write an article women must be given honour
Answers
Explanation:
Recently, a young couple dear to me observed the full Spring-equinox Navaratri including the day at the end which is celebrated as Kanya Puja (‘worship of girls’). Add the Autumn-equinox Navaratri and two smaller ones in between and we have a four-fold ritual celebration, complicated further by the infinite regional and local variations on the theme in India and Nepal and among expatriate Hindus.
It would be beyond my expertise to try to delve into all things under this rubric, but I want to dwell on one central feature of the Navratri rituals: they are preeminently female-focussed. While male deities can be included, the main purpose of the festival is to celebrate the principle of Shakti, the cosmic power of creation, nurturance, and preservation manifested in the female form. Durga as the power that protects the innocent and destroys evil; Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth; and Saraswati, the goddess of learning, wisdom, music and the fine arts, are all different aspects of that cosmic power. Propitiating that power with ritual honor is at the heart of the long celebration.
When nine pre-pubescent girls, believed to embody the purest essence of those virtues, are honoured on the final day, Hindus show reverence to their potential as mothers, nurturers, protectors, and guides to the children of either sex so they grow up to be strong and wise and develop their talents to the fullest extent. This honour to the chosen girls goes to the extent of adults washing their feet with their own hands and bowing to them, indicating that the supreme female deity of the cosmos is present in their bodies and souls.