Happy Ayudha Puja!

          'Ayudha Puja' is an integral part of Navratri Festival(festival of triumph),a Hindu festival which is traditionally celebrated in India.It is also called 'Astra Puja' in some parts of India.Ayudha Puje or Astra Puje,in simple terms means,'Worship of implements or weapons.'Ayudha puja falls on the ninth day or Navami of bright half of moon's cycle of 15 days.

            This is about what exactly is 'Ayudha Puja.'Now let me describe about the way we celebrated 'Ayudha puja.'And doing it in a blogpost will also help me recollect the memories of Ayudha puja.

          'Ayudha puja' mainly refers to worship of weapons.So,first we had to clean our weapons.Weapons might mean different to different people but it basically refers to the things that are helping us achieve something.So the vehicles in our home,lifting machine in our new home which is under construction were the weapons to us.I took up the responsibility of washing all the motorbikes,Infact,I love doing that.By the time I was done with washing the vehicles,my mother was ready with the items to perform the puja.So the vehicles were parked in a line and lemons were placed in front of the front and back wheels of motorbikes.Then,the puja began and we all seeked the blessings of God to achieve more using these weapons.Once the puja was done,the vehicles were turned on and moved front for few meters such that the lemon gets squeezed.

              The same process was repeated in our farm as well but the vehicles there were different.After the puja and after the vehicles were moved,delicious sweets were distributed to everyone present there and even the workers Next comes the most wonderful part which I have been seeing from my childhood and I feel very happy each time I see that.It is the distribution of clothes to workers along with a box of sweets.Isnt this AWESOME???I really admire dad for this.Dad could simply give them money on the occasion of festival and tell them to celebrate the festival.But dad and mom make sure that they themselves get cloth material for men and women workers respectively.And then they give it to the workers with their own hands along with a box of sweets.The most amazing part is the whole family gets the cloth material.I just love Ayudha puja and mainly this part of Ayudha puja.

          So,this was the way in which we celebrated Ayudha Puja.

Thank you for reading.

Vishwesh Wali from India.