Chaitra Navratri 2023: List Of All Navratri days, Ghatasthapana Muhurat & Rituals To Follow

Indians celebrate the Hindu tradition of Navratri lasts nine nights on the Indian subcontinent in the autumn. Traditionally, there are four seasonal Navratri. People celebrate the renowned Sharada or Shardiya Navratri in remembrance of the Divine Feminine Devi and after the monsoon season. The two most frequently observed muhurtas during Shardiya Navratri are Ghatasthapana Muhurta and Sandhi Puja Muhurta. Chaitra Navratri 2023 is significant because Hindus perform the customs and rites of Ghatasthapana and Sandhi Puja, during Shardiya Navratri.

The Navratri puja, also known as Vasanta Navratri, honors the sacred feminine Devi (Durga). Devotees honor Divine Durga in her nine forms during the Navratri celebration. This Navratri takes its name from the Sanskrit word vasanta, which signifies spring. It occurs during the Chaitra lunar month (March–April, post-winter). The event occurs in some regions after the spring season and others after the harvest. It is also the first day of the Hindu calendar, making it the Hindu New Year, according to the Vikram Samvat calendar.

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Chaitra Navratri 2023: Navratri days & pujas to perform

Hindus celebrate the event with the help of customary practices like mantra chanting, lighting Diyas or tiny lamps, and praying to the Goddess. For Sharadiya and Chaitra Navratri, the Ghatasthapana Puja Vidhan is the same. Devotees participate in religious rituals such as pujas and fasts. Hindus consider Chaitra Navratri to be a significant event because people see it to be an ideal time to enlist the Goddess’s graces and advance one’s material and spiritual well-being. Let’s observe the important dates and days of Chaitra Navratri 2023:

People celebrate the Chaitra Navratri to worship Maa Durga in her nine heavenly incarnations, find their true selves, practice meditation, and find happiness. People carry out Ghatasthapana Vidhi, also known as Kalash Sthapana, which refers to the installation of the holy and aroused Puja pot. Ghatasthapana Muhurat for Chaitra Navratri 2023 is from 06:23 AM to 07:32 AM.

Significance of Chaitra Navratri

Devotees regard the Hindu deity Goddess Durga as the ultimate feminine form and commemorate it during Chaitra Navratri. She is Shakti, the most potent feminine energy in the cosmos. Because of this, this day holds great significance for Hindu worshippers. The Navratri Puja brings great wealth and luck. However, individuals who seek the blessings of Goddess Durga must strictly adhere to a few of her rules. For instance, strict fasting without the consumption of grains, cleanliness, Aarti, and the ritualistic Ghatsthapana.

In accordance with the Ramayana, Lord Rama offered devotion to Devi Durga during the Chaitra month. People believe that the benefits of this worship helped him defeat Ravana in the conflict. Because of this, people grandly observe Chaitra Navratri throughout India, particularly in the northern regions of Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, Punjab, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, and Uttarakhand. While the celebration starts with Ugadi in southern areas like Andhra Pradesh, it begins with Gudi Padwa in Maharashtra.

Rituals to follow during Kalash Sthapana puja

Chaitra Navratri often starts in the months of March and April. Most people choose to perform Kalash Sthapana puja in their homes and places of employment. People even appoint a priest to do the Kalash puja rites and keep a Kalash at the worship site. One of the most significant Navratri traditions is Ghatasthapana. It signals the start of the celebrations. People perform the Ghatasthapana on the opening day of the festivities. In the Ghatasthapana practice, people sow barley seeds in a Kalash filled with holy water. On the first day of Navratri, there is a perfect method for installing a Kalash.

• The first thing you must do in the morning is get up early and take a shower.
• Cleaning the location where the Kalash will be stored must come first, after cleaning the idols.
• The following step entails laying a red cloth over a wooden seat, reciting Lord Ganesha’s mantras, and then covering the red fabric with raw rice.
• Now place the Kalash on the ground and add little water.
• Use the vermillion paste to create a swastika on the Kalash, then fasten a sacred string to its neck.
• Keep some mango leaves inside the Kalash and add betelnuts and coins.
• Now take a coconut and wrap it in a red Chunari and a holy thread. Put this coconut on top of the Kalash and offer a prayer to the omnipotent Deity.
• Give flowers to the gods and pay homage with a holy heart and mind.
• People believe that the Kalash Sthapana puja can help us attract greater health, money, and prosperity into our life.

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Muhurat for Chaitra Navratri 2023

The third day of the current Pratipada (i.e., for 24 minutes) can be the most favorable or Shubh moment to do Ghatasthapana in terms of Muhurta. If one misses the deadline for some reason, the ritual may still carry out during the Abhijit Muhurata.

The 48-minute window in the middle of the day known as the Abhijit Muhurat is fortunate during Chaitra Navratri 2023. It is one of 15 Muhurats that fall between sunrise and sunset, and it is the eighth. The Abhijit Muhurat marks the center of the fifteen equal segments that make up the time between dawn and dusk. People believe that the muhurta is powerful enough to eliminate countless karma doshas, and it is the ideal Muhurat to begin or initiate fortunate events.

Brahma Muhurat

Remembering Choghadiya (Muhurat) is essential when performing Ghatasthapana. The scriptures recommend avoiding the Choghadiya Muhurat during Ghatasthapana. If the Dwi-Swabhav Lagna Kanya rules at dawn during Shardiya Navratri, performing Ghatastapana may be lucky. After sixteen Ghatis have passed before sunrise, at night, or in the afternoon, Ghathastapnan is not permitted.

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Ritual to perform on Ashtami & Dashmi puja

Bring nine young females over to your place. These nine young women stand for nine different divine manifestations of Goddess Durga. Provide them with scrumptious food, perform puja for them, and then present them with gifts and ask for their blessings.

Perform the regular puja you had been performing for the previous nine days on the final day of Chaitra Navratri. Sprinkle the water from the Kalash in all the rooms and nooks of the home after the puja. You must give the food to the birds of the Akshat that you had placed on the Kalash’s lid. You need to plant the barley seeds you sowed in the garden under a tree.

People dedicate the tenth day after the nine days of Navratri puja to Visarjan or sending off Ma Durga. Just as you did throughout the nine days of Navratri, perform the customary puja. Sprinkle the Kalash water throughout the home after the puja. Use the rice you had stored on the Kalash lid to feed birds. Over the ten days, the barley seeds would have grown considerably. Put them in the garden, under a tree.

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Fasting during Chaitra Navratri

Sabudana Vada (also known as Sago Vada), Sabudana Khichadi (also known as Sago Khichadi), Singhare Ka Halwa (also known as Water Chestnut Flour Halwa), Kuttu Ki Poori (also known as Grass Seed Flour or Buckwheat Poori), and Singhare Ke Pakore are popular delicacies to eat during the Navratri fast.

Benefits of Fasting

Navratri is a time for us to unwind, look inward, and refuel ourselves with new vitality. It is also a period that is rich in colors, traditions, songs, and dancing. During Navratri, fasting facilitates the inner path toward bliss and joy.

• It brings forth consciousness and delight and lessens mental agitation. Ayurveda implies that fasting restarts the digestive fire. 
• The toxins in the body are burned by an increase in the digestive fire.
•  The body loses its dullness and sluggishness as the toxins are pushed out of it. 
• The body’s cells have all undergone renewal. 
• Therefore, fasting is a powerful medicine to purify our bodies. 
• Due to the close relationship between the body and mind, when the body is cleansed, the mind also becomes calmer and more serene.

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Rituals to observe during Chaitra Navratri in 2023

Any devotee of Devi is considered to have salvation or moksha as their penultimate wish. There are some practices to follow in order to prepare for that.

• Installation of the holy pitcher is regarded as the most significant element of the inaugural day and a representation of the cosmos. For the sanctification and prosperity of the house, it is kept in a reverent, prayerful location or corner.
• The light of Navratri is a representation of tranquility for the home and family, or Akand Jyot (everlasting flame). For this reason, it’s essential to burn a traditional ghee lamp before starting the Navratri puja. This enhances mental contentment in followers while lowering negative energy in your home.
• People plant barley seeds in their homes during Navratri. Barley is thought to have been this creation’s first crop. Barley is one of the spring’s first crops. It is therefore also provided at the Navratri puja havan (sacred puja).
• The Durga Saptashati (Tales of the Mother Divine) is a text that can be read in several different ways. It is a symbol of peace, prosperity, and abundance. Reading and reciting the Durga Saptashati is regarded as the most auspicious act to perform during the nine days of Navratri.
• Kanya Pujan (worshipping the girl child) is a significant component of adoring the Divine Mother (Devi). It is customary to give them gifts like flowers, cardamom, fruits, betel nuts, sweets, clothing, decorative items, and food, particularly halwa, black gram, and poori.

How Chaitra Navratri and Sharad Navratri differ from one another

According to the Hindu calendar, people celebrate the occasion of Navratri twice a year, once in the spring (March–April) and once in the winter (Shardiya Navratri) (September-October). The rites and traditions practiced at Chaitra Navratri are comparable to those practiced during Shardiya Navratri in September or October. The Ghatasthapana Puja Vidhi is the same for Shardiya Navratri and Chaitra Navratri.

The beginning of the Hindu calendar’s new year is marked by the Chaitra Navaratri, which occurs in the Chaitra month. The nine forms of the goddess Durga—Shailaputri, Brahmacharini, Chandraghanta, Kushmanda, Skandamata, Katyayani, Kaalratri, Mahagauri, and Siddhidhatri—are worshipped by devotees during fasts. Some followers practice the “Nirjala” fast, which forbids even drinking water. A select handful chooses to maintain the “phallar” fast, which involves just consuming fresh fruits, milk, and water. People refrain from including onion and garlic in their diet during these nine days.

Significance of Chaitra Navratri as per astrology

Hindu astrology says that Chaitra Navratri is important. It is the time when the planet Sun returns to Aries, the first of the 12 zodiac signs, after traveling through them all. The most important Navratri is Chaitra Navratri, during which all nine manifestations of the Divine Mother are honored by devotees. 

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