The Hin­du Prachar Kendra ob­served Navra­tri with De­vi Sat­sang and Kanya Pu­ja at their Shri Ram Vi­jay Mandir in En­ter­prise, Ch­agua­nas, on March 30.

Navra­tri cel­e­brates the God­dess Dur­ga and her nine forms—Skan­dama­ta, Kusuman­da, Shaila­pu­tri, Kaal­ra­tri, Brah­machari­ni, Ma­ha Gau­ri, Katyayani, Chan­draghan­ta, and Sid­dhi­da­tri—col­lec­tive­ly called the Navadur­ga.Dur­ga, al­so known as De­vi and Shak­ti, is one of the prin­ci­pal Hin­du deities. She is the god­dess of war, strength, and pro­tec­tion. Brah­ma, Vish­nu Shi­va, and the oth­er less­er gods cre­at­ed her to slay the buf­fa­lo de­mon Mahisas­ura.

She is of­ten de­pict­ed rid­ing a li­on or tiger with eight to ten arms, each arm hold­ing a weapon the gods had giv­en her.

Navra­tri is ob­served four times a year, named af­ter the Hin­du sea­sons and months they fall in. Kanya Pu­ja is a spe­cial rit­u­al per­formed dur­ing Navra­tri, where nine young girls are wor­shipped with of­fer­ings and gifts. These kanyas rep­re­sent the purest form of the Di­vine Moth­er.