Navratri 2021: Date, Time, Vrat Significance Of Sharad Navratri, Colours For All Navratri Days

Navratri 2021: The season of festivals is upon us. The nation is now celebrating Sharad Navratri 2021. Navratri is one of India's most significant festivals. Each year the festival is celebrated with much fervour across parts of Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, Gujarat and Maharashtra. In Bengal, Bihar and Orissa, people celebrate Durga Puja around the same time. While they worship the same deity, some rituals may vary. This year Navratri started on 7th October 2021. The nine-day festival would end on 15th October 2021. In Navratri, devotees worship nine incarnations of Goddess Durga (Navdurga) each day of the festival. There are four Navratris in a year, only two of them Chaitra Navratri and Sharad Navratri are celebrated widely. People wake up early and worship the Goddess with many offerings like fruits, milk and dry fruits. Here are a few Navratri vrat recipes that you can prepare and relish during this nine-day festival. 

Significance Of Navratri And Navratri Vrat (Fasting)

It is believed that for these nine days the Goddess descends on earth to be among her devotees. Many devotees refrain from eating non-vegetarian food and consuming alcohol during Navratri. Some of these devotees also observe ritualistic Navratri fasts or vrat where they eat light, vegetarian Satvik food. Some also opt for a nirjala vrat. Nirjala vrat is where you do not even consume a drop of water for whole day.  It is not recommended for pregnant women, old people and children to be on such a strict fasting diet. In Navratri fasting, one is to avoid grains, cereal and non-vegetarian food. You can have all vegetables, fruits, milk products and sugar. You can also have pseudo-grains and pseudo-cereals like sabudana and buckwheat. Makhana is another very popular vrat ingredient you can include in your diet. 

(Also Read: Navratri Snacking: Myth And Reality)

On Navratri, people also indulge in folk dance and singing. In Gujarat, the tradition of garba dancing is immensely popular. People deck themselves in beautiful traditional clothes and gather together for garba. There are also some colours associated with each day of Navratri; a lot of people like to dress accordingly or incorporate the colour in some way in their accessories, or meals.

Navratri Dates 2021, Navdurga, Colours For Nine Days Of Sharad Navratri 2021:
 

(Also Read: Navratri 2021: 7 Vrat Recipes You Can Make In Under 30 Minutes)

Source: Drikpanchang.com

Here's wishing you all a Happy Navratri 2021!