Ever since I joined the corporate world in 2009, I have come across this tradition of wearing different colored clothes, fixed for each day of Navratri. The people in human resources circulate instruction to wear these colored clothes on those particular days. These are called as the colors of Navratri. I have always assumed that these colors have some religious significance. So I have followed this dress code to be part of the group, for many years. At least when I have the clothes of the particular color.
But when I read a news article today, I was shocked to realize that the colors have no religious significance. Or this is what the news article claims. There is a marketing gimmick linked to it.
The Story behind the nine colors of Navratri
As it turned out, Maharashtra Times, a newspaper published in Maharashtra had low circulation back in 2003. It was considered a masculine newspaper. The editorial team, came up with an idea of wooing women to increase their readership. They decided to play on the assumption that women love to buy and flaunt new clothes. The just needed an occasion.
Maharashtra Times provided them with just that.
Picking up the occasion of Navratri which continues for nine days, they started appealing women on their front page to wear a particular color. They even displayed pictures of successful ladies, dressed in the color of the day. The paper asked the ladies to click a pictures in office and send them in. The newspaper displayed the best photos on a dedicated page.
In time, they added more colors of Navratri, including white which is not worn on auspicious occasions. The women wore it just because the society had accepted this gimmick. Slowly the trend picked up along with the readership of the Maharashtra Times. The trend later became a culture.
It’s not a bad culture at all. Just that people follow it without knowing the truth behind it. The uniformity in colors during these days signify unity in diversity.
For me, I have a weapon to play with in case someone points out why I am not wearing the colors of Navratri. I can just ask a counter question regarding the significance of these colors.
In reality, I do not own pink, green, white. And I think one more color which I forgot.
All that is written above is based on an article which appeared on thequint.com. I take no credits for any research leading to this reveal. Neither do I intend to hurt religious sentiments via my blog. The link to the original article is here.
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