There is a festive mood in the air when the festival of Navratri is celebrated. People not only clad themselves in new clothes, they also worship the different forms of the goddess. For each of these nine days, she is revered as Durga, Bhadrakali, Amba, Annapurna, Sarvamangala, Bhairavi, Chandika, Lalita and Bhavani, all of them being different forms of the Goddess Durga. Fasts are observed, prayers are told and the blessing of the Goddess is sought. Whatever is offered to the goddess is later eaten by the worshippers as Prasad. It is a time of celebration as well as a time when the followers pray and hope that they will be blesses with success, wealth and relieved from all sorts of evil.

Navaratri is the longest Hindu festival celebrated all over India for nine consecutive nights in praise of Lord Rama (Hero of the Epic Ramayana) and Goddess Durga from September end to early October. Continuous chanting from the great epic 'Ramayana', along with evening performances from the episodes of his life are held for nine days.

On the 10th day falls Vijayadashami or Dussehra. This celebration in honour of the goddess, the mother of the world, begins on the first day of Ashvin, and goes on for nine days. The goddess is the personification of Power, or “Shakti”. She is known by many names: “Kali”, “Laxmi”, “Sarasvati”, “Chandi-ka”, “Durga”, “Bhavani”, “Ambika”, “Ashtabhuja” (eight hands). Her main task is to punish the wicked. She is engaged in war, and weapons are in her hands (four, eight, eighteen...) She is sitting on a lion. Her weapons are the “shul” (pike), “chakra” (wheel), “parshu” (axe) and “talvar” (sword). Kali is known as “Mahisha-surmardini”, the slayer of the demon Mahishasur. The fight against the demon begins on the first day until he is defeated on the ninth day.