or Navami of the bright half of Moon's cycle of 15 days (as per Almanac) in the month of September/October, and is popularly a part of the Dasara or Navaratri or Durga Puja or Golu festival. On the ninth day of the Dasara festival, weapons and tools are worshipped. In Karnataka, the celebration is for killing of the demon king Mahishasura by goddess Chamundeshwari. After slaying of the demon king, the weapons were kept out for worship.

The principal Shakti goddesses worshipped during the Ayudha puja are Saraswati (the Goddess of wisdom, arts and literature), Lakshmi (the goddess of wealth) and Parvati (the divine mother), apart from various types of equipment; it is on this occasion when weapons are worshipped by soldiers and tools are revered by artisans. The Puja is considered a meaningful custom, which focuses specific attention to one’s profession and its related tools and connotes that a divine force is working behind it to perform well and for getting the proper reward.

In Karnataka, the erstwhile Mysore state of the Maharajas of Mysore, the ancient Dasara festival started as a family tradition within the precincts of the palace. The royal family perform the Ayudha Pooja as a part of the Dasara, inside the palace grounds. The rituals observed are first to worship the weapons on the Mahanavami day (9th day), followed by “Kusumananda” – the tradition of breaking a pumpkin in the palace grounds. After this, weapons are carried in a golden palanquin to the Bhuvaneshwari temple for worship. The tradition of the festival is traced to the Vijayanagara Empire (1336 A.D. to 1565 A.D.), when it became a Naada Habba (or people's festival). Raja Wodeyar I (1578–1617) who was viceroy to the Vijayanagar ruler, with his seat of power in Mysore, reintroduced the Vijayanagar practice of celebrating the Dasara festival, in 1610 A.D. He set rules on how to celebrate the Navarathri with devotion and grandeur. After a gala nine days of durbar, the Maharaja performs a pooja in a temple in the palace precincts, which is followed by a grand procession through the main thoroufares of the Mysore city to the Bannimantap on a caparisoned elephant. The Bannimantap is the place where the Maharaja worships the traditional Shami or banni tree (Prosopis spicigera); the legend of this tree is traced to the Mahabharat legend of Arjuna (where he had hidden his weapons of war). The significance of the Shami tree worship is to seek blessings of the tree (where Lord Rama is also said to have worshipped) for success in the desired avocations (including war campaigns).^[

10TH DAY : VIJAYADASHAMI CELEBRATIONS!

Vijayadashami is celebrated on the tenth day of the Hindu autumn lunar month of Ashvin, or Ashwayuja which falls in September or October of the Western calendar, from the Shukla Paksha Pratipada, or the day after the new moon which falls in Bhadrapada, to the Dashami, or the tenth day of Ashvin. It is the culmination of the 10-day annual Navaratri.

In India, the harvest season begins at this time and so the Mother Goddess is invoked to start the new harvest season and reactivate the vigor and fertility of the soil. This is done through religious performances and rituals which are thought to invoke cosmic forces that rejuvenate the soil.

Chatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, the founder of the Hindawi (Hindu) Swarajya - Maratha Empire worshipped Lord Shiva and the goddess Durga in her Bhawani form before engaging in military expeditions. The goddess Bhavani had blessed Shivaji Maharaj with her sword, "Bhavani Talwar" on this day.Dasha-Hara is also Vishwakarma Divas - the National Labor Day of India. Veda Vyasa is considered the foremost guru and Vijayadashami is also celebrated as Vyasa puja. Shastra pooja, or the worship of the weapon Shastra/Astra used by Goddess Durga, are worshipped on this day.

Dasha-Hara is the festival of Victory of Good over Evil.