2 Oct 2006 : Video of Vijayadashami celebrations at Amritapuri: Vidya Puja, Amma initiates all into alphabet sings bhajans. Navaratri is a festival that is celebrated all over India. The word nava-ratri itself means "nine nights." We are presently living in the night—i.e. in darkness, in the darkness of ignorance. The Navaratri Puja signifies the removal of this internal darkness and the dawning of the light of knowledge. In this way, when the nine nights are finished, the 10th Day comes: Vijayadashami. Here, vijaya does not mean "victory" in the ordinary sense. Here, it means breaking the shackles and the limitations of the mind and attaining complete and total freedom.
