Hundreds gather at Frisco's Karya Siddhi Hanuman Temple to celebrate Navaratri

On Thursday night, the Karya Siddhi Hanuman Temple in Frisco filled with orange. Hundreds of devotees wore bright shades of the color to mark one night of Navaratri, a Hindu festival honoring the divine feminine. Children, parents, grandparents and college students prayed, sang and danced together.

At the Frisco temple, the holiday runs nine nights and 10 days, and each night has its own color and its own form of the feminine divine. Pavani Kamalapuram, a temple volunteer and ritual coordinator, said the holiday honors women as a source of strength. She said it teaches devotees to move from ignorance to knowledge and from darkness to light. The evening started with aarti, an evening prayer and candlelight ritual. Two large video screens showed the blessing and the lyrics so people standing far back could follow along. Many visitors stopped to photograph a large, colorful shrine built for the festival. Sunitha Cheruvu, one of the temple's founders, said the shrine and temple are meant to engage all five senses. "As you walk in, the idea is you leave your worldly worries behind," she said.

The high point of the night was Garba, a traditional dance from the Indian state of Gujarat that honors the mother goddess. A group of women and teenagers started dancing in a tight circle. The circle kept growing until it reached the edges of the sanctuary, and the dancing went on for more than an hour.

Kenny Patel, a Frisco resident from Gujarat, joined the dance. She said the festival is an important way to pass culture on to the next generation, since many children in the community are now born in the U.S. "We are trying to do our best to show it over here," she said.

Dhanunjaya Naidu, the temple's treasurer, called Navaratri one of the most significant festivals in Hinduism.

This story is based on original reporting by The Dallas Morning News (Dallas News).