This afternoon a sudden urge to write and share whatever little I have been told and what I have read about the importance of Navratri,Saraswathi and Ayudha Poojai.
It is Navratri time,and as is usual with most women during Navratri,I am having busy and enjoyable days.This is the time when all the colourful silk sarees come out each year.
I have been here in Abudhabi the last few years and have been fortunate enough to be a part of a wonderful ladies group.
No doubts all of us do celebrate navratri in our homes as per our family tradition,chanting all the devi stotras etc,but it is certainly more effective when stotras are chanted in a group.That is exactly what we get here.We have nine days of chanting ,followed by a variety of prasadamms.It is indeed a feast to the eyes to see everyone in bright and beautiful sarees,jewellery,flowers and looking their best.
Every state has a unique way of celebrating these nine days dedicated to Devi,and all the nine forms of Devi are seen and worshipped during this period.
Here is little bit of the navratri celebrations in Tamil Nadu.
In Tamil Nadu Golu is an important part of the navratri festivities. On this occasion dolls, predominantly that of the Gods and Goddesses from Hindu Tradition are creatively and artistically arranged on a seven stepped wooden platform. Traditionally, 'marapachi' wooden dolls representing Vishnu&Lakshmi are also displayed together at a dominant location on the top step of the platform erected specially for the occasion. The number of steps decorated varies from house to house,depending on the display items,usually odd number of steps is how it is. By the side of the golu steps it is also very common to find a beautifullly decorated hill,or a pond with a temple alongside,all this left to the creativity and imagination of each one.Children all do pitch in their valuable contributions here,by displaying their lego creatios.I must of course not forget to mention here the variety of rangolis on display each day.A kalasam is also kept,which is very important.There are also households where a statue of devi is created and daily devi will be adorned and dressed up in a different alankaram.
On the 9th day (Navami day), Saraswathi puja is performed when special prayers are offered to goddess Saraswathi - the divine source of wisdom and enlightenment. Books and musical instruments are placed in the puja pedestal and worshipped. Also, tools are placed for the Ayudha puja. Even vehicles are washed and decorated, and puja performed for them on this occasion.
The past seven days have gone by quickly and tomorrow is Saraswathi Poojai and Ayudha Poojai.This is the day when as I mentioned above we pray to Saraswathi Maa to bless us with true knowledge and wisdom and help us grow from within and know ourselves and our true nature.
Saraswathi poojai for us is on navami(Some parts of India observe Moola nakshatra as saraswathi poojai)that is tomorrow.All the books and also instruments which we use are arranged before the poojai and worshipped.We are traditionally taught to see God in everything that we use in our day to day lives.
In our culture, from an early age, we are taught not to touch books or any paper with our feet. It is considered a violation of doing things the right way. Any book is a symbol of knowledge and therefore sacred. We immediately touch the trampled book or any educational object with our hands and keep them in our eyes as a mark of our apology. Why do we do this ?
We do this because we consider knowledge, very sacred and divine. For Hindus, Goddess Saraswathi is the Goddess of learning and we pray to her for academic as well as spiritual knowledge. We also believe that she bestows on us clarity of thought and nobility of ideas. We pray to her to gain knowledge, dispassion, devotion and prosperity. When we keep knowledge on a pedestal,it is of course not right to trample or stamp a paper which stands for Saraswathi.
On Saraswathi puja day, we keep all books in the prayer room, evoke Knowledge in the form of Saraswathi and do pooja.
The following prayer is chanted to her before starting our studies:
"Saraswathi namasthubhyam varadae kaamaroopinee
Vidhyaarambham karishyaami siddhir bhavathumae sadaa"
Meaning..I prostrate to you, Goddess Saraswathi. You give boons and fulfill our wishes.
I pray to you to grant my wishes when I start my studies.
Goddess Saraswathi presides over and protects every form of art. So, on this day, consecrated to Saraswathi, the musical instruments in the house are cleansed, placed on an altar and devotedly worshipped, these being the abode of this Goddess.
Yet another short and beautiful stotra on Saraswati chanted before starting our studies to achieve brilliance,knowledge and talent is as under:
Yaa daevee sthooyathae nithyam vibhudhair vaeda paaragaih
Saa mae vasathu jihvaagrae brahmaroopaa saraswathi
meaning:May Saraswathi, the Goddess of knowledge, who is ever praised by the wise, who have mastered the scriptures, who is the embodiment of the Vedas ( or the consort of Lord Brahma ), live on the tip of my tongue.
As is always true all our festivals have a deeper and also symbolic meaning around them. Here is the importance of Ayudha poojai with reference to mythology.
After the slaying of Mahishasura and other demons by Chamundeswari, there was no more use for her weapons. So the weapons were kept aside and worshipped. This Ayudha puja is being celebrated since ancient times. The importance of Ayudha Puja on this occasion may also be due to the fact that on the Vijayadasami day, Arjuna took back his weapons which he had hidden in a Vani tree(Shami tree) in order to lead a life in disguise for the promised period of exile.In some states specially in Maharashtra it is a very common practice to greet friends and relatives by exchanging a few of the leaves of the Vani tree(Shami tree).The Leaves are also called sona paan,symbolising and wishing victory in all the ventures one undertakes in the course of the year.
It is believed that one who begins or renovates his learning on the Vijayadasami day will secure a grand success as Arjuna did in Kurukshetra war.
All the implements used in our day to day life are placed before the Lord and worshipped. If one can make a conscious effort to see the divine in the tools and objects one uses each day, it will help one to see one's work as an offering to God. It will also help one to maintain constant remembrance of the divine. In our tradition it is customary for one to prostrate before the tools one will use before starting one's work each day,this is an expression of gratitude to God for helping one to fulfil one's duties.
It is also believed that anything started on Vijaydasami will find a very successful finish.In the early days children were first taught to write and read on Vijayadasami.,also popularly known as vidyaramabham.Even today in many houses on this day eveyone sits in front of the Poojai after a bath,first writes srirmajayam, then the alphabets on rice on a big plate which is specially readied for this purpose.Children sit on the lap of their parents and holding the parents hand are taught to write "Aum,Sriramajayam and then the alphabets.
Then everyone takes out their respective books and reads a few pages before getting into the routine of the day.
We pray to Saraswathi devi seeking her blessings so we may we grow every moment of our lives in wisdom and faith.
My special prayers to Saraswathi Maa on this auspicious occasion and may she be there with me and guide me always.Also pray that the coming year and the years ahead I do contribute more to my blog and use my time more constructively and usefully.
Jai Gurudev.....
Stay tuned......
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