Sharadiya Navratri of Aaso begins today in Gujarat

One of the major festivals of Gujarat Navratri begins today on Thursday- 7th October and it will end on next Thursday on 14th October.

The Navratri, also known as Sharad Navratri will begin today on Aaso Sud Ekam and it will be of 8 days instead of the standard duration of 9 days. It is because the Teej and Chauth fall on the same day on Saturday on 9th October due to the ‘Kshaya’ of Chauth, as per Gujarati calendar. The festival of Dussehra will be on Aaso Sud dasham on 15th October.

Major temples of Shakti including Mahakali temple in Pavagadh, Chamunda temple at Chotila, Bahuchar temple in Bechraji, Ambaji temple in Ambaji are open this year during Navratri contrary to previous year when they were shut for pilgrims due to pandemic situation.

Last year, Navratri was observed from 17th to 25th October. However, the festivities involving public gatherings such as playing Garba and other functions were banned due to Covid-19 pandemic.

The Government of Gujarat has this year relaxed the night curfew by one hour in eight cities namely Ahmedabad, Surat, Vadodara, Rajkot, Jamnagar, Bhavnagar, Junagadh and Gandhinagar. State government has also allowed organizing garba in housing societies and streets with a limit of 400 people at such gatherings. However, the commercial organisation of Garba is not allowed by the state government.

Navratri is a Hindu festival dedicated to worship the nine ‘swaroop’ (incarnations) of goddess Durga and each night of the festival is dedicated to one swaroop of the goddess Durga. It is one of the major festivals of Gujarat which includes Garba and raas, Puja, Aarti, prayers, fasting and more. It is also celebrated in other states of the county with different types of festivities and rituals.

Large number of devotees observe fast during Navratri. Prime Minister Narendrabhai Modi who hails from Gujarat, also observes fast during nine days of Navratri. DeshGujarat