For Shakta devotees, these great festivals are occasions to recognize the Divine Mother as the very ground of reality, and to align daily life with her presence. During Navaratri, the nine nights are devoted to the worship of the Goddess in her multiple forms, often understood as the Navadurga, with each day honoring a distinct manifestation. Homes and temples are cleansed and sanctified, altars are prepared, and a sacred vow is taken to engage in intensified worship. A consecrated kalasha, a sacred pot representing the Goddess, is installed, and the image or symbol of the Devi is adorned in different ways over the course of the festival. Devotees undertake various forms of fasting, from strict abstention to simple, sattvic diets, as a way of disciplining body and mind for deeper receptivity to her grace.

The daily rhythm of Navaratri centers on puja, mantra, and scripture. Offerings of flowers, incense, lamps, fruits, sweets, and other foods are made, accompanied by the recitation of texts such as the Devi Mahatmyam or Durga Saptashati. In many regions, especially in western India, the nights are filled with Garba and Dandiya Raas, circular devotional dances that gather the community around the Goddess. Kanya Puja, the reverential worship of young girls as embodiments of the Devi, is also observed, expressing the Shakta insight that the divine feminine pervades living beings. In some areas, dramatic performances such as Ram Lila are woven into the celebrations, situating Shakti within the broader sacred narratives of dharma and the victory of good over evil.

Durga Puja, especially prominent in Bengal and eastern regions, gives a particularly grand and communal form to this Shakta devotion. Clay images of Durga as Mahishasuramardini, often accompanied by her divine retinue, are installed in elaborately decorated pandals after formal rites of invocation and consecration. Over several days—most centrally Shashthi through Dashami—prescribed rituals unfold: bathing and adorning the image, daily arati, the offering of bhog, and collective pushpanjali in which devotees offer flowers while chanting mantras. Sandhi Puja, performed at the juncture of Ashtami and Navami, is regarded as especially potent and is marked by numerous lamps and special offerings.

These ritual observances are interwoven with rich cultural expressions that themselves become vehicles of devotion. Dhak drums, conch shells, devotional songs, and dances such as dhunuchi naach create an atmosphere in which the presence of the Goddess is felt as both intimate and majestic. Community feasts and the distribution of prasad embody the sense of the Mother who nourishes all, while practices such as Sindoor Khela among married women highlight her power as auspicious feminine energy. On Vijayadashami, the immersion of the images in water is performed with both joy and poignancy, signifying the Goddess’s return to her subtle abode and reminding devotees that her true dwelling is not limited to any form, but is to be recognized in the heart and in the fabric of the world itself.