Lincoln Hindu community celebrating Navratri

Navratri means nine nights. It starts 30 days before Diwali . In each of the nine days different goddesses are worshipped and celebrated representing the divine feminine energy and qualities. For the past 10years the Hindu community of Lincoln have welcomed all communities to join in with the celebrations. The attendance has grown every year and this year was the largest with around 250 attending. It was nice to see people of all religions and backgrounds join us.
The evening of celebration was vibrant with people dressed in colourful traditional clothes. The festival is one of the most popular and fun in India and we were happy to welcome so many international university students who would be missing home, festivals and a place to worship.

We usually celebrate one of the nine nights at a weekend. The festive period is also a time to contribute to the community and we usually hold food bank collections. This year we also collected for the Lincoln Hygiene Bank though TCfR and LFC with over 1,000 items generously donated by the community. This is part of a joint winter appeal for Sewa Day and Mitzvah Day.
The event is free to all and often families donate towards the costs.
The evening includes prayers, sharing of delicious varieties of pure vegetarian food which families cook at home and bring to share.
Children prepared and presented talks on the meaning of Navratri and the nine forms of Goddesses. This year we were blessed with volunteers reciting shlokas (verses from scriptures).

The most enjoyable part of the celebration is doing Garba which is a traditional dance done around Goddess Durga. This is done to traditional and modern dance forms and music and songs. The dance is also done with sticks called Dandiya. The synchronised striking of these sticks to music represents the battle of good over evil where Godess Durga defeated a demon.

The event can only happen with the help and support of volunteers and the community. Next year we look to make the celebration even bigger and better.