There have been a lot of accounts about Navarathi on the internet, from our grandmothers and the scriptures. In all honesty, there are no fast and hard rules set on stone to explain the hows and whys – I simply have to sit with my father at home over a cup of late night chai and hold a healthy debate about gods and demons.
The essence of these nine nights lies in a journey of penance and celebration towards the defeat of evil on the tenth. Some of us believe that the nine days are segregated into sets of three for the trinity of goddesses – Mahalakshmi, Saraswathi and Parashakthi – whereas others believe that nine different incarnations of Durga take place over these nine nights. None of us are wrong.
The first day is dedicated to the worship of Goddess Parvati. Born to Parvatha Raja, the king of the mountains, Parvati was a shy girl-next-door who was vying for the attention of the most eligible bachelor in the Himalayas ; Lord Shiva himself.
Unbeknownst to some, Parvati was the “version two-point-zero” of Princess Dakshayini, who jumped to her death in a fire during her father’s special yagna. Legend has it that Dakshaiyini married Shiva against King Daksha’s wishes. (Which father would want his loving daughter to marry an ash-faced hermit who had a drug problem ?) The separation from his daughter caused a sour rift between Shiva and Daksha, so the bitter King set out to organise a yagna party and invited the whole world but not one invite was extended to the Himalayan threshold. (intense background music plays here)
Dakshaiyini was hurt and furious – she was ready to leave to her father’s house to demand an explanation but her husband stopped her. Even then, her anger and the subtle love for her father broke through Shiva’s stern restrictions that he exasperatedly let her go. Dakshaiyini however, was rudely welcomed by her father and thoroughly embarrassed that she eventually chose to end her life by immolating herself in the yagna flames.
An enraged Shiva, after the calamity of his wife’s death, settled back into the Himalayas – that was when the rebirth of Dakshaiyini occured in the form of Parvati. And well, the story then starts – the union of Parvathi and Shiva and the birth of their two boys which eventually completed the Himalayan family of four.
And, that’s that for the first day ! I hope everyone’s had a fun first night of the nine and possibly a little more enlightened after this post – I tried my best to keep it short but I also couldn’t help being quirky. Remember, if we know of a feisty Durga, we definitely know a bold Parvati too.
File Photo : Upasana Govindarajan (Pen and Pencil).
