नवरात्रि घटस्थापना (कलश स्थापना) विधि

The Puranas tell of the asura Mahishasura who, the Devi Bhagavata says, won by penance a boon that no male, god or man, could kill him. He took heaven, drove out Indra and the gods and spread terror through the three worlds. The gods, with Brahma at their head, went to Shiva and Vishnu; at their grief a blazing light of anger came from the faces of the three great gods and from every other god, gathered in one place and took the form of a woman. This is Durga: the power of all the gods in one.

The gods gave her their weapons: Shiva his trident, Vishnu his discus, Indra his thunderbolt, Varuna his conch, and the Himalaya a lion to ride. Mahishasura changed form again and again, a buffalo, a lion, a man with a sword, an elephant, but every form broke before her. Folk tradition says the battle lasted nine days and nights and she killed him on the tenth: so she is Mahishasura Mardini, and the tenth day is the day of victory. The story is told in the Devi Mahatmya of the Markandeya Purana, known as the Durga Saptashati.

Now the ghata. 'Ghata' and 'kalash' both mean a water-filled vessel, held in worship to be the universe in small. A well-known verse recited over the kalash says, in substance, that Vishnu dwells in its mouth, Rudra in its neck and Brahma at its base, and that the seas and sacred rivers are in its water. The ghata is also seen as the womb of creation, so for nine days it becomes the seat of the mother of the world. The barley sown with it, the jaware, is called in popular belief the first grain of creation and a sign of the home's plenty; in nine days the seed becomes green shoots, as if the worship were making life grow.

Why after the new moon? From the Pratipada the Moon grows again, from a thin line to more than half full in nine nights: from darkness towards light, as the asura's darkness gives way to her power. The 'Gupt' Navratris of Magha and Ashadha are kept mainly by practitioners.

For the ghata and the jaware: a wide clay vessel, clean soil (from a garden or field), a handful or two of barley (soaked overnight it sprouts sooner), a copper or clay kalash, water and Ganga jal, five or seven mango or ashoka leaves, a coconut with its husk fibres, a red cloth or red chunari to wrap it, kalawa (the sacred red thread, also called mauli), a betel nut (supari), a coin, akshat (unbroken rice), a piece of dried turmeric root, durva grass, and a small clay lid (sakora) filled with rice for the mouth of the kalash. Some families also add the earth of seven places (sapta-mrittika), the herb mix sarvaushadhi or five gems (pancharatna); if you have none of these, nothing is lacking.

For the goddess: a low wooden platform (chowki) with a red cloth, a picture or image of Durga, a red chunari, roli, kumkum, sindoor, turmeric, sandal paste, red flowers (hibiscus is especially dear to her) and a garland, incense, camphor, betel leaves, cloves and cardamom, mishri or batashe, fruit, sweets, and items of adornment (bangles, bindi, mehndi) as many as come easily. For the akhand jyoti: a large brass or clay lamp, ghee for nine days, a long cotton wick and a glass chimney. For Ganesha: durva, red flowers and laddoos or jaggery; and an asana, a lota of water, a bell and a conch.

Ghatasthapana is done on the Pratipada of Navratri: Chaitra Shukla Pratipada for Chaitra Navratri, Ashwin Shukla Pratipada for Sharad Navratri. The almanacs look for its time inside the first third of the daytime, counted from sunrise, and only while the Pratipada lasts; if the Pratipada ends during the morning, the muhurat ends with it.

Within that first third the most preferred time is while a dual-natured (dvi-swabhava) lagna is rising: Gemini (Mithun), Virgo (Kanya), Sagittarius (Dhanu) or Pisces (Meena). The almanacs take it only if that lagna stays for at least one muhurta, a fifteenth of the daytime (about 48 minutes when day and night are equal). If it is shorter, or no dual lagna rises there, the muhurat is the first third of the day itself, with two things taken out: first any part under Vaidhriti yoga, then any part under Chitra nakshatra (if the clean time is in two pieces, the earlier one is taken). Each is taken out only when some clean time is left; when Vaidhriti or Chitra covers the whole morning, the almanacs keep the whole first third. The 'Ghatasthapana muhurat' in the box is found by exactly this rule.

The second window is the Abhijit muhurat. The daytime from sunrise to sunset is divided into fifteen muhurtas; the eighth, which falls around midday, is called Abhijit and is held good for almost every auspicious act. Those who cannot set up the ghata in the morning window use it. But the tradition does not take Abhijit on a Wednesday: when the Pratipada falls on a Wednesday the box shows no Abhijit window, and the ghata is set up in the morning muhurat.

Outside these two windows the almanacs give no time for Ghatasthapana, and it is not done at night. When tithis shorten or lengthen, Navratri can run to eight or ten days; the box shows the day of the Ghatasthapana. Its times are for New Delhi; sunrise, the length of the day and the rising lagnas change from city to city, so elsewhere open the panchang for that day. Have everything ready beforehand, so that the placing of the kalash and the invocation fall inside the window.

1. Preparing: clean the house and the shrine the day before. On the morning of the Pratipada bathe and put on clean clothes (red, yellow and saffron are dear in the goddess's worship), sprinkle Ganga jal over the place of worship and lay out all the samagri on a plate beforehand.

2. The chowki: set the low platform in the north-east (ishan) corner of the house or in the puja room, spread the red cloth and place the picture or image of Durga on it. Sit on your asana facing east or north. Choose a place that will not have to be moved for nine days, with no curtain near the flame.

3. Sowing the barley: spread a layer of clean soil in the wide clay vessel and scatter barley on it, then soil and barley again, two or three layers with soil on top. Sprinkle a little water without making mud. Set the vessel before the goddess. In many homes the kalash stands in the middle of this vessel and the barley grows around it; in others the vessel sits beside the kalash. Both customs are followed.

4. Ganesha first: offer Ganesha a sprinkle of water, roli, akshat, durva, a red flower and laddoo or jaggery, chant 'ॐ गं गणपतये नमः' (Om Gam Ganapataye Namah) eleven times and pray that the nine days of worship pass without obstacle.

5. Preparing the kalash: draw a swastika on it in roli, wind kalawa around its neck, fill it with clean water and a little Ganga jal, and put in the betel nut, the coin, akshat, the turmeric root, durva and a flower (and the seven soils, sarvaushadhi or pancharatna if that is your custom). Do not fill it to the brim, so the water does not spill when the leaves and coconut go on.

6. Setting the kalash and the coconut: place the kalash in the middle of the barley vessel, or beside it on a small heap of rice. Set the five or seven mango or ashoka leaves in its mouth, stems in the water and tips spreading out, and put the rice-filled sakora on them. Wrap the coconut, fibres and all, in the red cloth or chunari, tie it with kalawa and set it on the sakora; many homes turn the coconut's face, the end with its 'eyes', towards the worshipper. Offer roli, akshat and flowers to the kalash: this ghata is the goddess's seat for nine days.

7. The sankalp (vow): take water, akshat and a flower in your right hand and make the vow in your own words: your name, your gotra if you know it, and 'I will set up the ghata and worship Mother Durga through the nine days of Navratri for the peace and welfare of my family, and keep the fast as far as I am able.' Then let the water fall to the ground. If you know a Sanskrit sankalp from your family priest, say that; if not, a sincere vow in your own language is complete.

8. Inviting the goddess: with folded hands pray to the Mother to dwell in this ghata and this image for nine days, then chant 'ॐ दुं दुर्गायै नमः' (Om Dum Durgayai Namah): one mala of 108 if you can, otherwise eleven times. Those who have received the Navarna mantra from a guru chant that.

9. Worship and adornment: sprinkle water before the goddess, mark her with roli, kumkum and sindoor, offer akshat, drape the red chunari over her, put on the garland and offer red flowers; offer the items of adornment, show incense and lamp, and set out fruit, mishri, batashe or sweets with betel leaf and nut, cloves and cardamom.

10. The akhand jyoti: fill the large lamp with ghee and, with the long wick, light the akhand jyoti, the unbroken flame, before the goddess; shield it from draught with the glass chimney and pray that it burn for nine days as her presence in the home. The akhand jyoti is not compulsory; those who cannot tend it for nine days light a lamp morning and evening, and that too is a complete puja.

11. Recitation: recite the Durga Saptashati if you know it; otherwise the Durga Kavach and the Durga Chalisa from this library, and if you wish the Mahishasura Mardini Stotram. Remember Shailaputri, the form of the first day, and read or hear the Navratri vrat katha.

12. Aarti and closing: sing the aarti 'Jai Ambe Gauri' with camphor or a ghee lamp, with the bell and the conch, then ask forgiveness for any slip, share the prasad and sprinkle a little water on the barley. The ghata is set up; for nine days this ghata, this flame and these jaware are the centre of the home's worship.

Tending the akhand jyoti: akhand means 'unbroken'; the flame burns from the Ghatasthapana until Navami or Dashami. Add ghee two or three times a day so the lamp never runs dry and ease the wick forward when needed; many keep a small lamp nearby to relight it from. Do not leave the house empty with the flame burning, and keep it away from children, curtains and the fan; safety is part of the worship. If it goes out by accident, it is no bad omen: ask the goddess's forgiveness and light it again. The Mother looks at the heart, not at the accident.

The daily puja: for nine days worship the goddess morning and evening with water, roli and akshat, flowers, incense and lamp, the food offering, the remembrance of the day's form, the chant 'Om Dum Durgayai Namah', the recitation and the aarti. Offer flowers and akshat to the kalash daily and sprinkle a little water on the jaware; too much water rots the barley. Those who read the Durga Saptashati divide it across the nine days; for others the Durga Chalisa or the Durga Kavach each day is enough.

Each day one form of the goddess is worshipped; together they are the Navadurga:

Day one (Pratipada): Shailaputri, daughter of Himalaya, king of the mountains, riding a bull, with a trident and a lotus; the ghata is set up on her day.

Day two (Dwitiya): Brahmacharini, Parvati in the fierce penance she undertook to win Shiva, holding a rosary and a water pot; the goddess of austerity and self-control.

Day three (Tritiya): Chandraghanta, with a bell-shaped half moon on her brow, riding a lion, calm and yet ready for battle.

Day four (Chaturthi): Kushmanda, whose gentle smile is held to have brought forth the universe; eight-armed, riding a lion.

Day five (Panchami): Skandamata, mother of Kartikeya (Skanda), the child Skanda in her lap, seated on a lotus.

Day six (Shashthi): Katyayani, who appeared in the hermitage of the sage Katyayana; in the tradition it is she who slew Mahishasura, and she is also worshipped by those who pray for marriage.

Day seven (Saptami): Kalaratri, dark as the night, fierce in form yet giving good fruit to her devotees, which is why she is also called Shubhankari, the bringer of good.

Day eight (Ashtami): Mahagauri, radiant and fair after her penance, in white, riding a bull; many homes hold Kanya Pujan today.

Day nine (Navami): Siddhidatri, the giver of every accomplishment, seated on a lotus; the day of the havan, Kanya Pujan and the close of Navratri.

The Navratri fast is kept as one is able: some take only fruit for nine days, some one fasting meal a day, and many families fast only on the first and the last day (the Pratipada and the Ashtami or Navami). The strict fast takes no grain: no wheat, rice or pulses. What is eaten: kuttu (buckwheat) and singhara (water chestnut) flour, samak (barnyard millet), rajgira, sabudana, potato, sweet potato, arbi, pumpkin, milk, curd, paneer, makhana, dry fruit and fruit, with sendha namak (rock salt) and a few spices such as cumin and black pepper.

For the nine days the home cooks sattvik food; even those not fasting keep away from onion, garlic, meat, eggs and alcohol. Buy kuttu and singhara flour fresh, from a shop you trust; old flour goes bad. The ill, the pregnant, the elderly and children keep a light or symbolic fast, one plain sattvik meal or simply no onion and garlic, and take their medicines on time. The heart of the fast is restraint, not hunger: no anger, harsh words or gossip, and celibacy for the nine days.

The fast is broken (paran) as the family's custom goes: some break it on Ashtami or Navami after the Kanya Pujan with the prasad of halwa, puri and chana, others on the morning of Dashami after the visarjan of the ghata.

On Ashtami or Navami, as the family's custom goes, young girls are honoured as forms of the goddess in the Kanya Pujan, fed halwa, puri and chana and given dakshina; the full method is on our 'Kanya Pujan Vidhi' page. Many homes also hold a small havan on Navami; if you do not know the method, have the family priest do it.

Visarjan: after the Navami puja, or on the morning of Dashami, the ghata is taken down. Worship the goddess and do the aarti, then pray with folded hands: Mother, you made this house your home for nine days; come again next Navratri. Move the kalash slightly (this is called 'lifting the ghata') and take it down. With the mango leaves sprinkle its water through the house and over the family as her blessing, and pour the rest at the root of a plant. Break the coconut and share it as prasad, or offer it at a temple or in flowing water. Many homes keep the coin and the betel nut in the safe or a purse and scatter the rice for the birds.

The jaware are the goddess's prasad. A few blades are kept in the shrine, the safe or among books, some family members wear a few behind the ear, and the rest go with their soil into flowing water or into garden or pot soil, which is just as respectful. Do not blow out the akhand jyoti; let it finish on its own.

By tradition Navratri is kept for the protection of the home, for peace, health and strength of mind. Ghatasthapana is its foundation: from a clay vessel, water, a seed and a lamp a place for the goddess is made in the home, and tending it for nine days is itself a practice of patience. It is also the festival of seeing the goddess in every woman and of overcoming the Mahishasura within, anger, pride and sloth: a practice of faith and restraint, not a promise of results.

Through Navratri the aarti 'Jai Ambe Gauri' is sung morning and evening; its full text is in this library, as is 'Ambe Tu Hai Jagdambe Kali', which many homes sing too, often after the Ganesh aarti 'Jai Ganesh Deva'. Afterwards pass your hands over the flame, touch them to your eyes and head, call out 'Jai Mata Di' and share the prasad.