Goddess Festival in Singapore

Navarathiri is now being celebrated in the temples in Singapore. Literally translated from English in Tamil to mean Nine Nights, Navarathiri is a dedicated to three Goddess in the Hindu pantheon - Durga, Lakshmi and Saraswati. Three days are dedicated to each goddess in the 9 days of festivities. Each goddess represents and embodies a virtue - Durga for Valor, Lakshmi for Wealth and Saraswati for Knowledge. My fondest memories of Navarathiri were dancing in the shows in the temples in the evenings. I remember one of my first public performances as a dancer was for a Navarathiri festival when I was four years old. It was in a small temple just after Little India and I and many other tiny dancers proudly took to the stage to do a simple dance item. Years later as a much more seasoned artist I continued to dance in many other temples during the Navarathiri festival in Singapore. It was always such an honor for me to perform. I will visit the Chettiar temple tomorrow with some of my non-Indian friends who want to participate in the festivities and to watch one of the dance concerts (for free) in the temple grounds. It is a sacred, spiritual and beautiful time to be in the temple absorbing the arts, music and the very best of indian spirituality.