Navratri as per meaning signifies nine nights which are dedicated to the Divine Mother or Shakti. Story behind. The mighty demon Mahishasura worships Lord Shiva and obtained the power of eternity. He used this power in the wrong way and started killing and harassing innocent people. And he wins the sever worlds. Scared by his power all the GODS from the seven worlds go to Lord Shiva and plead to tame the demon. Then the Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva united their supreme powers and created a divine being called shakti or Durga the warrior Goddess. Mahishasura should win over her in duel.

Nine different manifestations of Durga are worshipped during Navratri they are

Durga :goddess beyond reach

Bhadrakali the auspicious power of time

Amba or Jagdamba: mother of the world

Annapurna: giver of food and plenty

Sarvamangala: auspicious goddess

Bhairavi: terrible, fearful, power of death

Chandika or Handi: violent, wrathful, furious

Lalita: playful

Bhavani: giver of existence.

In south India we celebrate by have a array of dolls in stairs starting from 3-21. We have all forms of God arranged neatly in these stairs; some of us keep other dolls arranged in the floor to tell a story.

We have a lot of myths to celebrate Navarathri. But I feel the foremost is, the new generation has made the presence of God quite less in their lives. We don’t worship God as much our ancestors do. We rarely get to hear about our mythology and the great morals they have to offer. I feel the best reason is when we arrange these dolls we get to know their histories.

My Mom is an ardent devotee of Lord Shiva since last 4 years we have themed our kolu, and each year it’s a life history of the main 63 devotees of Lord Shiva. Keeping in mind to spreading their contributions to this world and telling people their rich lives. This year we have kept Sundarar.