Nine Nights of the Goddess: The Navaratri Festival of South Asia is a deeply theological, scientific, and social analysis of one of the biggest Hindu festivals, called Navaratri, also referred to as Mahanavami, Durga Puja, Dasara, and Dassain in different parts of South Asia. Celebrated for nine nights in Asvina (autumn month), Navaratri occurs twice a year and amasses great public enthusiasm and participation. The diverse authors of this volume, edited by Caleb Simmons, Moumita Sen, and Hillary Rodrigues, dissect the history and variations at local and regional levels in the narratives of Navaratri. Simmons and Sen lay out in the introduction that Navaratri is seen as form of Holi, harvest festival, and the celebration of the divine power of the goddess (1).
The research offers a detailed account of the historical texts and interpretations pertaining to the festival. Nine Nights is an outcome of a series of workshops and conferences held by a group of researchers called Navaratri, Navaratra, and Durga Puja in South Asia and Beyond (a partnership between the University of Texas–Austin and the University of Oslo). The book is segmented into four broad themes encompassing the particularities of the festival and its representation in literary texts as well as the claims against it. Sociologists, historians, and anthropologists contribute chapters to the book, and they explore the dynamism encircling the Navaratri festival and its manifestations from a variety of disciplines in a broad chronological manner.
Readers of this book will see how, from the oldest source of literary references to the worshiping of goddess (Sanskrit texts, i.e., Valmiki’s Ramayana, Tulsidas’ Ramcharitramanas, Markandeya Purana, Kalika Purana, Devi Bhagavata Purana, Vinayaka’s Navaratrapradipa, etc.), the narrative has expanded to contemporary debates across South and Southeast Asia contesting Navaratri with questions of culture and caste hegemony, and the intertwining of state politics with the veneration of Durga Devi.
Nine Nights also explores the public and domestic spaces of Navaratri through a theoretical lens. The book investigates the form and function of Navaratri in public and domestic domains and the essence the religious practice carries in those diverse spaces. The book begins with describing Navaratri as a means for yearly affirmations of the king and royal priests, marking hierarchical relationships between communities. Raj Balkaran (chapter 1) in his essay historically situates Navaratri through the tradition of solar myths and texts found in Markandeya Purana. Astrid Zotter (chapter 2) draws on the festival of Navaratri and the significance it has for kingship in Mysore and Kathmandu. Zotter argues that the Shah dynasty in Nepal continued the rituals of earlier kings by introducing new rituals. In this way Navaratri became a tool for negotiating and asserting the image of the ruler. Likewise, Simmons (chapter 3) investigates the situation of the Wodeyar rulers of Mysore and argues that Navaratri does not reflect the power of the sovereign anymore and has become an avenue for art and culture to be enjoyed by the masses. Uwe Skoda (chapter 4) explores the changes in the celebration of Dasara after the abolition of kinship in Bonai, Odisha. The chapter reveals that the lavish celebration in the former princely state of Odisha has now become an impoverished version of the past. Skoda holds that Dasara rituals have undergone change, but the king “expresses his royal centrality, and, despite financial constraints the raja actively seeks to maintain his role and engages in exchanges with various communities by providing at least nominal remunerations or sacrificial meat in lieu of ritual services” (97).
Expanding the discussion, chapters 5–7 explore the reworkings of Durga Puja and its manifestation in sociopolitical realms. These chapters reflect those aspects of the festival that are nonreligious and nontextual. Sen (chapter 5) notes that the political power of the Kolkata state has aligned itself with the ritual celebrations and the symbolic power of the goddess. Sen argues, “The Durga Puja of West Bengal [is] used as a tool of governmentality and mass mobilization. . . . She [goddess statue] is a metaphor for social messages and political propaganda” (117). On the other hand, Xenia Zeiler (chapter 6) examines Durga Puja and its sociocultural impact through social media. Zeiler asserts that social media has increasingly been a source of the “mediatization” of celebrations in Mumbai’s Durga Puja committees. The puja committees are highly competitive and employ social media for organizing, communicating, and increasing the sociocultural prestige of the committee.
Some chapters emphasize Navaratri as a home and community ritual, especially in states such as Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Kerela, and Tamil Nadu. Nicole A. Wilson (chapter 12) argues that Navaratri in Madurai forefronts the idea of caste and class. Wilson observes the practice of families giving expensive gifts and dolls to visitors. He describes how these gifts represent class, status, and position in society.
Other chapters examine the dynamics of Devi and the way she is worshiped in private. Brigitte Luchesi (chapter 15) opines that practice of kanya puja on the ninth day of Navaratri personifies young girls as goddess’ feminine power. Here goddess’ maiden form is a living female. Similarly, taking the case study of Kamakshi temple, where both kanyas (prepubescent girls) and suvasinis (married women) are worshiped, Ute Husken (chapter 9) argues that Navaratri is a celebration of female fertility.
Readers of the book are presented with a collection of narratives on not just Navaratri’s regional manifestations but also its evolving contours. While the book could have potentially been a comprehensive study on the festival, the lacuna in this scholarly work is the missing research on Mahisasura, the powerful Asura (demon) disguised as Mahisa (buffalo) who is battling for nine nights with Devi. Second, the grandiosity of the Sanskrit scriptures and prose used for linking the festival with traditional religious texts can be logically challenging for readers who cannot comprehend the complexity of theology and anthropological texts.
Nevertheless, Nine Nights is credible research on the nine auspicious nights of the Navratri. The narrative of the authors and their experiences in conducting the research make the book an engaging text. It is an informative read for those inquisitive about the festival’s textual sources and the ways of practicing the festival that may or may not reflect the textual descriptions, making the book a valuable contribution to the existing literature on tradition of Hindu festivals.
Aditi Paul is Research Associate at Nepal Institute for International Cooperation and Engagement.
Aditi Paul
Date Of Review:
January 31, 2022
