Today are both Ashtami and Navami dates of Navratri. For this reason, there will be special worship of the Goddess, Havan, Kanya Bhoj and Jagran. At some places, both Goddesses Mahagauri and Siddhidatri will be worshiped today itself. Devi Visarjan and Dussehra will take place on 12th October.
Goddess appeared in the form of Chamunda on Ashtami and appeared to the gods in Maharup on Navami, hence these dates are considered special. On these dates, great worship and adornment of the Goddess takes place in Shaktipeeths. Kanya Puja is also done.
In Devi Shaktipeeths, great worship of Goddess is done on Ashtami and Navami of Navratri. The goddess is consecrated. The Goddess is worshiped with flowers and auspicious items. Chandi Path and Havan take place on these dates. Sacrifices are performed at Tantra Shaktipeeths.
Ram in Tretayug and Yudhishthir in Dwapar performed Shakti Puja on Durgashtami. There is a tradition of special worship of the Goddess on Ashtami of Navratri. This has been going on since Tretayug, when Shri Ram worshiped Shakti to win over Ravana. After this, even in Dwapar Yuga, Shri Krishna told Yudhishthir the method of worshiping the Goddess on the Ashtami (Durgashtami) of autumn. According to Devi Purana, Devi and Bhairav appeared on Ashtami.
While telling Yudhishthir about Durgashtami, Shri Krishna said that Goddess worship has been done on this date in every era. The Goddess is worshiped in many forms on Ashtami. There is also a tradition of doing Mahapuja and Kanya Puja on this day. After this, one should stay awake the whole night and do bhajans and kirtans of the Goddess.
According to Devi Bhagwat and Markandeya Purana, Sandhi Puja takes place on these dates. In this special puja, the goddess is adorned and havan is performed with proven mantras. After the puja, Maha Aarti and Maha Prasad are distributed.
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Ten forms of Goddess: When Shiva stopped Sati from going to Daksha Yagya, ten goddesses appeared due to the anger of Goddess, these are called Mahavidyas.
Sati's father Daksh Prajapati organized a yagya. In which all the gods and goddesses were called except Shiva and Sati. Still Sati decided to attend the yagya, but Shiva stopped her. This made Sati very angry. It was from his anger that ten types of goddesses appeared. Which are called ten Mahavidyas. To know their names and importance (read the )
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