Navratri is a 9 day-long festival that is celebrated in India. Navratri is the
celebration of Devi Durga and her 9 forms. Devi Durga is also synonymous with Adi
Shakti. Adi Shakti means energy, power, and empowerment. Adi Shakti celebrates
the female energy of the universe. The energy that brings about equilibrium and
balance. The nine forms of Devi Durga – 9 goddesses of Navratri – are Maa
Shailaputri, Maa Bhramacharini, Maa Chandraghanta, Maa Kushmanda, Maa Skandamata,
Maa Katyayani, Maa Kaalratri, Maa Mahagauri, and Maa Siddhidatri.
Day 1: Navratri Story: Maa Shailaputri
Maa Shailaputri is the goddess that is worshipped on the first day of the
nine-day-long Hindu festival of Navratri. Shailaputri means the daughter of the
mountains. Before she was born as Shailaputri, she was born as Sati. The daughter
of Daksha Prajapati, one of the sons of Lord Brahma. Sati was in love with Lord
Shiva and she really wanted to marry him but her father Daksa Prajapati was
absolutely against this marriage. According to him Shiva was a dirty ascetic not
meant for marrying girls from respectable families but this did not affect Sati’s
love for Shiva and she married him even though her father was against it and she
started living with Lord Shiva in Kailash Parvat.
After a few years of her marriage, she got to know that her father Daksa
Prajapati was organizing a huge yajna in which all gods and goddesses were
invited. She was very excited because she missed her parents and she wanted to go
home and visit them but unfortunately they did not receive an invitation. Sati
could not believe it and she thought maybe there was a mistake. Maybe it was
obvious, you know, daughters are always welcome in their homes, aren’t they? So
she decided to go and visit her parents even though Shiva really tried to tell
her that, ‘No if we haven’t received an invitation maybe we are not expected
there and we shouldn’t be going there.’ But Sati did not listen. She did not pay
heed to Shiva’s words and she went home. She was excited to meet her parents
after so many months of being married and the moment she reached she received a
cold shoulder not just from her father but also from all the relatives who had
gathered there. It was only her mother who welcomed her and embraced her but Sati
was heartbroken she could not bear the thought of being unwelcome in her own
house. The very same house where she grew up, the very same house where she had
those lovely memories and her own father, who she loved so much, humiliated her,
humiliated her choice of husband. Sati could not bear it and she entered the huge
fire that was burning and she self-immolated herself.
The moment this news reached Shiva he was livid and he reached there. He was so
angry that he pulled the half-burning corpse of his wife from the fire. He was so
enraged that he took the form of an angry god Veerabhadra and caused immense
destruction over there, so much so, that he even beheaded Daksha Prajapati. He
took the half-burning corpse of his wife with him dragging it in fury, in rage.
On the way, different body parts of Sati fell on different places and these
places are called Shakti Peethas. There are 52 Shakti Peethas in India. Daksa
Prajapati was later forgiven because of the intervention of Lord Vishnu and he
was given the head of a ram. He even completed his Yajna in the presence of all
the gods.
Sati took birth again and this time as the daughter of the Himalayas. She came to
be known as Shailaputri, which means daughter of the Himalayas. In the same
incarnation, she had two other names Parvati and Hemavati and in this birth too
she was married to Lord Shiva. Shailaputri is considered one of the most powerful
forms of Durga and we pray to her on the first day of the Navratri festival. She
is immensely powerful, she rides a bull called Nandi and she carries a trident
and a lotus. She’s known for her many many glories.
Day 2: Navratri Story: Devi Brahmacharini
Devi Bhramacharini is a form of goddess Durga that is celebrated on the second
day of the 9 day long festival of Navratri. After her self-immolation in her
previous birth as Sati she took birth again and this time she was born to the
king of the mountains, The Himalayas. In this birth she came to be known as
Parvati and in this birth Parvati became Bhramacharini. ‘Bhram’ over here means
tapasya and ‘charini’ means a female devotee – an ardent female devotee. One day
Parvati was visited by Narada Muni-ji. Narada Muni-ji told her that, ‘In this
birth too you can get married to Lord Shiva but for that, you will need to do
severe penance.’ At once Parvati decided that she was ready for any kind of
penance. She went into severe penance. It was no ordinary tapasya, her tapasya
went on for thousands and thousands of years. For the first thousand years, she
only ate fruits and flowers, for the next hundred years, she only ate vegetables,
for the next three thousand years she only ate dried leaves. This kind of tapasya
or penance was different. Nobody had ever seen this kind of tapasya and after the
3000 years where she ate only leaves she went on to eating nothing. She gave up
water, she gave up food and her purpose of life became severe penance. She became
weak and absolutely emaciated. Once when her mother visited her she was shattered
to see her and she remarked, ‘Oh! ma.’ It is because of this remark that
sometimes Parvati is also known as Uma. When she gave up eating leaves she earned
herself another name – the name is Aparna – somebody who lives without the
leaves. After so many years of penance, Lord Brahma was pleased and he visited
her and blessed her saying that due to her penance Lord Shiva too was pleased and
they had Lord Brahma’s blessings and the both of them could get married in this
birth. Bhramacharini is the symbol of immense sacrifice, penance, solitude,
purity. On the second day of Navratri, we pray to her to give us so much strength
that we can be completely focused on penance towards God, what we love and
towards sacrifice, and towards solitude. In this form, she carries a rosary in
one hand and a commandal in the other. People pray to her for peace, prosperity,
and happiness. A lot of people who follow the Navratri also observe a fast for
all nine days. They go without food and sometimes even water. On those days they
pray to goddess Bhramacharini for strength so that they can stay focused and so
that they can deal with whatever they wish for.
Day 3: Navratri Story: Devi Chandraganta
On the third day of the auspicious celebration or festival of Navratri, we pray
to Devi Chandraganta. Chandraganta, the goddess whose forehead is bedecked with a
crescent-shaped moon that also looks like the bell of a temple. Which is the
‘Ghanta’. How did Chandraganta get her name? How did Devi Durga in this form take
another avatar?
In one of her previous births, Devi Durga was born as Sati and she has
self-immolated herself. When she was born again, she was born to Himavan and
Mena, the God of the mountains. It is said that Himavan and Mena had done severe
penance and prayed to Aadi-Shakti and Devi Durga herself took birth as their
daughter, Parvati. And Parvati on the insistence of Narad Muniji went into a
severe penance to win the love of Lord Shiva and then after a severe penance Lord
Shiva agreed to marry her. However, after he had lost Sati, Lord Shiva had become
detached. He did not care any longer about anything. So when he came down to
Himavan and Mena’s house for the wedding ceremony, he appeared to look really,
really scary. With his matted hair, his body covered in ash, snakes all over his
body. His looks scared all the people who had assembled there for the wedding.
And so much that his wedding processions comprised ascetics, ghouls, ghosts. Some
of the relatives of Himavan and Mena even fainted out of sheer fear. When Parvati
saw him, she was upset, yes, she was scared too. But she did not want to give up,
not now, not after that severe penance that she went through. So she took a very
very scary form too. She was huge, she was sitting on a lion and she grew ten
arms and she carried a different thing in each hand, a trident in one, a mace in
one, an arrow, a bow, a sword, lotus, goad, bell, kamandal and she left her tenth
hand to bless her devotees. And then she closed her eyes and with a pure heart,
she prayed to Lord Shiva and begged him to change his avatar. To change his form,
to come there as a more presentable groom and also to bring along a more
presentable procession.
Lord Shiva heard her prayers and at once transformed into his handsome avatar.
And his wedding procession, too, transformed and comprised gods, goddesses,
devas, devis. And both of them were married with a lot of pomp and show. Since
that day, the third day of Navratri, we celebrate and pray to Maa Chandraganta,
the third avatar of Devi Durga, Aadi Shakti Devi Durga.
It is said that when devotees pray to Maa Chandraganta with a pure heart then she
eradicates all negative energy from their lives. All their sins, all the ghostly
tribulations, anything that is negative, their depression, their mental anxiety,
tribulations and troubles are all wiped out. When she rides a lion, she exudes
positivity, she exudes fierceness, yet she has the motherly aura. towards her
devotees.
Day 4: Navratri Story: Maa Kushmanda
Maa Kushmanda is the Goddess of a form of Durga that is worshipped on the fourth
day of the 9-day-long festival of Navratri, which is celebrated in India. Maa
Kushmanda is also known as the smiling Goddess. Her name translates into three
small words – ‘Ku’ means little. ‘Ushma’ means small and smiling and ‘Anda’ means
egg which translates into a small cosmic egg. It is believed that is was Maa
Kushmanda who actually created the universe. In the beginning, when there was
nothing and there was only darkness, that’s when Maa Kushmanda using her energy
produced a small cosmic egg, which is the universe where we live.
It is believed that it is Maa Kushmanda who resides in the core of the centre of
the sun and it is her that who gives the sun the direction. It is she who gives
all universe warmth and energy. At the beginning of time when there was nothing,
and after Maa Kushmanda had created the universe, she created 3 life forms – from
her left eye she created a fierce Goddess called Maa Mahakali. From her third
eye, from her forehead, she produced Maa. And from her right eye created a
benevolent and smiling Goddess, Maa Mahasaraswati. And then she started glancing
at these 3 life forms.
These three life forms, Mahalaxmi, Mahakali and Mahasaraswati were the first
three life forms of the earth. She glanced at Mahakali. From Mahakaali a male and
female were born. The male had 5 heads and 10 arms. She named him Shiva. The
female has one head and 4 arms – she named her Saraswati. Then she glanced at
Mahalaxmi. And from her too a male and a female were born. The male had 4 heads
and 4 arms – she named him Brahma. The female has 1 head and 4 arms, she named
him Laxmi. And then Maa Kushmanda glanced at Mahasaraswati. And from her too
emerged a male and a female. The male had 1 head and 4 arms – she named him
Vishnu. And the female too had 1 head and 4 arms – and she named her Shakti. And
then she presented Shakti to Shiva, Saraswati to Brahma, and Laxmi to Vishnu as
their consorts. It is believed that these 3 went on to create the rest of the
universe. And then Maa Kushmanda absorbed the three back into herself. She
absorbed Mahakali, Mahasaraswati, Mahalaxmi, all back into herself. And then it
is believed that she became one with Shakti as an orb of energy, as an orb of
form. And since then it is believed, Maa Kushmanda is the one that actually
provides the entire universe with its warmth and energy.
On the fourth day of Navratri we pray to Maa Kushmanda and she removes all
obstacles from the lives of her devotees. Maa Kushmanda has eight arms, and in
these eight arms, she carries a kamandal, a bow, an arrow, a pot of nectar, a
lotus, a rosary, a disc and a mace. She rides a lion and because of which her
devotees are fearless like her.
Day 5: Navratri Story: Maa Skandamata
Maa Skandamata is worshipped on the fifth day of the nine day-long festival of
Navratri. ‘Skanda’ means Kartikeya who was the firstborn child of Shiva and
Parvati and ‘mata’ means mother so Skandamata essentially is the story of goddess
Parvati. We all know that after Sati immolated herself, Shiva became completely
disconnected from the world he lived away from everybody deep in tapasya and he
did not care at all about what was happening. He lived as an ascetic.
Around that time there were two demons Surahpadman and Tarakasura and they had
got a boon that they could not be destroyed. In fact, the only person who could
kill them was the offspring of Shiva and Parvati. However when Shiva completely
disconnected himself from the world, all the gods and goddesses got really
worried, ‘What if they’ll never manage getting rid of the two demons Tarakasura
and Surahpadman? And that’s when they all went to Lord Vishnu and begged him to
find a solution. Lord Vishnu told them that it was absolutely their mistake. Had
they not gone to Daksha Prajapati’s Yajna without Shiva and Sati being a part of
it, this would have never happened. Sati would have never immolated herself and
Shiva would have never been disconnected from everybody. So Vishnu had no
solution. That’s when Narad Muniji went and told Parvati, who had taken birth
again, she was another incarnation of Sati, and this time she was born to the god
of the mountains. Narad Muniji visited Parvati and told her that in this life too
– she could get married to the love of her life, which is Shiva, however that
would require severe penance, severe tapasya. Parvati really wanted to get
married to Shiva and she went through thousands and thousands of years of tapasya
– severe penance, after which Shiva was finally pleased he relented. And they
both got married.
When their union happened a blinding seed – a powerful seed – took birth. This
seed was so radiant that Lord Agni himself was given the job of taking care of
the seed because from its radiance the child of Shiva and Parvati would be born.
However, Agni could not bear the radiance of the seed and he took help from
Ganga. Ganga looked after the seed and then Parvati herself took the form of
water because she knew that only she could carry the seed that was born of her
union with Shiva. And then Kartikeya was born. He had six faces and he was looked
after by six mothers also called ‘Krittikas’ which is how he got the name of
Kartikeya.
In south India, Kartikeya is also known as Lord Murugan. He’s the
commander-in-chief of the Army of Gods. He is ever so powerful and he’s blessed
by all gods and goddesses not just with powerful weapons but also immense
knowledge.
It is said that when he grew up a little bit he went to Brahma himself to gain
knowledge. And on the first day, he asked Brahma a question. He asked him the
meaning of ‘Om’ and Brahma took 12,000 verses to explain him the meaning of but
Kartikeya was not satisfied so he went to his own father Lord Shiva and asked
him. Shiva explained the meaning of ‘Om’ in 12 lakh verses this but Kartikeya was
not satisfied. But by now he had figured out the meaning of ‘Om’ and he explained
it to everybody in 12 crore verses. That was Kartikeya – ever so powerful – which
is why it is believed that if you pray to Skandamata you automatically end up
praying to Kartikeya.
Skandamata has four hands. In one hand she carries Kartikeya as a baby, in her
second and third hand she carries a lotus, and with her fourth hand, she blesses
her devotees. Skandamata rides a lion and she sits on a lotus. Skandamata is
believed to be the powerful mother of a powerful god and so she’s worshipped on
the fifth day of Navratri.
Day 6: Navratri Story: Maa Katyayani
Maa Katyayani is worshipped on the sixth day of the nine-day long Hindu festival
of Navratri. Maa Katyayani is one of the most popular forms of Durga who is
prayed to during Navratri. It is believed that Maa Katyayani was born to kill and
bring an end to Mahishasura. The story goes like this – There was once a sage
named Katyayan and he was childless. And he prayed with all his heart to the
Trinity Shiva, Vishnu and Brahma. He was blessed that one day he will have a
wonderful child – a child will make him very very proud. In the meantime,
Mahishasurah the demon was really really becoming powerful so much so that the
Gods the devas also feared him and they all went to the trinity and begged them
to find a solution. Shiva, Vishnu, Brahma combined their energies and created a
female form. This female form was extremely radiant – as radiant as a thousand
suns and she had 18 arms, she had fierce eyes, she rode a lion and was given the
blessings to defeat Mahishasura in battle. Just before going into battle, all the
gods blessed her with many gifts – Shiva gave her a mighty Trident, Vishnu gave
her a Sudarshan Chakra, Brahma gave her a water-pot and a rosary, Varuna gave her
a Conch / Shunk, Agni gave her a Dart, Surya gave her a Quiver, Vaayu gave her a
Bow, Indra gave her a Thunderbolt, Kuber gave her a Mace, Kaal gave her a sword
and a shield and Vishwa Karma gave her a Battle-Axe. She rides a lion and she is
fierce. It is said that she went into a mighty battle with Maheshasura. The
battle between Katyayani and Maheshasura went on for days and finally, she
defeated him by chopping off his head. Katyayani is also known as Mahishasura
Mardani the one who killed and defeated Maheshasura. And her celebration, her
victory is celebrated in India. A day when a woman took a form that was fierce
and she went down on earth and she defeated a demon who was as terrible as
Maheshasura. Maa Katyayani has four hands – in one she holds a sword, in the
other, she holds a lotus, with the third hand she blesses her devotees, and with
the fourth hand, she protects them.
Day 7: Navratri Story: Maa Kaalratri
On the 7th day of Navratri, we celebrate the 7th avatar of Goddess Durga,
Kaalratri (also spelt Kalaratri). She is also known as Shubhankari. Kaalratri is
the fiercest form of Devi Durga. She is the destroyer of evil. Maa Kaalratri is
black as night and has three luminous eyes. She exhales fire. She has four hands,
in one she holds a thunderbolt, in the other she holds a sword. Some stories say
that her other two hands lay in mudras- one in ‘abhay’, symbolising her
fearlessness, and the other in ‘varada’, symbolising her benevolence. Some say
that she uses one hand to hold and the other to protect. After the asuras Shumbha
& Nishumbha invaded devlok and destroyed Indra’s kingdom, the devas were left
helpless since these two asuras had a boon that no man or god could kill them. To
save the devas from the terror, Indra visited Parvati and apprised her of the
situation. Parvati sent Chandi, also known as Kaali, to deal with the demons.
However, Shumbha & Nishumbha had sent two other demons called Chanda & Munda in
the battlefield already. Chandi killed the demons and earned herself the name
Chamunda. She then faced another demon called Rakhtabeej. Rakhtabeej had a
peculiar and powerful boon. He could never be destroyed. Whenever Rakhtabeej’s
blood was shed and it came in contact with the ground, a new Rakhtabeej would
emerge. This infuriated Maa Kaalratri and as she struck him, she bent low and
drank his blood before it could come in contact with the ground. That was the end
of Rakhtabeej. Maa Kaalratri then went on to kill Shumbha and Nishumbha,
restoring peace in Devlok.
Day 8: Navratri Story: Maa Mahagauri
On the eighth day of the nine day-long festival of Navratri, we celebrate and we
pray to Maa Mahagauri. ‘Maha’ means extremely and ‘Gauri’ means fair. This is a
story of Parvati-ji and once when Parvatiji in the form of Kaalratri was fighting
all the demons and when she came back her skin had turned absolutely dark and try
as she may she just couldn’t get rid of that dark skin. Her husband Lord Shiva
made a little fun of her. He teased her and called her ‘kali’. However, this
really really infuriated her and she went to Lord Brahma. She prayed and prayed
to him and she told him that, ‘I want to get rid of this dark skin. Make me fair
once again.’ After a severe penance, Lord Brahma was pleased and he blessed
Parvati. He told her that she should go and take a dip in The Mansarovar Lake in
the Himalayas. The moment Parvati stepped into The Mansarovar Lake in the
Himalayas, her dark skin separated from her and magically took the form of a
female. This female was called Kaushiki. Kaushiki went on to destroy two terrible
demons Shumbha and Nishumbha. Shumbha and Nishumbha had got a boon from Lord
Bhrama that they could not be killed by any man, god, demon or deity. And that’s
how Kaushiki killed them.
Once Parvati had bathed in the river she emerged absolutely stunning. Her skin
was now fair and radiant and once again she became the fair-skinned one and came
to be known as Maa Mahagauri. Maa Mahagauri has four arms. She carries a trident
in one hand and a damaru in the other. She rides a white bull. She is a symbol of
kindness and morality. That was a wonderful story, wasn’t it? But then, it makes
me think about something.
Tell me, is fair skin really a symbol of beauty? Is it important to have fair
skin or a fair heart? I think Maa Mahagauri had an enormously courageous and
beautiful heart and no matter what the colour of her skin was, she was the one
who destroyed demons before and after.
Day 9: Navratri Story: Maa Siddhidatri
On the ninth day of the nine-day long Hindu festival of Navratri, we worship the
ninth form of Devi Durga. The ninth form of Devi Durga is Maa Siddhidatri.
It is said that at the beginning of time when there was nothing in the universe
there was only darkness then Maa Kushmanda created the universe using her radiant
smile. Maa Kushmanda also created the holy trinity. She created Lord Shiva, Lord
Brahma and Lord Vishnu and each one of these gods was given a job to do. Brahma
is the creator, Vishnu the preserver and Shiva the destroyer. Once all these gods
were created, Shiva went and prayed to Maa Kushmanda and asked her more
perfection. He asked Maa Kushmanda to bestow him with lots and lots of blessings,
to bestow him with more perfection. And that’s when Maa Kushmanda created another
goddess. She created Maa Siddhidatri.
Maa Siddhidatri blessed Shiva not just with eight or ‘ashtasiddhis’ but with 18
siddhis or 18 perfections. These 18 comprised not just the ‘ashtasiddhis’ or the
eight perfections but also ten more siddhis which are the secondary perfections
as defined by Lord Krishna. And then something amazing happened, half of Lord
Shiva’s body became one with Maa Siddhidatri. She became half of Shiva and that
form of Shiva where he is half female and half male is called Ardhanareshwar.
Maa Siddhidatri also blessed Brahma and Vishnu with eight perfections or the
‘ashtasiddhis’ and these eight Siddhis (perfections) are:
Anima: The ability to become as small as an atom
Mahima: The ability to become infinitely large
Garima: The ability to become infinitely heavy
Laghima: The ability to become infinitely light
Prati: The ability to become omnipresent
Prakhambya: The ability to make all that you desire come true
Ishitva: Lordship
Vashitva: The power to conquer all.
And that is why Maa Siddhidatri is worshipped on the ninth day of the Navratri
which is also called Ram Navmi or Naumi.
Maa Siddhidatri sits on a lotus and her ride is a lion. She has four hands. In
one hand she carries a Gada, in one a chakra, in one a lotus, and in one a Shunk.
Maa Siddhidatri is not just worshipped by humans she is worshipped by the devas,
by the Gandharvas, by the asuras, by the yakshas, and by the Siddhas.