Ashtami 2018: Significance And Celebration Of The Festival
The puja done on the eighth day of Chaitra Navratri 2018 is highly significant, as it is believed that during this time, spiritual fervour reaches its highest peak. Kanya Pujan is observed on this day. Ashtami is an auspicious day to celebrate the essence of womanhood and is a way to pay gratitude to the Goddess. Hence, a lot of Hindus across India observe Kanya Pujan, where nine girls who have not yet attained puberty are welcomed into the house by first washing their feet and tying moli (red thread) around their wrists. These nine girls are then seated and offered a variety of delicacies in the form of chana, poori and halwa (also known as 'bhog'). These nine girls are considered to represent the nine divine avatars of Goddess Durga namely Shilaputri, Brahmacharini, Chandraghanta, Kushmanda, Skandamata, Katyayani, Kalaratri, Mahagauri, and Siddhidatri.
Ashtami 2018: Prasad Prepared During The Festival
The eighth day of Chaitra Navratri 2018 is dedicated to Goddess Mahagauri, where worshipping this avatar of Goddess Durga is considered auspicious. On this day, coconut is offered in the form of bhog to please the deity. For prasad, you can also make coconut ladoo or barfi. Apart from this, traditional fare of poori, chana and halwa are prepared on this day.
Ashtami 2018: Timings For Sandhi Puja
Sandhi puja is done at a point of time when Ashtami tithi ends and Navmi tithi starts. This puja has a special significance during the festival of Navratri. The sandhi puja would last for about 47 minutes, starting from 07:38am to 08:26am on 25th March 2018.
