Navratri: 9 nights of festivities with 9 shades of happiness

Indian women in traditional attire take part in Garba, a traditional dance of western Indian state of Gujarat, on the second night of the nine-night festival "Navratri" in Ahmadabad, India, Thursday, Sept. 29, 2011. (AP)

Hindu devotees pose as they hold oil lamps before performing prayers during a ritual known as Aarti at the Navratri festival in the western Indian city of Ahmedabad October 4, 2011. (REUTERS)

Published Tuesday, October 13, 2015

By Mily Chakrabarty

UAE has a significant Indian population that celebrates Navratri, the nine-day festival that ends on the tenth day with a big bang known as Dussehra.

Navratri is celebrated almost over entire India in different parts of the country. While in the East, it is Durga Puja, in the West it is Garba or Dandiya time. In the northern part of the country, this is the time to fast and to abstain from non-vegetarian food for eight nights.

Navratri starts today. However, Navratri is not only a religious festival. It is more of a celeration time for Indians.

However, Navrati is not just about Dandiya and Garba Raas, the festival includes so much more.

There is tremendous excitement all around about wearing nine bright colours of festive wear to worship, work and party.

This festival means fun time for women for they get to don nine different colours of clothes every year.

Every day a specific coloured clothes are worn by the women to work or to the Dandiya nights or even to worship.

The nine different shades of happiness for Navratri 2015 are:

Tuesday, October 13 - Red

Wednesday, October 14 - Royal Blue

Thursday, October 15 - Yellow

Friday, October 16 - Green

Saturday, OCtober 17 - Grey

Sunday, OCtober 18 - Orange

Monday, October 19 - White

Tuesday, October 20 - Pink

Wednesday, October 21 - Sky Blue

Indian expats living far away from home do their best not to miss out on the festivity time.

In the UAE, working women plan ahead and coordinate their office-wear along with their colleagues so that they can have fun with colours during these nine days.

Even the teachers of Indian schools, co-ordinate their clothes and wear the same coloured dresses or suits and saris to work or go for the Dandiya dance party in the evenings.

While some of those celebrating this festival believe that wearing specific colours over the next nine days will bring them good luck, some astronomers claim colours are based according to the planets, sun and moon. Some thinkers even believe that these different colours bring peace of mind.

Uniform colours worn over these auspicious days also helps generate equality among those celebrating this festival from different stratas and walks of life.

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The page was last updated on: 25 January 2016 18:57