Ishita, Paritosh, Simran gear up for Navaratri

TV actors Paritosh Tripathi, Simran Khanna and Ishita Ganguly are thrilled about celebrating the nine-day long Navaratri.

"I have been celebrating Navaratri since childhood. I worship all the nine forms of goddess Durga on all the nine days. This year, I am shooting on Navaratri so it's quite difficult for me to do all of them, but I always keep fast on the first and last days of Navaratri," said Paritosh.

Like the masses, he also eats fruits and drinks coconut water during fast.

"On the day of Ashtami, I also perform Kanya Pujan, I feel it is best part of Navaratri because we believe that during Navaratri, goddess Durga comes home in the form of a little girl and we get blessings from all the girls. This year, I have decided to learn to play proper Garba because I love watching Garba, it's so colourful and a stressbuster," he added.

Talking about the festival, Simran said: "I will start nine days of fasting. Most of the time, I shoot for 12 hours everyday and in this condition doing nine days fast will be a bit difficult, but I am sure it will happen smoothly with the blessing of Maa.

"The reason to do the fast is because my mother used to do it. A few months back, she passed away, so I want to continue that tradition. This year, Navaratri is also important for me because I am working on a great show 'Yeh Rishta Kya Kahlata Hai'."

For Ishita, Navaratri is very special. "I am from Kolkata which is known for Durga Puja. I follow nine days of worship and rituals at my home and on the day of Ashtami, me and my mother visit a Durga Pandal and there, we meet our relatives and friends and worship. I generally visit Kolkata during Navaratri but this year, I am busy with my show 'Jag Janaani Mata Vaishno Devi - Kahani Mata Rani Ki'," she said.

( With inputs from IANS )