Do you know the 9 forms of Goddess Durga?

‘It is in the form of the nava shaktis that Durga or Adi Shakti lives inside everyone.’
Let’s celebrate the beginning of Navratri with this lovely excerpt from Nava Durga: The Nine Forms Of The Goddess by Nalini Ramachandran.

Durga, as this powerful warrior-goddess is known,
Has nine special forms-each one unique, not just a clone.
Shailaputri, Brahmacharini and Chandraghanta,
Kushmanda and Skandamata,
Katyayani and Kaalratri,
Maha Gauri and Siddhidatri...
They are the Nava Durga,
Worshipped during Navaratri.

Nava Durga: The Nine Goddesses

Goddess Durga has many, many forms. Nine of these are together known as Nava Durga. In Sanskrit, nava means ‘nine’, so Nava Durga means ‘nine forms of Durga’.

Each of these nine forms stands for one shakti or powerful quality of the goddess.

It is in the form of these shaktis that Durga or Adi Shakti lives inside everyone. 

So, who are the Nava Durga? 

Shailaputri

The princess who set out on an adventure, keeping aside her fears.

Brahmacharini

The young lady who meditated for many, many years.

Chandraghanta

The angry bride who wore a deadly bell.

Kushmanda

The happy one, whose smile became her jewel.

Skandamata

The brave mother of a heroic son.

Katyayani

The slayer of a difficult demon.

Kaalratri

The feisty fighter who gave asuras a fright.

Maha Gauri

The peace-loving goddess, who’s compared to all things white.

Siddhidatri

The keeper of powers that are . . . Shh . . . A secret, aha!

And with that, you now know the great and glorious Nava Durga!

 

Special Foods for the Goddesses

Navaratri is a time to make the stomach as happy as the heart.

People offer tasty treats to the goddess as naivedyam or prasad.

Usually, these are cooked using different kinds of grains and pulses.

Like there are different Navaratri celebrations, the foods offered to the goddess in these nine days too vary.

Here are a few special foods served to the Nava Durga:

Navaratri, Day 1: Shailaputri

Ghee, venn pongal (made with rice and pulses), rajgira ka laddoo (a sweet made with amaranth grain), sabudana khichdi (made with sago), roath. 

Navaratri, Day 2: Brahmacharini 

Sugar, fruits, singhare ke atte ka halwa (sweet dish made with ground water chestnut), rava kesari (sweet made with semolina and saffron). 

Navaratri, Day 3: Chandraghanta 

Milk, milk-based sweets such as makhana kheer (fox nut pudding), paruppu vadai (spicy, deep-fried fritters). 

Navaratri, Day 4: Kushmanda

Sweet pancakes such as malpua (made with rice flour or buckwheat) and appam (made with wheat). 

Navaratri, Day 5: Skandamata

Banana; items made of raw banana such as chips, curry and barfi (a sweetmeat); pulihora (tamarind rice). 

Navaratri, Day 6: Katyayani 

Honey, items made with poha (flattened rice), coconut rice. 

Navaratri, Day 7: Kaalratri 

Jaggery, ksheerannam (jaggery-based rice pudding), idli (made with raw rice). 

Navaratri, Day 8: Maha Gauri 

Coconut, sweets made with coconut such as barfi, paal saadam (milk rice). 

Navaratri, Day 9: Siddhidatri 

Til (sesame seeds), sakkarai pongal (jaggery-based dish made with rice and pulses), halwa, puri, chana or chhole (especially for Kanya Pooja). 

Dussehra 

Fruits, nuts, sweets such as mishti doi (fermented sweet curd with jaggery), garelu (deep-fried fritters, also known as medu vada) and puran poli (sweet flatbread stuffed with lentil and jaggery). 

Excerpted from Nava Durga: The Nine Forms Of The Goddess by Nalini Ramachandran, with the kind permission of the publishers, Penguin Random House India.