Happy Navratri 2020 Durga Puja Festival - Why We Should Be Alert

Navratri 2020 and Durga Puja

Happy Navratri to all of you in advance. Navratri is one of the most auspicious festivals of Hindus, occurs in Autumn. It is a celebration of 9 nights and 10 days. 

Sharadiya Navratri 2020 is starting from 17th October. This festival is about worshipping Goddess Durga's various avatars and each day has a specific colour with their unique significance. Navratri 2020 is ending on 26th October. 

Days(2020)          Colours and Significance

17th October         Grey - Destroying the evil
18th October         Orange - Knowledge,tranquility
19th October         White - Purity
20th October        Red - Anger and Auspiciousness
21st October         Royal Blue - Divine energy
22nd October       Yellow - Joy
23rd October        Green - Mother nature
24th October        Peacock green - To fulfil all wishes
25th October        Purple - Stands for ambition

The last five days of Navratri are famous as Durga Puja among Bengali culture and tradition. Being a Bengali I know what it exactly feels during this festival. 

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Sasthi, Saptami, Astami, Nabami and Dashami - these five days are very special as Durga puja is the biggest and one of the most auspicious festivals of Bengali people. And in any country of the world where there are bengalis there will be this celebration for sure. Main theme of both the celebrations is destruction of evil power and victory of good.

India is full of festivals. They are not only about rituals....they complete our existence as an Indian. The happiness,joy, warmth of love we share during a celebration is incomparable. Every festival is a pillar of hope to have a fresh start wiping out all our disappointments, misunderstandings and helping us to stand together. Festivals are the soul of India. Every celebration tells a story if you have the patience to hear. Just as a spoonful can identify a full dish, a festival has the true essence of our country. It's heart-wrenching to say that we shouldn't celebrate Puja this year. But we are helpless this time. Death is knocking at the door and nothing is more important than life. 

Coronavirus and Festivals : 

• Speaking of this year we are only six days away to celebrate this festival which means this year it's happening from 22nd to 26th October. 
• And along with this one thing we need to keep in mind very clearly that Coronavirus is also spreading on a massive quantity day by day. 
• As of today's Coronavirus live update India has a total of 73.07 lakh COVID-19 cases and more shocking news is 67,735 new cases have been reported just in one day in India(Check Coronavirus Update here). 
• So, now you know how this puja is going to be. Just as we were ignoring the lockdown situation in March, because of these upcoming festivals - be it Navratri or Durga puja, we are once again doing the same thing. 
• People are actually going shopping just as normal times. You can argue that I am going with a mask and sanitizer but when thousands of people are gathering in a place forgetting social distance, the chance of getting exposed to the virus just gets extremely higher. 
• It's okay to do shopping but we can do it online right ? But sadly enough most of the people are not aware of this. Is shopping necessary more than our life ?
• Shopping malls, restaurants etc. are maintaining safety measures as good as they can. They cannot remain close forever. Everything is open now but that doesn't mean we need to go everywhere regardless of necessity.

Photo from Pixabay

Things we should be alert about :

• These two festivals signifies our culture and tradition. The day it ends we start counting for the upcoming year but this year, 2020 is totally different as we have an unexpected invisible character with us almost throughout the year and till now we don't have the antidote. 
• Think of that family who has lost one or more members because of this pandemic. It's 'Life' we are talking about. A momentary happiness of a pandal visit can snatch away the peace of our family for lifetime.

Total death toll in India due to this pandemic is 1,12,144 and still counting. This should be more than enough as a cause of not celebrating this puja as normal times. This time nobody can help you if you cannot help yourself and all you need to do is to avoid the crowd and stay at home. Think what can be done not going out. Celebrate everyday with something new and exciting but staying at home.
If we really want to see our near and dear ones happy this is what we should do. If we can overcome this phase there are more pujas to come. Let life win.

Stay home, stay safe.

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