या देवी सर्वभूतेषु शक्ति
रूपेण संस्थिता। नमस्तस्यै
नमस्तस्यै नमस्तस्यै नमो नम: |
Happy Vijayadashami to you and your family!! It's the end of Navratri and we have bid goodbye to durga maa for this year and yeah I also know it's not easy :(
So, here are some shots which I got from various parts of India, from raipur to bihar and from bhilai to Navagarh, as summary of Navratri 2021 with a strong message to convey. I hope you like it. Enjoy!! ✨
Goddess Durga symbolises the divine forces (positive energy)
known as divine shakti (feminine energy/ power) that is used against the
negative forces of evil and wickedness. She protects her devotees from evil
powers and safeguards them. It is believed that Goddess Durga is the combined
form of powers of Goddesses Lakshmi, Kali and Saraswati.
It is also believed that Goddess Durga was created by Lord
Vishnu as a warrior goddess to protect good people (devas) for fighting the
demon, Mahishasur. Her divine shakti contains the combined energies of all the
gods in the form of weapons and emblems (mudras).
Goddess Durga represents the power of the Supreme Being that
preserves moral order and righteousness in the creation. The Sanskrit word
durga means fort or a place that is protected and thus difficult to reach.
Durga, also called Divine Shakti, protects mankind from evil and misery by
destroying evil forces (negative energy and vices—arrogance, jealousy,
prejudice, hatred, anger, greed and selfishness).
Durga Puja
marks the victory of Goddess Durga over the buffalo demon Mahishasura. It
epitomizes the victory of good over evil. Maa Durga is depicted as a warrior
goddess, an epitome of pure love, courage, beauty, strength and knowledge. Maa Durga is often described as the influential diety, who won her
fight of good over evil, and ensured that the spirit of ‘righteousness’
prevails.
Just like Durga Maa, women in India are powerful, courageous and incredible. Every woman is Shakti (energy), Bhakti (devotion) and Mukti (Liberation), and should be treated as such.
Maa is a matriarchal (I hope you know the meaning.) goddess figure. And in today’s testing times,
women must embody the shakti to live a dignified life. French author Simone de
Beauvoir was right in saying that 'one is not born but rather becomes a woman'.
The honour and pride of being a woman are challenged each day —be it on roads,
at the workplace or at home.
Compare the eight arms of Goddess and the
graceful weapons in them with the woman of today or earlier. We will see that
in our society women have been burdened with multi-faceted duty and
responsibility and they have also discharged them with complete success,
strength and loyalty. It is clear that worshiping Goddess as the best symbol of
female identity will be rational not only from the religious point of view but
also from the social point of view.
There is a strange dichotomy that seems to exist across
India. While on the one hand we celebrate and venerate women role models, on
the other, in large parts of the country, patriarchy reigns. There is even an
undeniable preference and bias for the male child, with thousands of
unfortunate cases of female infanticide. Around a time when the country is
celebrating Goddess
Durga through Durga Puja and celebrations across India, perhaps it is
time we reminded ourselves of the true worth and potential of the girl child or the female.
It's no less than an irony of sort that the Indian culture which gives utmost importance to the Goddess, fails to show tolerance and respect towards women in the society. Every year we celebrate the festival of Navratri singing praises to the mighty Goddess Durga. We offer prayers before the Goddess of wealth Lakshmi, praying for prosperity; we seek knowledge from Goddess Saraswati but when it comes to the women in our lives, we seldom show the needed gratitude. A country like India where Goddesses are worshiped, women has no stand.
Since ages we have been talking about empowerment and safety of women. However, these are just talks. As the ongoing crimes against women are proof that our mindset is still the same and this hypocrisy is here to stay. No matter in which part of the country we go, crime against women echoes from every corner. Despite the various laws made to protect the dignity of women, they are still playing weak victims in the hands of some immoral bunch of people.
Today, in a country like India where MaaDurga is worshipped
and women form the backbone of the society, India is still fighting the
societal demons the crimes against women like rape, sex-selective abortion,
infanticide, dowry, domestic violence and child marriage. We worship our
goddesses but tend to forget to respect the spirit of those deities in our
girls and our women. A popular social media quote rightly goes, "A country
with the highest crime rates against women will now worship a woman for the
next nine days".
And I think that it is really well said because, on the days of Ashtami and Navami, everyone is searching for girls to worship them and seek the blessings of the goddess but if that same girl child will be born in their own family, they won't be as happy as in during worshipping them. And if a male child is born, then the whole family would be proud and happy as if something 'extraordinary' has happened. (Here, I am talking about some of the families, not all, so don't be offended 🙏 )
Things are truly miserable for women, but as we say; every cloud has a silver lining. We just have to find it. Bringing a change is possible provided we all make a cumulative effort for the same. This Navratri, while we gather to indulge in Garba Ras and Dandiya celebrating the magnificence of Goddess Durga and her different forms; let us enlighten our minds and heart with purity of thoughts. We must make an effort to spread awareness about women rights and equality. Every change begins with us, and if we aim at protecting the women around us then no one can dare to harm their sanctity. We don't need arms or ammunition to fight out these perverts. Raising your voice is enough to scare them away. Now is the time to change our mindset towards the females around us and treat them equally.
Don't just be a mute spectator to the injustice happening to a woman around. One voice can bring in many voices together. And once we use the power of standing united against the evil, it will have to perish.
May every woman invokes her inner Durga and Kali, to fight and win against these modern day's Mahishasuras.....
Really very thank you from the bottom of my heart to all who submitted the photos for the blog. ❤️
Curated and edited by : Kamya 🌺
Edited with : Lightroom ( Lr )
I hope this Navratri Special blog post not only gave you the darshans of Maa, from different parts of country but also helped to create some awareness and change in the mentality of some people.
May Goddess Durga show you the path to eternal peace and
prosperity. May she bless you with the strength to defeat the evils in your life!
Jai Mata Di ✨🙏🌺
