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 Ma Siddhidatri. Ma Siddhidatri blessed Shiva not just with eight or ‘ashtasiddhis’ but with 18 siddhis or 18 perfections. Half of Lord Shiva’s body became one with Ma Siddhidatri. She became half of Shiva and that form of Shiva where he is half female and half male is called Ardhanareshwar. Listen to the complete story only on this...

On the eighth day of the nine day-long festival of Navratri, we celebrate and we pray to Ma Mahagauri. ‘Maha’ means extremely and ‘Gauri’ means fair. 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. She prayed to Lord Brahma and she told him that, ‘I want to get rid of this dark skin'. Once Parvati had bathed in the Manasarovar lake she emerged...

Ma Kaalratri is the goddess who is worshiped on the seventh day of Navratri. Kaal refers to time as well as death in Hindi whereas ratri refers to night or darkness/ignorance. Hence, Ma Kaalratri is the one which brings the death of darkness or the one who ends ignorance. She is also commonly referred as Kali. Once two demons named Shumbha and Nishumbha invaded devaloka and defeated Indra and his army. After losing his kingdom, Swarga, Indra along with all the other gods went towards the...

Ma Katyayani is worshipped on the sixth day of Navratri. She has four hands and she wields a long sword and a lotus in two of them. She blesses with the third hand and protects with the fourth one. According to the legends, there was a sage known as ‘Kat’ who had a son named ‘Katya’. Later, a sage named ‘Katyayan’ took birth as his descendant. Listen to the complete story only on this podcast. नवरात्रि के छठे दिन मां कात्यायनी की पूजा की जाती है। उसके चार हाथ हैं और वह उनमें से दो में एक...

Ma Skandamata is the fifth avatar of Durga and is worshipped on the fifth day of Navratri. Skanda is another name for Lord Kartikeya (Parvati’s son and Lord Ganesha’s brother). Mata means mother and thus Skandamata means mother of Skanda or Kartikeya. As is clear from the name, she is another form of Parvati. Listen to the complete story only on this podcast. मां स्कंदमाता दुर्गा के पांचवें अवतार हैं और नवरात्रि के पांचवें दिन उनकी पूजा की जाती है। स्कंद भगवान कार्तिकेय (पार्वती के पुत्र और...

Ma Kushmanda is worshipped by devotees on the fourth day of Navratri. This avatar of Adi Shakti is also referred to as the Smiling Goddess. It is said that when the universe was non-existent and there was darkness everywhere, Ma Kushmanda produced this “little cosmic egg” with her smile. The universe was then filled with light. It is believed that she is the source of all the energy in the universe. Further, it is also believed that she lives in the core of the Sun and thus provides energy to...

On the third day of Navratri, the third Power (Shakti) of Goddess Durga is worshipped. This avatar of Goddess Durga is known and worshipped as Ma Chandraghanta (Mother Chandraghanta). Her forehead is bedecked with the crescent moon (Chandra) resembling the shape of a temple bell (ghantaa). Listen to the complete story only on this podcast. नवरात्रि के तीसरे दिन मां दुर्गा की तीसरी शक्ति (शक्ति) की पूजा की जाती है। देवी दुर्गा के इस अवतार को मां चंद्रघंटा (मां चंद्रघंटा) के रूप में जाना और...

Ma Brahmacharini is the goddess worshiped on the second day of Navratri. It is one of the nine avatars of Goddess Durga. In this avatar, Durga embodies tapa or penance. The name Brahmacharini is derived from two words – “Brahma” here means tapa or penance and “Charini” means an ardent female follower. After she immolated herself in the sacrificial fire of the yagna, Durga took birth as the daughter of the King of the Mountains, Himavan or Himalaya. She was named Parvati (after the Sanskrit...

Ma Shailaputri (Daughter (putri) of Mountain (shaila)) is worshipped on the first day of Navaratra. Shailaputri was the daughter of the God of Mountains, Himalaya. Popularly known as Parvati, her husband is Shiva and she has two sons - Kartikeya and Ganesha. In her previous incarnation, she was Sati - the daughter of a great king, Daksha. According to the legend, Daksha Prajapati was one of the sons of Lord Brahma. Daksha did not want his daughter, Sati, to marry Shiva as he considered Shiva...