Informative

Everything You Need to Know About the Shardiya Navratri Puja 2023

Worship of Maa Durga’s Nine forms begins in five days and we begin with welcoming the Divine Mother home on day one. These nine nights of Divine Consciousness are extremely important in the journey of a seeker. Remember the Ashadha Gupta Navratri we celebrated in June? That was to prepare for the Shardiya Navratri. It is believed that if a seeker successfully performs Sadhana with pure intentions during these nine nights, they can reach higher levels of spirituality and be blessed by the divinities to achieve spiritual powers. In this blog, we discuss how you can welcome the Divine Mother, perform Her worship, how to host her during these nine days, along with the dos and don’ts. 

Ghatasthapana – 

Ghatasthapana is the most important ritual of the Nine Day festival of Navratri. The ‘Sthapana’ meaning establishment of a ‘Kalash’ (pot) is done to invoke Divine Mother Durga and appeal to Her to accept and fulfill our prayers. Here’s how you do it – 

1. Decide the direction you’d like to place the ‘Kalash’ in. The most preferable direction is the North-East corner of the house. Or, you can place it near your altar. 

2. Now, place a pan on a wooden plank and spread garden mud on the pan. Now, put seven different grains evenly on the surface. The seven grains are barley, sesame, rice, mung bean or green gram, foxtail millet, chickpea, and wheat. Post this, cover the grains with another layer of mud and sprinkle water on them. The reason behind putting grains in mud is because grains represent life and mud and water represent a lifeline. During the nine days, the grains shall germinate and grow into tiny sprouts. This symbolizes prosperity.

3. Next, take a copper, brass, bronze, or silver pot. (As shown in the image) Apply Turmeric and Kumkum on it. Then fill it with water, a few grains of rice, and a coin. Now, put mango leaves inside the Kalash in such a way that the leaves face upward and spill over it. (As shown in the image) 

4. Next, place a coconut on the mouth of the Kalash. Now drape the coconut and the Kalash with a piece of fresh red cloth and garland it. Keep replacing the garland every day and offer fresh flowers to the Divine Mother. Now gently place the decorated Kalash in the center of the pan that has mud. Make sure you keep sprinkling water every day.

5. Next, light an earthen lamp with ghee. Offer Incense Sticks and Dhoop, Fruits, Paan (Betel Leaves), and Supari (Areca Nuts). Worship Divine Mother Durga and conclude the puja by singing the aarti. Puja has to be done every day and conclude by singing Aarti.

6. It is important to do the Ghatasthapana during the first one-third of the day in your country. 

The best time to perform Ghatasthapana is as below – 

India – October 15th Sunday

Timing –  11:44 AM to 12:30 PM

US – October 15th Sunday 

Timing – 8:43 AM to 10:50 AM  

Things to Note – The Ghee lamp would be placed on Maa’s right and your left and the oil lamp would be placed on Maa’s left and your right. 

Maa’s Bhog or the offerings need to be placed in front of Her. These consist of fruits, sweets, dry fruits, and little milk with saffron sprinkled in it. 

After the Puja, you can pick up the ‘Bhog’ that is sweets and the family members can eat it. In the evening when you do the Puja, you need to offer fresh sweets to Maa. The fruits will remain there for nine days. 

Make sure no members of the family consume non-veg, alcohol, or indulge in sexual activities during these nine days.

Make sure your home is neat and tidy and there is no dirt, clutter, leaking taps or mess to be found. 

Make sure that no one touches the altar or goes near the altar with dirty hands or mouth. 

Make sure your home is well ventilated and there’s no damp air or stagnant energy in the house. 

We hope this blog helped you understand how to welcome the Divine Mother and celebrate the nine days. 
Feel free to write to us at info@chamundaswamiji.com in case of any doubts or queries.