fasts and vrats
What is Navratri fasting?
What the observance is
Navratri fasting is a custom kept during the nine nights when the goddess is honored in her different forms. People who fast often eat lighter meals or follow specific food rules. This is not always a complete fast—many people eat once or twice a day, or eat only certain foods. The idea is to eat more simply and to focus inward during these nights of worship and prayer. Fasting is seen as a way to honor the goddess and to cleanse the body and mind.
What people commonly eat
Those observing Navratri fasting often eat foods seen as pure and gentle: milk, yogurt, cheese, fresh fruits, nuts, and root vegetables like potato, sweet potato, and yam. Some eat sabudana (tapioca pearls), water chestnut flour, millet, or barnyard millet. Many avoid grains like rice and wheat, onion, garlic, salt (or use rock salt instead), and sometimes oil. Some regions and families have their own rules. A person might eat fruit and milk for a day, or a simple meal of potatoes and ghee in the evening. The exact foods change from place to place and home to home.
How it is practiced today
Not everyone observes Navratri fasting, and it is done to different degrees. Some people keep a full fast on certain days, others eat one meal or eat lighter meals through the nine days. Many in the diaspora find ways to fast that fit their schedule—a light breakfast, a midday meal, and nothing after sunset. Some fast only on the first and last days, or on days devoted to the form of the goddess most important to them. Fasting is voluntary, and many choose not to fast at all while still honoring Navratri through prayer, worship, or keeping the festival.