GUYANESE Hindus observed the auspicious festival of Navratri, the annual festival that pays obeisance to the universal mother for nine nights concluding on Oct 24. It was one of the holiest periods in the Hindu calendar that was accompanied with fasting and prayers. All the Guyanese temples in NY hosted prayers. Temples were packed with worshippers during the nine nights, especially on the final evening when little girls representing the Devis in Hindu worship were honoured in Kumari pooja. Guyanese Pandit Rajin of New Amsterdam conducted a Ramyan Katha in Jamaica, Queens during the period attracting hundreds nightly. During Navratri, many Guyanese performed special poojas at home and in the mandirs.  
Navratri is an extremely wonderful festival, highly inspiring and instructive on how people should live. It is associated with the propitiation of the feminine aspects of the Almighty – Hindus do not discriminate among the sexes.  They worship Gods and Goddesses. In Hinduism, the lord is neither male nor female. Hindus pay obeisance to both male and female murthis representing their God or Goddess. During Navratri, Hindus focus on worshipping the Goddesses. And although Hindus pray to many Gods and Goddesses, there is only one God who take on many names. 
Hindus believe they all represent the same one almighty who take different appearances for different purposes and came on earth at different times with different names to model an appropriate lifestyle for humans. In Hinduism, Gods as well as Goddesses are worshipped and for every God there is a corresponding Goddess as his consort.
The Ramleela celebrations are associated with Navratri and Hindus are holding such celebrations in their communities.  Ram Leela plays are very popular in Trinidad, Guyana and Suriname and are staged during the entire period also in NY. At the conclusion of Navratri, called
Vijay Dashmi or Dussehra or the burning of Ravana effigy is burnt
symbolizing the destruction of evil. Dussehra symbolizes the conquest
of good over evil and was a holiday in India.
According to pandits at the mandirs, during Navratri, a devotee becomes conscious of his/her faults, limitations and internal enemies such as lust, hatred, greed and anger and wants to reform his life. People make sacrifices in their fast so they can become conscious of their faults and correct them. By worshipping Durga and her sisters, these internal enemies are destroyed and are replaced by love, cheerfulness, compassion, and devotion. The person becomes a new individual. During this period, people prayed with great fervour and devotion and pandits visited their homes. Newly planted Jhandis fluttered in the wind in front of the homes in Guyanese neighbourhoods – a sign hat they recently had pooja for Navratri.
The Pandits’ Katha along with the singing of Bhajans and
kirtan and the playing of music gave fulfilment to the devotees
religious aspirations. But it is not enough to think of God only during
Navratri. People need to make daily sacrifice and to permanently live a
decent life and be kind to others.