IS DURGA PUJA AND NAVRATRI SAME?

Has this question ever come to your mind also? I do not comprehend much about your mind however I can wager that this question may also have came to your thought too and this question is natural to everyone. Many people assume that Durga Puja and Navratri are same however I will inform you about Durga Puja and Navratri both. And after that I hope that you will understand that they are same or not. 

NAVRATRI

Firstly if we talk about Navratri then it is a Hindu festival that spans nine nights (and ten days) and is celebrated each and every year in the autumn. It is determined for distinctive motives and celebrated in a different way in different parts of the Indian cultural sphere. Theoretically, there are four seasonal Navaratri. However, in practice, it is the post-monsoon autumn festival referred to as Sharada Navaratri that is the most observed in the honor of the divine feminine Devi (Durga). The pageant is celebrated in the bright ½ of the Hindu calendar month Ashvin, which commonly falls in the Gergorian months of September and October. 

In the eastern and northeastern states of India, the Durga Puja is synonymous with Navaratri, whereby goddess Durga battles and emerges victorious over the buffalo demon to assist restoration of Dharma. In the northern and western states, the pageant is synonymous with "Dussehra" that celebrates the warfare and victory of god Rama over the demon king Ravana.In southern states, the victory of specific goddesses, of Rama or Saraswati is celebrated. In all cases, the frequent theme is the war and victory of Good over Evil based totally on a regionally well-known epic or legend such as the Ramayana or the Devi Mahatmya. 

Lanka Dahan

The celebrations of Navratri include stage decorations, recital of the legend, enacting of the story, and chanting of the scriptures of Hinduism.The 9 days are additionally a foremost crop season cultural event, such as competitive graph and staging of pandals, a family visit to these pandals and the public celebration of classical and people dances of Hindu culture. On the last day, called the Vijayadashami or Dussehra, the statues are either immersed in a water physique such as river and ocean, or however the statue symbolising the evil is burnt with fireworks marking evil's destruction which is often called "Lanka Dahan" The festival additionally begins the preparation for one of the most vital and broadly celebrated holidays, Diwali, the festival of lights, which is celebrated twenty days after the Vijayadashami or Dussehra or Dashami 

DURGA PUJA

Durga Puja, additionally referred to as Durgotsava, is an annual cloud Hindu festival originating in the Indian subcontinent which reveres and pays homage to the Hindu goddess, Durga.It is particularly famous in the Indian states of West Bengal, Assam, Odisha, Tripura and the country of Bangladesh, and the diaspora from this region, and additionally in Nepal,at this place it is celebrated as Dashain. The festival is discovered in the Indian calendar month of Ashwin, which corresponds to the months of September–October in the Gregorian calendar,and is a ten-day festival,of which the ultimate five are of significance.The puja is performed in homes and in the public, the latter offering brief stage and structural decorations (known as pandals). The festival is also marked via scripture recitations, overall performance arts, revelry, gift giving, family visits, feasting, and public processions.Durga puja is an important pageant in the Shaktism lifestyle of Hinduism.

A pandal of Durga Puja in Kolkata

As per Hindu scriptures, the pageant marks the victory of goddess Durga in her hostilities against the shape-shifting asura, Mahishasura.Thus, the pageant epitomises the victory of correct over evil, even though it is also in phase a harvest festival celebrating the goddess as the motherly electricity behind all of existence and creation.Durga puja coincides with Navaratri and Dussehra celebrations located by means of different traditions of Hinduism, in which the Ram lila dance-drama is enacted, celebrating the victory of Rama against Ravana, and effigies of Ravana are burnt.

Ram Leela

Though the major goddess revered for the duration of Durga puja is Durga, the celebrations additionally include other most important deities of Hinduism such as Lakshmi (the goddess of wealth, prosperity and the full incarnation of Adi Shakti Mahalakshmi), Saraswati (the goddess of knowledge and music), Ganesha (the god of excellent beginnings), and Kartikeya (the god of war). In Bengali and Odia traditions, these deities are considered to be Durga's teens and Durga puja is believed to commemorate Durga's go to to her natal domestic with her children.The pageant is preceded by using Mahalaya, which is believed to mark the start of Durga's trip to her natal home. Primary celebrations start on the sixth day (Shasthi), on which the goddess is welcomed with rituals.The festival ends on the tenth day (Vijaya dashami), when devotees embark on a procession carrying the worshipped clay sculpture-idols to a river, or different water body, and immerse them, symbolic of her return to the divine cosmos and her marital home with Shiva in Kailash.Regional and community variations in party of the festival and rituals observed exist. 

MAJOR DIFFERENCES BETWEEN DURGA PUJA AND NAVRATRI

After reading this you can also suppose that what is difference between Durga Puja and Navratri as they are nearly same. If you suppose that then please go through the major differences between Durga Puja and Navratri.

1. Navratri is celebrated for a period of nine days, accompanied by way of Dussehra. On the other hand, Durga Puja is celebrated for a length of 10 days.

2. Navratri revolves round worshipping Goddess Durga in her 9 types and it ends with a celebration of Lord Ram’s victory over Ravana. Durga Puja is celebrated as the victory of Goddess Durga over the demon Mahishasur.

3. While Navrati is a period of fasting where devotees do not consume eggs, meat, onion and garlic throughout the nine-days, where as Durga Puja is a time when Bengalis indulge in a plethora of non-vegetarian delicacies. Celebrated by using Bengalis at large, Durga Puja is the time to enjoy, giggle and have genuine Bengali cuisine.

4. The first day of Durga Puja is Mahalaya, a day when the combat between Durga and Mahishasura begins. On the other hand, Navratri starts with worshipping Shailputri, the first avatar of Goddess Durga.

5. Durga Puja ends with Sindoor Khela (vermillion game), the place married girls put sindoor on each other, earlier than the immersion of idol. After immersion of idols, people wish Vijayadashami to one another. On the different hand, Navratri ends with Dussehra, which marks the cease of Ramlila and recollects Lord Ram’s victory over Ravan.

So, what do you think Durga Puja and Navratri are same or not? Answer in comment box.👇