Navarathri

Navratri festival
Navratri celebrates either Durga or Rama depending on the region
Also called	Durga Puja, Dussehra
Observed by	Hindus
Type	Hindu festival
Celebrations	9 to 10 days
Observances	stage setting, prayers, plays, image immersion or bonfire
Begins	Ashvin Shukla Prathama
Ends	Ashvin Shukla Navami
2017 date	21 Sep, Thu – 29 Sep, Fri (Vijayadashami: 30 Sep, Sat)
2018 date	9 Oct, Tue – 17 Oct, Wed (Vijayadashami: 18 Oct, Thu)
Frequency	annual
Related to	Shaktism, Vaishnavism

Navratri (Sanskrit: नवरात्रि, literally "nine nights"), also spelled Navaratri, is a multi-day Hindu festival celebrated in the autumn every year. It is observed for different reasons and celebrated differently in various parts of the Indian subcontinent. Theoretically, there are four seasonal Navratri. However, in practice, it is the post-monsoon autumn festival called Sharad Navratri that is the most observed in the honor of the divine feminine Devi (Durga). The festival is celebrated in the bright half of the Hindu calendar month Ashvin, which typically falls in the Gregorian months of September and October.

In the eastern and northeastern states of India, the Durga Puja is synonymous with Navratri, wherein goddess Durga battles and emerges victorious over the buffalo demon to help restore Dharma. In the northern and western states, the festival is synonymous with "Rama Lila" and Dussehra that celebrates the battle and victory of god Rama over the demon king Ravana. In southern states, the victory of different goddesses, of Rama or Saraswati is celebrated. In all cases, the common theme is the battle and victory of Good over Evil based on a regionally famous epic or legend such as the Ramayana or the Devi Mahatmya.

Celebrations include stage decorations, recital of the legend, enacting of the story, and chanting of the scriptures of Hinduism. The nine days are also a major crop season cultural event, such as competitive design and staging of pandals, a family visit to these pandals and the public celebration of classical and folk dances of Hindu culture. On the final day, called the Vijayadashami or Dussehra, the statues are either immersed in a water body such as river and ocean, or alternatively the statue symbolizing the evil is burnt with fireworks marking evil's destruction. The festival also starts the preparation for one of the most important and widely celebrated Diwali, the festival of lights, which is celebrated twenty days after the Vijayadashami or Dussehra.