Jyoti Kalash (

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had diffused there from the northwest in the late ...

: ) is a symbolic representation of

Hindu Hindus (; ) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pages 35–37 Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for ...

goddess

Durga Durga ( sa, दुर्गा, ) is a major Hindu goddess, worshipped as a principal aspect of the mother goddess Mahadevi. She is associated with protection, strength, motherhood, destruction, and wars. Durga's legend centres around c ...

. During

Navaratri Navaratri is an annual Hindu festival observed in the honour of the goddess Durga. It spans over nine nights (and ten days), first in the month of Chaitra (March/April of the Gregorian calendar), and again in the month of Sharada. It is o ...

festival devotees light Jyoti Kalash, in temples of Devi, to appease her. The word Jyoti Kalash comes from combination of two

words - Jyoti (

Divine Light In theology, divine light (also called divine radiance or divine refulgence) is an aspect of divine presence perceived as light during a theophany or vision, or represented as such in allegory or metaphor. The term "light" has been widely used ...

) and

Kalasha A kalasha, also spelled kalash or kalasa, also called ghat or ghot ( sa, कलश , Telugu: కలశము Kannada: ಕಳಶ literally "pitcher, pot"), is a metal (brass, copper, silver or gold) pot with a large base and small mouth, large eno ...

. The Jyoti Kalash consists of earthen lamps (

Diyas Zarina Diyas ( kk, Зари́на Ди́ас; born 18 October 1993) is a Kazakh professional tennis player. She has been ranked as high as No. 31 in the world by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA). Diyas has won one WTA singles title, at the ...

) lit with ghee, which are placed on earthen pots (

), covered with earthen lid. The fire (Jyoti) burns continuously for nine days and nights of Navaratri, symbolizing the divine presence of mother goddess on earth during nine days of Navaratri. Surrounding the main temple are many big halls where Jyoti Kalashas are lit by the devotees are kept for nine days, which are supervised by volunteers, who keep feeding the lamps with ghee for nine days. Many people install Jyoti Kalash at their home also during Navaratri. The procession of Jyoti Kalash is taken out on ninth and final day of festival to immerse the Jyoti Kalash in river or other water bodies.Shri H.S. Jain, learned counsel for the petitioner submits that the petitioner has arranged for Akhand Jyoti Kalash procession to immerse the same in river Kalyani. Procession is to be taken out from the prescribed route from temple of goddess Durga to the said river in village Safdarganj, district Barabanki.
Vasudev Gupta v State Of U.P.,Thru. Princ. Secy., Home & Others The Jyoti Kalash procession can be seen in

Rajasthan Rajasthan (; lit. 'Land of Kings') is a state in northern India. It covers or 10.4 per cent of India's total geographical area. It is the largest Indian state by area and the seventh largest by population. It is on India's northwestern s ...

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and especially in Chhattisgarh, where the festival and installation of Jyoti Kalash is very popular and people throng the temples of Bambleshwari, Danteshwari, Mahamaya, Maoli, Kankalin, Ashtabhuji Temple, Adbhar and many others to install the Jyoti Kalash.

References

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Photo of hundreds of Jyoti Kalash at

Raipur Raipur ( ) is the capital city of the Indian state of Chhattisgarh. Raipur is also the administrative headquarters of Raipur district and Raipur division, and the largest city of the state. It was a part of Madhya Pradesh before the state of Ch ...

.

Beautiful photo of Jyoti Kalashas at a temple in

.

Jyoti Kalash house at Ratanpur's glorious MAHAMAYA TEMPLE.

References

External links

See also