In Conversation With Devi

Let's begin with an honest confession.
Close your eyes for a moment, and answer from your heart.

What’s the one thing, you feel the most drawn to, during Sharad Navratri?

Is it the thrill of dressing up in your brightest finery, twirling in Garba circles until your feet ache with joy?
Or maybe it’s the clatter of Dandiya sticks... echoing, laughing, chasing the night away as your spirit lights up?
Or the delight of Durga Pujo pandal hopping... soaking in the colors, savoring the food, breathing in the fervor-laden air, the pulse of devotion in every corner?
Or perhaps staying awake through Jagrans, singing into the night, the crescendo rising through darkness, stirring something deep and soulful inside you?

Here’s the thing… beneath all the sparkle, beyond the music and the buzz, there’s a rhythm you might have felt all along, but never truly recognized. Something magical. Something mystical. Something that defies words.

It’s Shakti... alive in the lamp at the heart of the Garba, in the swing of the Dandiya sticks, the blow of the conch, the fragrance rising from the dhuni, or the unwavering gaze of the Devi astride her lion.

In these moments, the ordinary becomes extraordinary. The festival, the celebration, the rituals... they all transform into a conversation with the Divine herself.

And speaking of the heart of Navratri… is a dance in motion...Garba!
But Garba isn’t just any dance. Its very name, rooted in garbha, meaning womb, hints at something far deeper. Have you noticed how everyone moves together, circling a single lamp placed at the center?
It isn’t random. The lamp becomes the heart of the circle, a living mandala where circles and triangles converge toward the sacred Bindu. That flame is no ordinary light. It is the heartbeat of creation, the garbha, the womb... holding hope, possibility, and the promise of rebirth.
Every swirl of your skirt, every tap of your feet becomes a prayer in motion. You’re not merely dancing... you’re orbiting the source itself. Step by step, your breath, your prana, align with the pulse of Maa Adi Parashakti, the Supreme Consciousness. For a few moments, you dissolve into the mandala, a living story of stars, planets, and human longing, written in steps, smiles, and laughter.

As the rhythm shifts, Garba flows effortlessly into its counterpart... Dandiya. If Garba is the circling of the cosmic womb, Dandiya is the striking of dualities, a dance of energy channels within. You pick up the sticks and feel their weight... one in your left hand, another in your right. They’re not just sticks. They’re symbols. Ida and Pingala, the twin energies flowing within you. The lunar and the solar currents. The cool moon, the warm sun, playing their eternal rhythm. And every time those sticks meet... thuk! It’s not justa a sound. It's a union. Your inner sun and moon bowing to one another. With each strike, harmony awakens, nudging open the Sushumna… the central channel where dormant energy begins to rise. Dandiya no longer remains a mere play of two sticks. It becomes balance, rhythm, awakening... carried on the pulse of music, on the joy of movement, on the truth that the divine also dances within you.

From the rhythm of Dandiya in the West, the celebration flows eastward into Bengal, where Navratri unfolds as Durga Puja, alive with drums, dhuni, and devotion.
Have you ever stood before Ma Durga’s steady gaze and felt shivers run down your spine?
Ten arms, each holding a weapon... wisdom, power, possibility. The idol isn’t just clay and paint. She’s a living mandala, inviting you to surrender and align your own energies with cosmic Shakti. Her steady mirrors your own strength. Every ritual here is layered with esoteric meaning.
Kumari Puja, where a young girl is worshipped as the living embodiment of Durga, reminds us that divinity doesn’t descend from afar; it already lives among us, in innocence, purity, and potential.
Then comes the hypnotic Dhunuchi Naach. Devotees sway with clay censers filled with glowing coals and frankincense, their bodies moving as offerings, the rising smoke blurring the line between human and divine. The fragrance of the dhuni cleanses not just the space, but also the mind.

And then, the most mystical of them all... Sandhi Puja. It unfolds at the threshold between Ashtami and Navami, that liminal moment where night turns to dawn, darkness surrenders to light. The timing is no accident. It is a transformation incarnate. As the puja begins, 108 lamps flicker alive... tiny stars piercing the twilight, symbols of consciousness breaking through ignorance. Here, Chandi is invoked in her fiercest form... raw, radiant, unstoppable. Her weapons pierce through the shadows of fear and doubt, reminding us that true awakening demands both surrender and strength.
Finally, on Dashami, Sindoor Khela brings the cycle to a close. Women smear vermillion on one another, painting each other with the colors of fertility, love, and the continuity of life itself. What looks like festivity is, in essence, a reminder that Shakti must be lived, embodied, and honoured.

As Sandhi Puja's night dissolves into dawn, its spirit of vigilance flows seamlessly into the nights of Jagrans and Kirtans in the North, where devotion takes the form of ceaseless jaikaras and endless bhajans.
Staying awake through a Jagran or Kirtan is far more than a test of physical endurance. It is a soulful ritual.
Weaving music into the darkness becomes a symbolic fight against tamas: the inertia, ignorance, and heaviness that dwell within all of us. Every verse sung, every drumbeat, vibrates the nāda shakti, the sound energy that stirs dormant chakras, transforming your body into a living temple where the Goddess may descend and dwell. In those hushed, sacred hours, you do more than ward off sleep; you awaken clarity, ignite energy, and channel the pure light of devotion.

In the valleys of Kashmir, the worship of Sharika Devi, a powerful form of Tripura Sundari, offers a quiet yet profoundly charged practice. Here, Shakti is revered as Kundalini, the primal force coiled at the spine’s base, waiting to rise and unite the soul with the infinite. The rites are subtle, introspective, and deeply mystical, reflecting the Himalayan devotion that blends stillness with spiritual intensity.

Moving towards Himachal, the Devi yatras bring communities together. Idols of different goddess forms are carried across mountains and valleys, their convergence symbolizing the integration of fragmented energies within the seeker. This is the journey toward wholeness, as all aspects of Shakti unite in celebration.

And while the mountain yatras embody the uniting of scattered energies, down south the same vision takes form in the symbolic tiered arrangement of Golu dolls.
Each level is more than decoration... it is a map of the soul’s ascent.
From humble minerals to blossoming plants, from mindful humans to divine beings, every tier charts the evolution of consciousness. As devotees move through the display, they witness and embody this journey, tracing the ascent from matter to life, from human awareness to divine realization.

Across the length and breadth of the country... from the stillness of Himalayan shrines to the colorful tiers of southern homes, Navratri becomes a living mandala. Whether in the click of Dandiya sticks, the swirl of Garba, or the flicker of 108 lamps in Sandhi Puja, each ritual, each song, each step turns into sacred ground where the Goddess animates consciousness, dissolves separation, and weaves wholeness in her many forms.

This collective journey, transcending region and ritual, is the eternal story of consciousness seeking itself, guiding us ever closer to the source within. Because at its heart, Navratri is not just a festival. It is a profound homecoming, where every circle danced, every song sung, every step taken becomes a living mandala of awakening.
And the Devi?
She speaks only one language... the language of the heart.