HINDU FASTS & FESTIVALS : 3-9.

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3. Durga Puja or Navaratri-9.

Devi fought with Bhandasura and his forces for nine days and nine nights.

This Bhandasura had a wonderful birth and life.

When Lord Shiva burnt Cupid with the fire of His “third eye”, Sri Ganesha playfully moulded a figure out of the ashes, and the Lord breathed life into it!

This was the terrible demon Bhandasura.

He engaged himself in great penance and on account of it obtained a boon from Lord Shiva.

With the help of that boon, he began harassing the worlds.

The Divine Mother fought with him for nine nights (the demons have extraordinary strength during the night), and killed him on the evening of the tenth day, known as the Vijaya Dasami.

The learning of any science is begun on this highly auspicious day.

It was on this day that Arjuna worshiped Devi, before starting the battle against the Kauravas on the field of Kurukshetra.

Swami Sivananda
To be continued  ....




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