Dandiya has become more or less a fusion of Indian traditional folk dance and western hip-hop style and passion. As Dandiya, the dance of Navratri, is very popular in Hyderabad, JADE is presenting the biggest Dandiya bash in 2009 Navratri season at Marriot Convention Centre on September 27th.

• For passes contact: 64632208, 9010544344, 9985414456, 9052265150, 9948699924
• Price: Per head in the denomination of – Rs. 1000, Rs. 1500, and Rs. 3000
• Venue: Marriott Convention Centre
• Tank Bund Road, Opposite. Hussain Sagar Lake, Hyderabad
• Phone number: 040 – 27522999
• Date: Sunday, Sep 27
• Time: 7:00 PM Onwards

Durgashtami, also known as Mahashtami or Virashtami, is the most important day in Durga Navratri and Durga Puja. Durgashtami 2009 date is September 26. On this day, Kumari Puja and Suhasini Puja are performed. In Bengal, Sandhi Puja is observed at the conjunction Durgashtami and Maha Navami days.

Durgashtami 2009 is very significant as it falls on Moola Nakshatram day. Moola Nakshatram arrives at 3.59 in the evening on 25^th September (Maha Saptami) and moves on at 6’o clock in the evening on 26^th September (Durgashtami). As Moola Nakshtram is the birth star of the Mother Goddess, this Navratri Puja is most auspicious as per Hindu beliefs. According to Jyotish, it may mark some good results for Hindus and Hindu religion. In 2010, Moola Nakshatram will be coinciding with Maha Sashti or Durga Shashti. On this day Durga Puja 2010 will start in Bengal.

On Durgashtami, Bathukamma Panduga, the biggest traditional festival, is celebrated in Telangana region of Andhra Pradesh. On Moola Nakshtram day, Goddess Kanaka Durga is decorated and worshipped in Maha Saraswati Devi alankaram. For Saraswati Puja, Moola Nakshatram is the main aspect. On this day, Saraswati Puja starts all over India.

In Basara Gnana Saraswati Devi Temple, Adilabad district of Andhra Pradesh, Aksharabhyasam, also known as Vidyarambham is the main event on Moola Nakshtra yuktha Saraswati Puja.

Kumari Puja was celebrated with much gusto and gaiety in Kamakhya Devi temple of Assam state. Kamakhya temple is one of the Astadasha Shakti Peeth temples (18 prominent temples of Goddess Shakti). Kumari Puja is a most celebrated event in Durga Navratri in Kamakhya temple.

ThaIndian writes:

• Hundreds of devotees thronged revered Kamakhya temple in Assam state on 24^th September 2009, Thursday, for Kumari Puja organised during Hindu festival of Navratri, in which young girls are worshipped. Kumari Puja is held at the Kamakhya temple every year prior to Durga Puja celebrations that began on Saturday and end on “Navami” (the ninth day of the Navratri festival). The tradition is as old as that of the origin of Kamakhya temple.
• It is believed that the Goddess, although omnipresent, surely exists in the virgin. Reverence to female children as goddesses is an age-old custom of India. The Kamakhya temple situated in Guwahati, main city of Assam, on the banks of river Brahmaputra, is dedicated to goddess Kamakhya, consort of Shiva, Hindu God of destruction.
• It is believed that at Kamakhya, the Goddess appears in the form of a virgin. So, some of the pilgrims worship the living virgin as Goddess in this temple. Worship of a living woman as Goddess is of purely Tantric origin. It is stated that virgin worship is nothing but Shakti worship. The virgin worship is performed along with Durga, Kali and other Mahavidyas. The salutation mantra of virgin worship is the same as vidya’s salutation mantra. Sometimes, it is also seen that the virgin is fed and clad and saluted without any mantra. The tantrics believe that the virgin is the Goddess incarnate.

Last and the final day of Durga Navratri is Vijaya Dashami or Dasara. In 2009, Vijaya Dashami day is on September 28^th. Goddess Rajarajeshwari Devi is worshipped on this day. Mother Goddess is decorated and worshipped in the form or alankaram of Raja Rajeshwari Devi in South Indian temples especially Vijayawada Kanaka Durga temple.

Rajarajeshwari holds a noose in her   hand. The noose tells us about the power she has on the whole universe which she can control by her determination and love. The goad is the indication for power of knowledge. The sugarcane stem draws out the mind principle of man. The five flowered arrows (Pushpa Bana) indicate the five senses – sound, touch, form, taste and smell.

Goddess Rajarajeshwari has three manifestations or forms or aspects – Sthula Shareera (physical aspect), Sukshma Sharira (astral form) and archetypal form of the macrocosm and microcosmic creation.

Related Posts:

Appearance and Iconography of Goddess Raja Rajeshwari Devi

Vijaya Dashami 2009

Vijayawada Kanaka Durga Navaratri 2009

Theppotsavam – the final ritual of Navaratri on Vijaya Dashami or Dasara

Durga Puja or Navratri dedicated to Goddess Shakti is the auspicious time for Tantrik (exorcists) to perform puja to Tantrik devatas. In a crematorium in Tarapeeth of West Bengal some Tantrik performed Tantra pujas to the Goddess during Navratri.

Times of India reports:

• Devotees and ‘tantriks’ (exorcists) offered prayers at a crematorium at Tarapeeth in West Bengal during the ongoing nine-day Navratri festival dedicated to the Goddess Durga.
• Tantriks performed prayers and recited verses seeking ‘Masan Sidhi’ (divine powers), and said that praying at a crematorium is a different experience compared to praying at a temple. “In this place people have been cremated. It is their ’samadhi’. It is completely different from a temple. There is lot of difference between the two. The ’sidhi’ (ritual to seek divine powers) is highest of all,” said Mahesh Ojha, an exorcist.
•  According to traditional lore, on the fourth day of Navratri, Kharbhushan (a demon) was killed, while Goddess Kali manifests herself on the same day. On the fourth, fifth and sixth days, Goddess Kali walks ahead as the symbol of divine power. Hindus believe that the Goddess Durga descends on earth during Navratri to rid it of demons and to bless her devotees. Navratri stands for the nine manifestations of Goddess Durga.