A famous story about the origin of Navratri is associated
with Bhagavan Sri Ram invoking Goddess Durga. To emerge victorious in the
battle against Ravana, Lord Brahma advised Bhagavan Sri Ram to invoke the
fierce Chandi Devi form of Goddess Durga. During the same time, demon King
Ravana started invoking Goddess Chandi to attain immortality and victory of
Bhagavan Sri Ram and his Vanarsena (monkey army).
When it was time for a crucial ritual in Bhagavan Sri Ram’s
puja, Ravana used his magic and stole all the puja items including the havan
kund.
All those present for the puja got scared as the puja
sankalp was broken and Goddess Durga would become angry.
Then Bhagavan Sri Ram realized that Goddess Durga is also
known as कमल-नयन नवकंज
लोचन – the lotus eyed one
with a light shade of red. Bhagavan Sri Ram himself was lotus-eyed and
therefore he decided to offer an eye of his to Goddess Durga as offering.
When he was getting ready to do the sacrifice, Goddess Durga
appeared before Sri Ram and blessed him with victory in the ensuing battle
against demon king Ravana.
When Goddess Durga was blessing Sri Ram, Hanuman took the form
of a young boy and entered the puja arena of Ravana. He then caused serious
damage to the puja. Ravana failed to complete the puja on time and Goddess
Durga got angry and cursed him.
It is believed that Goddess Durga appeared before Bhagavan
Sri Ram during the Sharad season (autumn). This is the reason why Navratri is
observed during the period (September – October).