Festivity filled the air as the garba and dandiya dancers in flamboyant costumes kept pace with rhythmic beat of the drums, moving gracefully around a lighted lamp in front of the picture of Durga, the divine mother or the feminine form of cosmic energy. The rings of dancers revolving in cyclic movements merged into exquisite patterns symbolising, as widely believed, the changing sequence of life surrounding the eternally constant and unchanging reality of the divine mother.

The music and dance lending vibrant colour and merriment to the evenings is the festival of Navrathri, a celebration lasting nine nights (Sanskrit nava denoting nine and rathri night). The celebrations enter the ninth night as I sit down to write a portion of this post, to culminate in Dussehra or Vijaya dashami on the tenth day, falling on the 3rd October 2014.

The concept of divine mother or feminine energy is a major…