The first thing that should be kept in mind is that goddess is to be invoked in the house and hence it should be clean. It is best if you sprinkle Ganga jal in all rooms of the house. Onion and garlic is usually avoided in these days. Even the people not fasting avoid eating it. Various systems of fasting have been devised. Some people fast for all nine days (best), some fast for the first and the last day and some fast for the last two days. It depends on person to person, how they want to perform this.
Navratri Puja Procedure and Fasting:
There is specific Navratri Puja procedure in India for starting Navratri festival. People in North India grow some seeds of jau in these nine days. People put in some seeds of jau in a not so thick layer of soil. The growth of the seeds are observed as this is considered to be directly associated with how much kripa is there on the family. The saplings are called khetri and after nine days, these are immersed in a water body. Then comes the Shringar of Maa Durga. Red chunni, lipstick, bindi, kajal and every other lady items are offered to make Maa Durga happy. This year Navratri 2021 fasting dates are starting from April 13 and fasting will be end on April 22, 2021.
Some families light a lamp that burns all the time these nine days. It can be covered but it is best to keep it open. This ever-lighted lamp is lit to eliminate the negative energy from the house. A coconut covered by a red chunni is kept at the worship place. Some families keep kalash. It is an earthen pot having water, sugar, rice and a five-rupee coin. It also has five suparis in it. It is kept and worshipped for nine days and after it, the water is sprinkled in the entire house. This water is considered as holy so it can even be drunk.
For fasting, people usually have fruits, milk and tea in the day and have one flour based diet. Non-vegetarian food is not allowed while fasting. Being on a complete fruit diet is considered as the best. In navratri, the person first takes bath in the morning, worships the goddess, offers the bhog to her and then has the first food item. It is little difficult but devotion is the force that drives them through it.
