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Title: Song & dance to foster religious understanding View count: 672 Rating: 5.0 (2 ratings) Description: Shubh Maha Navratri Utsav ( The Auspicious Nine Nights Celebration) The North Indian Malaysians in the Klang Valley, namely the Gujerati, Punjabi and Sindhi communities congregate at the Shree Lakshmi Narayan Temple at Jalan Kasipillay, off Jalan Ipoh, 51200 Kuala Lumpur with gusto and excitement every year to rejoice the Navratri celebration. Navratri, which literally means "Nine Nights", is celebrated throughout the whole world. The festival is observed twice a year, and fall in the months of April-May and September-October. During the festival, the Goddess form of the Supreme Lord, Durga Maa is worshipped in three aspects - Kali Maa , the Goddess of power and energy; Lakshmi Maa, the Goddess of peace and prosperity; and Saraswati Maa, the Goddess of knowledge and art. The devotees take part in this colourful celebration with daily Pooja (prayers), Bhajans (spiritual songs), Garba and Dandiya Raas (through their energetic stick dances and multi-coloured clothes). Men, women and children take their places in concentric circles with dandiya sticks, used while dancing to the bhajans sung to the beat of popular Hindi and Gujerati songs. The nine nights to celebrate Navratri this time was from Sept 19 to Sept 27, 2009. The Navratri celebration culminates with a similar program on the 10th day (Sept 28) to celebrate Vijaya Dashmi. It is believed to be an auspicious time for starting new ventures. Nightly, crowds of almost 700-800 people take part in the dances. Devotees observe a strict vegetarian diet throughout the days, with some choosing to eat only once a day or just observing a liquid diet daily. The Gujerati community was instrumental in organizing the first Navratri festival in Kuala Lumpur. Since its humble beginning from the Gombak Lane temple in 1965, the festival is celebrated every year on a grand scale with active participation from the whole North Indian community. This year, a special function is also held to celebrate Sharad Purnima on October 3, 2009 from 7.30pm to 11.00pm. The devotees will again get to dress up in their colourful clothings and perform the Garbas and the Dandiya Raas. There will also be a special appearance by the extraordinary dance performance group - SUTERA DANCE GROUP - in the evening of October 3, 2009. The Temple Committee cordially invites all Malaysians to come, celebrate and experience the occasion as a finale, in a True Malaysian style. The address: Shree Lakshmi Narayan Temple Jalan Kasipillay, off Jalan Ipoh 51200 Kuala Lumpur Tel: +603-40412993 Fax: +603-40455875 E-mail: sdskl@yahoo.com Website: sdskl.bhanot.net Video by R. Vijay Kumar, Citizen Journalist EnvironsEagles - Soaring to serve in a changing environment http://cj.my/environseagles **************************************************************** Tags: navratri celebration, garba & dandiya raas, lakshmi narayan temple, maha navratri utsav, Author: EnvironsEagles |
