Mahanavami

A ten-day public celebration of the Hindu festival of Navaratri, which was observed in Vijayanagara — the capital of the Vijayanagara empire — during the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. It was held in the lunar month of Asvina, corresponding to the months of September and October in the Gregorian calendar. These celebrations included ritual and devotional practices, entertainment programmes, displays of the empire’s power and prestige and other events, which took place over nine days. In the Vijayanagara kingdom, the festival also marked the beginning of a new financial year. The royal platform, known as the Mahanavami Dibba, was an important site for these celebrations, which were were chronicled by foreign travellers, such as Domingo Paes and Fernao Nuniz, in their accounts of the empire.