Caitra Navarātri 1943: New York City, New York

Caitra Navarātri (also called Vasanta Navarātri, the Spring Nine Nights) begins on the first day of Caitra's bright fortnight (Caitra Śukla Pratipadā), which coincides with Guḍī Pāḍvā (Ugādi) and marks the Hindu New Year in most traditions. For nine days and nine nights, the goddess Durgā is worshipped in her nine forms: the Navadurgā.

The festival begins with Ghaṭasthāpana (also called Kalaśa Sthāpana): installing a sacred pot (kalaśa) filled with water, topped with mango leaves and a coconut, as the symbolic seat of the goddess. The Ghaṭasthāpana muhūrta is highly specific: it must be performed during the first one-third of the day on Pratipadā, and not during the Citrā nakṣatra period. This is why the exact timing from pañcāṅga matters greatly.

Each of the nine days is dedicated to one of Devī's nine forms: Śailaputrī, Brahmacāriṇī, Candraghaṇṭā, Kūṣmāṇḍā, Skandamātā, Kātyāyanī, Kālarātri, Mahāgaurī, and Siddhidātrī. The ninth day, Rāma Navamī, is also the birthday of Lord Rāma: making it doubly auspicious. Devotees conclude the fast on Navamī with Kanyā Pūjā: feeding nine young girls as embodiments of the nine Devīs.

This convergence of the nine-night Devī festival with Rāma's birth is theologically profound: legend holds that Sage Vālmīki prescribed the Devī pūjā to Rāma before his final battle with Rāvaṇa, an akāla (untimely) Navarātri in autumn, but Caitra Navarātri is the original spring observance Rāma himself would have grown up celebrating. The overlap draws worshippers from both Śaiva-Śākta and Vaiṣṇava traditions together under one roof for nine sacred nights.