Shades and Hues of Navratri Festival in Mumbai

Last year, when I had travelled by a local train in the Ladies compartment during the Navratri festival, I noticed that all the women in the ladies compartment were dressed in blue.


The next day when I had travelled again I saw that they were all dressed in yellow.

Seeing two women dressed in the same colour is normal but seeing more than twenty ladies sitting next to each other in similar colours in a public place is rare, especially if they don’t know each other.

So how did they decide on same color?

Good question!

I was naturally amused and I had approached one woman to ask her about this dress code and that’s when I learnt that women who celebrate Navrati festival observe a dress color code which is similar to the color of sari worn by Goddess Mahalaxmi idol at Mahalaxmi temple in Mumbai during the festival.

Legend has it, that Goddess Durga wore a different coloured saree for each of the nine days of Navratri.

Quite a fashion statement, I must say!!

I am told that the colours to sport during this period are :

Pratipada – October 8, Friday- Green
Dwitiya – October 9, Saturday - Grey
Tritiya – October 10, Sunday - Pink
Chaturthi - October 11, Monday- White
Panchami – October 12, Tuesday- Red
Shasti – October 13, Wednesday- Blue
Saptami – October 14, Thursday - Yellow
Ashtami – October 15, Friday - Violet
Navami - October 16 , Saturday- Peacock

So don’t be surprised if you see women in same color outfits OR maybe you could join in too by wearing the right colour.

Will you??