The festival of Navratri is a symbol of respect for women. Nine forms of Navadurga are worshiped for nine days. It is said that in the house where Mother is worshiped, there remains happiness and prosperity. Devi Puja is not just the worship of Mother’s idol, rather this festival is a festival of honoring mother, sister, daughter, and every woman of the society. In such a situation, not only worship girls but also respect women. If you worship Goddess, then not just on the occasion of Navratri but always maintain respect towards women. This Navratri, take a pledge to respect women in front of the Goddess and bring some changes in your conduct, so that mother, daughter, and every woman of the society can feel safe and respected. Today, when all the countrymen are preparing to celebrate Kanya Puja, a glorious festival of Indian culture, there is a request and question to them why do they not do anything to create such a society where the respectable status of girls remains?

Navratri is a Hindu festival. Navratri is a Sanskrit word, which means ‘nine nights’. During these nine nights and ten days, nine forms of Shakti Devi are worshipped. During the nine nights of Navratri, three goddesses – Mahalakshmi, Mahasaraswati, or Saraswati and nine forms of Durga are worshiped, which are called Navadurga. During these nine nights and ten days, nine forms of Shakti Devi are worshipped. Indian feminists and modern Indian women have begun to question this abandoned goddess symbolism as it has also been used as an active tool of patriarchal oppression. Other cultures and mythologies have also had some of the most prominent mother goddesses and symbols of ideal motherly lives – for example, Egyptian Isis, Greek Demeter, or, in Catholicism, Mary as the mother of Jesus. But in no other culture are little girls worshiped as goddesses as they are in India. Many Western feminists and many women globally find Hindu deities to be inspirational and provide inner strength.

During Navratri, girls in India are considered goddesses and worshiped. But some people forget all this after Navratri. In many places, girls are exploited and insulted. Young pre-pubescent girls who are worshiped on the eighth and/or ninth day of Navratri are often abused and discriminated against. There are many Devi temples where menstruating women or so-called lower caste women are prohibited from even entering, there are many Devi places of worship where only men are allowed into the inner sanctum and not women. Young pre-pubescent girls, who are worshiped as Kanjak or Kanya on the eighth and/or ninth day of Navratri, are often abused, discriminated against, and treated for being born as girls for the rest of the days. Is considered ‘impure’. She should be worshiped after menstruation begins. Even today, the birth of a girl child is mourned in many villages in India. We will have to change our thinking towards girls and women. Respect girls like goddesses. Respecting them is as virtuous as worshiping God. It is also written in the scriptures that God himself resides in the house where women are respected.

Changing times require a contemporary understanding of the Goddess, it is time to diversify the concept of the Goddess. A few years ago, Tap Root India developed a campaign that presented images of the three main Hindu goddesses – Durga, Saraswati, and Lakshmi, but with scars and bruises on their faces that suggest violence against women. Were. Now the time may have come, maybe all these symbols related to the Goddess need to be re-imagined to suit the current environment, and the chest-thumping “Jai Mata Di, Mata ki Jai” Goddess worship should not be replaced. So it needs to be a safer and more respectful environment for girls and women. Today, when all the countrymen are preparing to celebrate Kanya Puja, a glorious festival of Indian culture, there is a request and question to them why do they not do anything to create such a society where the respectable status of girls remains? Morality cannot be improved by police batons alone; moral efforts will also have to be made for it. Along with this, even if reservation sends some women to Panchayats, Corporations, or in the future to Parliament or Assemblies, women cannot be empowered unless there is a healthy environment in the society.

In many homes, girls do not have the same place and respect that the sons of the family have. Some prominent persons and political leaders of our society are good at giving speeches only on paper, but as soon as they enter the house, they forget what speeches they have given outside for women’s rights. How regrettable that the Constitution which can make a woman the President cannot make her the head of a temple. Even today there are some temples where women are not allowed to enter. At the time of death of the male head of the family, the turban is placed on the heads of the daughters. When a woman dies, her daughters or daughters-in-law do not have the same rights as the son or husband. In many communities, women cannot even touch the turban being tied in the community. Not a single day goes by in the newspapers and news bulletins of TV channels when there is no news of rape of an adult or a minor in some part of the country. It is reported that a girl was kidnapped, gang-raped, and thrown on the road in the car itself. It is not necessary to give more examples of this news, because unfortunately, we have to hear and see this every day.

With Kanya Puja, we have to take a resolution why can’t the girl whom we are worshiping become a temple priest? At least women should worship in the temples of goddesses. There is logic in this too, if society thinks about it, right? Why can’t she become the president of the temple? Can play dholak, can cook langar. But in some special temples, she cannot have darshan of the same deity whose songs she sings and tears her throat or cooks food for them and offers them. It has to be remembered that the mentality of society has to change but first, the mentality of women has to change. The festival of Navratri is a symbol of respect for women. Nine forms of Navadurga are worshiped for nine days. It is said that in the house where Mother is worshiped, there remains happiness and prosperity. Devi Puja is not just the worship of Mother’s idol, rather this festival is a festival of honoring mother, sister, daughter, and every woman of the society. In such a situation, not only worship girls but also respect women. If you worship Goddess, then not just on the occasion of Navratri but always maintain respect towards women. This Navratri, take a pledge to respect women in front of the Goddess and bring some changes in your conduct, so that mother, daughter, and every woman of the society can feel safe and respected.

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