Wycherley International School came alive with an unveiled tradition and culture as the Hindu Society of the School celebrated "Navarathri" in the High School premises during the last week of October. The students of the School dressed in beautiful colourful traditional clothing enhanced the occasion with high spiritual atmosphere. Their joy filled smiling faces and banter filled the hearts of all with happiness. The celebration enlightened and educated the Wycherley students of all nationalities and beliefs, the importance and the serenity of Hindu religion, customs and devotion.

The foyer was decorated with beautiful colourful Rangoli, which is a traditional art used for many centuries on special occasions, in order to create a welcoming area for the deities. It had beautiful floral designs combined with various geometric designs. The Rangoli is to bring good luck to the occasion and to Wycherley.

The vicinity had the arrangement of Golu which is traditional as well as an artful arrangement of Hindu Gods and Goddesses, for worship was made. This changed the entire atmosphere of Wycherley bringing in the picturesque beauty of a temple of worship.

The programme was inaugurated with the lighting of the traditional oil lamp, which was followed by a speech made by Miss. Keshini Sritharan on the significance and the implications of Navarathri. She explained to the audience that the Navarathri Festival is a significant occasion for the Hindu devotees around the world. The beginning of spring and the beginning of autumn are two very important junctions in the climatic and solar influence and are taken as opportunities to worship the divine mother. The dates of the festival are determined according to the lunar calendar.

She further clarified that Navarathri, a word from the Sanskrit vocabulary means nine nights where Nava stands for nine and Rathri stands for nights. Navarathri is the celebration of the goddess Durga that is the manifestation of the deity in the form of Shakti (energy). Navarathri is celebrated on nine days where on the first three days the mother is invoked as the powerful Durga/Kali to destroy various impurities and vices, on the next three days the mother is invoked as Lakshmi who is considered to bestow her devotees with inexhaustible wealth and on the last three days as Saraswathi to have the overall success in life.

The celebrations commenced with everyone rising to sing their praises and gratitude to their sacred mother and her forms of Durga the Goddess of Purity, Lakshmi, the Goddess of Wealth, Saraswathie, the Goddess of Wisdom. All the students were happy to join the rhythm. The pooja began with the celebration of various rituals that pertain to the Hindu tradition. The school premises were filled with the ringing of bells, blessings and music, as devotional songs were sung to the sacred mother. The beautiful event of colours, lights and blessings was then brought to a close after a classical dance presented by the students of High School. The sharing of sweets and traditional food filled the school with merriment.