Rituals & Slokas For Durga Pooja/Navratri Celebration [Part 1]

 The month of October 2011 is a golden chance for every Hindu to rejuvenate their life thanks to the occurrence of Navratri and Diwali. This is the first post in a 3 part series of posts on how to perform ritual pooja during Durga pooja/Navratri. You can use these rituals to be showered with Durga devi’s blessings.

The Navratri festival is widely celebrated throughout India as a way of showing gratitude to Devi for taking the incarnation of Durga. Parvathi devi manifested as Durga to annihilate Mahishasura. Though most people observe fasts during all the 9 days of navratri, the final three days are the most significant.  In this post we shall look at a few things to do on the 7^th day of navratri.

After having bath in the evening (around sunset time), it is important to light a lamp in front of a photo of Devi durga. It is preferred to keep the lamp lit till the ninth day, hence make appropriate arrangements of thread and oil.

Then place a piece of wood or a little table in front of the photo. Keep a piece of cloth on the table.

Now we have to place all items related to our profession/education on this piece of cloth. These items include any textbooks, instruments, tools, machines, etc. that we may use in our daily life. This can also include paper, pens and devotional books.  Now tie this piece of cloth such that the items are fully covered.

Now we shall start the puja process. 

It is part of Hindu practice to always pay respect to lord Ganesha and guru before any ritual. Firstly invoke Lord Ganesha using the following sloka, since he is the remover of all obstacles and is in charge of wisdom. If any flowers are available then chant the sloka while holding a flower in your right hand. After the sloka, place the flower on the books.

Vakratunda mahakaya

Kodi soorya samaprabha

Nirvighnam kurume deva

Sarvakaryesht sarvadha

Now we have to pay our respect to Lord Dakshinamoorthy, the universal guru. Lord dakshinamoorthy is another incarnation of Lord Shiva as the epitome of all knowledge. Use the following sloka to invoke lord Dakshinamoorthy and then place a flower on the books.

Gurur Brahma, Gurur Vishnu

Gurur Devo Maheswara

Guru sakshath parabrahma

Tasme Shri Dakshinamoorthaye namah

The puja of Durga devi should start with a simple sloka to meditate and invoke her infinite power. Place a few flowers on the cloth after chanting the following sloka 7 times.

Sarava mangala maangalye

Shive sarvartha saadhike

Sharannye trayambake gowri

Narayani namosthuthe

It is important to pray to Devi Durga with utmost sincerity during the pooja. There is no need to pray for any specific need or wish, since the presence of Devi Durga will remove all misfortune and fulfil all your wishes. It is beneficial to chant powerful durga devi slokas to please devi and get her blessings. There are such powerful slokas in a previous post on this blog - Selected Durga Slokas

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Rituals & Slokas For Durga Pooja/Navratri Celebration [Part 2]

Rituals & Slokas For Durga Pooja/Navratri Celebration [Part 3]

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