Conducive Conditions for worship

It is observed that the worship of the goddess for an initiate is a lifelong process. Apart from this, there are some festive days and occasions when the worship of the goddess is celebrated on a grand scale. In such occasions, there is a sort of no 'participation bar' and people from all walks of life 137 Mahalakshmi Ratnakosa ch. XVI.8. 138 Sri-vidyarnava-tantra ch II.

irrespective of weather they are initiated or not they do take an active part. The two hands join in salutation and the head bows low in reverence to the goddess who is their mother, the mother for all and of all - the Universal Mother. This is the quintessence of the goddess which is seen especially in her festivals of Navaratri. A perusal of the vows and festivals in a year brings to our notice that in the Hindu calendar year, there are one hundred and eighty nine days when female deities are worshipped in one form or the other 139. The study of the goddess reveals that in the festive observances and celebrations of the folk, these goddesses can broadly be classified as the Saiva-goddesses and as Vaisnava goddesses. In all, there are one hundred and twelve days in which vow is observed in honour of the Saiva-goddess, and twenty eight days in which the vow is observed for the Vaisnavaitegoddess. The list below will bring the classification of different 'Vratadays'. 139 A Saivaite Goddess No. of Vrata days 1 Gauri Thirtytwo 2 Durga Twentysix 3 Uma Twenty 4 Parvati Three 5 Sati One 9 6 Bhavani Four 7 Lalita Six 8 Candi / Candika Five 9 Camunda One Kane P.V. History of Dharmashastras Vol V pt.I. P.255 ff

10 Mahisasuramardini One 11 Vindhyavasini One 12 Kali / Bhadrakali / Four Mahakali 13 Sitala Three 14 Manasa One 15 Sasthi Two 16 Jyestha One 16 Alaksmi One B Vaisnavaite Goddess 1 Laksmi No. of Vrata days Twentysix 2 Sri One 3 Tulasi One 375 Apart from these one hundred and forty days, vow for three days during the Sarad-navaratri festival is observed to get the special grace of the goddess Sarasvati. Apart from this Mauna-vrata is observed by the worshippers of the goddess Sarasvati on the day of the Asterism Mula which is the especially sacred to the goddess Sarasvati. A year is divided into four Navaratris. These four Navaratris occur in a way that they are positioned in such a way as to converge and cover the six Indian seasons. The four Navaratris, the season and corresponding month along with their respective presiding goddesses is listed below.

Goddess Month Navaratri known as Syamala Magha Matangi Lalita Chaitra Vasanta Varahi Asad Varahi Sarada Asvin Sarad or Sarada