The 9 Avatars of Maa Durga
शैलपुत्री
Day 1 Shailaputri
Shailaputri is the Adi parasakti, who was born in the house of King of Mountains “Parvat Raj Himalaya”. The name “Shailaputri” literally means the daughter (putri) of mountain (shaila). Variously known as Sati Bhavani, Parvati or Hemavati, the daughter of Himavat - the king of the Himalayas.
The embodiment of the power of Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva, she rides a bull and carries a trident and a lotus in her two hands. In previous birth, she was Sati, daughter of Daksha. Once Daksha had organized a big Yagna and did not invite Shiva. But Sati being obstinate, reached there. Thereupon Daksha insulted Shiva. Sati could not tolerate the insult of husband and burnt herself in the fire of Yagna. In other birth, she became the daughter of Himalaya in the name of Parvati - Hemavati and married Shiva. As per Upanishad, she had torn the egotism of Indra, etc. Devtas. Being ashamed they bowed and prayed that, "In fact, thou are Shakti, we all - Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva are capable by getting Shakti from you."
Source from wikipedia
ब्रह्मचारिणी
Day 2 Brahmacharini
According to different versions of her story, maiden Parvati resolves to marry Shiva. Her parents try to discourage her, but she remains steadfast and performs a penance for about 5000 years.
In the meantime, the gods approach Kamadeva, the Hindu god of love and lust, and ask him to generate desire in Shiva for Parvati. They are driven by an asura named Tarkasur who can only be killed by Shiva's child. Kamadeva shoots Shiva with an arrow of desire.[8] Shiva opens his third eye in his forehead and burns Kama to ashes.
Parvati does not lose her hope or her resolve to win over Shiva. She begins to live in mountains like Shiva and engage in the same activities he does, such as asceticism, yogin and tapas; it is this aspect of Parvati that is deemed to be that of goddess Brahmacharini. Her ascetic pursuit draws the attention of Shiva and awakens his interest. He meets her in disguised form and tries to dissuade her by counting Shiva's weaknesses and personality problems.[8] Parvati refuses to listen and insists in her resolve.
During this time, the demon named Prakandasura attacks Parvati with his million asuras. Parvati is at the last stage of completion for her tapas, and is unable to defend herself. Seeing Parvati helpless, goddesses Lakshmi and Saraswati intervene but are outnumbered by the demons. After many days of fighting, the kamandalu beside Parvati falls and all the demons are washed away in the resulting flood. At last, Parvati opens her eyes, emitting fire and burning the demon to ashes.
Everyone in the universe is impressed by the tapas performed by Devi Parvati, except Shiva. Shiva at last visits Paravati in disguise of Bhramachari. He then examines Parvati by giving her riddles, which she all answers correctly. After praising Parvati for her brain and beauty, Brahmachari proposes to her. Parvati realizes he is Shiva and accepts. Shiva appears in his true form and finally accepts her and breaks her tapas. During the entire tapas Pravati was feeding herself with belpatra and river water.
Her abode is in the Svadhishthana Chakra.Brahmacharini signifies being unmarried and the colour white signifies purity.
Source from wikipedia
चंद्रघंटा
Day 3 Chandraghanta
Chandraghanta is the third navadurga aspect of goddess Mahadevi, worshipped on the third day of Navaratri (the nine divine nights of Navadurga). Her name Chandra-Ghanta, means "one who has a half-moon shaped like a bell". Her third eye is always open, signifying her perpetual readiness for battle against evil. She is also known as Chandrakhanda, Vrikahvahini or Chandrika. She is believed to reward people with her grace, bravery and courage. By her grace, all the sins, distresses, physical sufferings, mental tribulations and ghostly hurdles of the devotees are eradicated.
Source from wikipedia
कूष्माण्ड
Day 4 Kushmanda
Kushmanda is worshiped on the fourth day of the festival of Navaratri (nine nights of Navadurga) and is believed to improve health and bestow wealth and strength.[2] Goddess Kushmanda has eight hands and is thus also known as Ashtabhuja Devi. It is believed that all the power to bestow Siddhis and Niddhis are located in her Jap Mala.
It is stated that She created the whole universe, which is called Brahmanda (ब्रह्माण्ड) in Sanskrit, by just flashing little bit of her smile. She also likes Bali of white pumpkin known as Kushmanda (कुष्माण्ड). Due to her association with Brahmanda and Kushmanda, She is popularly known as Goddess Kushmanda. Her abode is in Anahata chakra.
Source from wikipedia
स्कन्दमाता
Day 5 Skandamata
Skandamātā is four-armed, three-eyed, and rides on a lion. One of her hands is in the fear-dispelling Abhayamudra position while the other is used to hold the infant form of her son Skanda on her lap. Her remaining two hands are typically shown holding lotus flowers. She is light complexioned, and as she is often pictured seated on a lotus, she is sometimes referred to as Padamasani.
It is believed that she rewards devotees with salvation, power, prosperity, and treasures. She can grant oceans of wisdom even to the illiterate if he happens to worship her. Skandamātā who possesses the brilliance of the sun, fulfils all the desires of her devotees. He who is selflessly devoted to her, attains all the achievements and treasures of life. The worship of Skandamātā purifies the heart of a devotee. While worshiping her, the devotee should have absolute control over his senses and mind. He should free himself from worldly bondage and worship her with a single-pointed devotion. Her worship is twice blessed. When the devotee worships her, Lord Skanda, her son in her lap, is automatically worshipped. Thus, the devotee happens to enjoy the grace of Skandmata along with the grace of Lord Skanda. If a devotee worships her devoid of selfishness, the Mother blesses them with power and prosperity. The devotees who worship Skandamātā shine with divine splendour. Her worship is ultimately conducive to salvation. She is regularly known as "The Goddess of Fire"
Source from Wikipedia
कात्यायनी
Day 6 Katyayani
Katyayani (कात्यायनी) is an aspect of Mahadevi and the slayer of the tyrannical demon Mahishasura. She is the sixth among the Navadurgas, the nine forms of Hindu goddess Durga who are worshipped during the festival of Navaratri.[1] She is depicted with four, ten or eighteen hands. This is the second name given for Goddess Adi Parashakti in Amarakosha, the Sanskrit lexicon (Goddess Parvati names- Uma, Katyayani, Gauri, Kali, Haimavati, Ishwari).
In Shaktism, she is associated with the fierce forms of Shakti or Durga, a warrior goddess, which also includes Bhadrakali and Chandika,[2] and traditionally she is associated with the colour red, as with Goddess Parvati, the primordial form of Shakti, a fact also mentioned in Patanjali's Mahabhashya on Pāṇini, written in 2nd century BCE.
She is first mentioned in the Taittiriya Aranyaka part of the Yajurveda. Skanda Purana mentions her being created out of the spontaneous anger of Gods, which eventually led to slaying the demon, Mahishasura, mounted on the lion. This occasion is celebrated during the annual Durga Puja festival in most parts of India.
Her exploits are described in the Devi-Bhagavata Purana and Devi Mahatmyam, part of the Markandeya Purana attributed to sage Markandeya Rishi, who wrote it in Sanskrit ca. 400-500 CE. Over a period of time, her presence was also felt in Buddhist and Jain texts and several Tantric text, especially the Kalika Purana (10th century), which mentions Uddiyana or Odradesa (Odisha), as the seat of Katyayani and Jagannath.
In Hindu traditions like Yoga and Tantra, she is ascribed to the sixth Ajna Chakra or the Third eye chakra and her blessings are invoked by concentrating on this point.
Source from wikipedia
कालरात्रि
Day 7 Kaalratri
Kalaratri is traditionally worshipped during the nine nights of Navaratri celebrations. The seventh day of Navaratri puja in particular is dedicated to her, and she is considered the fiercest form of the goddess, her appearance itself invoking fear. This form of the goddess is believed to be the destroyer of all demon entities, ghosts, evil spirits and negative energies, who are said to flee upon knowing of her arrival.
The Saudhikagama, an ancient Tantric text from Orissa referenced in the Silpa Prakasha, describes goddess Kalaratri as being the goddess ruling over the night portion of every calendar day. She is also associated with the crown chakra (also known as the sahasrara chakra), said to yield the worshipper siddhis (supernatural skills) and nidhis (riches): knowledge, power and wealth in particular.
Kalaratri is also known as Shubankari (शुभंकरी), meaning auspicious/doing good in Sanskrit, due to the belief that she always provides positive results to her devotees. Hence, it is believed that she makes her devotees fearless.
Other, less well-known names of this goddess include Raudri and Dhumorna.
source from wikipedia
महागौरी
Day 8 Mahagauri
The story of Mahagauri's origins is as follows: The demons Shumbha and Nishumbha could only be killed by a virgin, unmarried form of Parvati. Hence, as advised by Brahma, Shiva repeatedly called Parvati as "Kali" for no reason, in a rather mocking way. Parvati was agitated by this teasing, so she performed severe penance to Brahma so as to get a golden complexion. Brahma explained his inability to grant her a boon and instead requested her to stop her penance and slay the demons Shumbha and Nishumbha. Parvati agreed and went to take a bath in the Ganga river in Himalaya. Parvati entered in the Ganga river and as she took a bath, her dark skin washed off entirely and she came back out as a beautiful golden woman, wearing white garments and apparels, so she gained the epithet "Mahagauri". She then appeared in front of the gods who were praying to her at the Himalayas for the destruction of Shumbha and Nishumbha, and worriedly asked them who they were worshipping. She then reflected and answered her own question and concluded that the gods were praying to her after being defeated by the demons Shumbha and Nishumbha. Parvati then turned black out of pity for the Gods and was called Kalika. She then transformed into Chandi (Chandraghanta) and killed demon Dhumralochan. Chanda and Munda were killed by Goddess Chamunda who appeared out from the third eye of Chandi. Chandi then killed Raktabija and his clones, while Chamunda drank their blood. Parvati turned into Kaushiki again and killed Shumbha and Nishumbha, after which she transformed back into Mahagauri. Hence Parvati killed Shumbha and Nishumbha, giving her the titles of Mahasaraswati or Ambika in the Shiva Purana and the Devi Mahatmya (part of the Markandeya Purana) respectively.
Source from wikipedia
सिद्धिदात्री
Day 9 Siddhidatri
Around the time when the universe was just a massive void completely full of darkness, there were no indications of the world anywhere. But then a ray of divine light, which is ever existing, spread everywhere, illuminating each and every nook of the void. This sea of light was formless. Suddenly, it started taking a definite size, and finally looked like a Divine Lady, who was none other than Goddess Mahashakti herself. The Supreme Goddess came forth and gave birth to the Trinity of Gods, Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva. She advised the three Lords to contemplate to understand their roles of performing their duties for the world. Acting on the words of Goddess Mahashakti, The Trimurti sat by the bank of an ocean and performed penances for many years. The pleased Goddess appeared before them in the form of Siddhidhatri. She bestowed upon them their wives, She created Lakshmi, Saraswati and Parvati gave them to Vishnu, Brahma and Shiva respectively. Goddess Siddhidhatri entrusted Brahma to take up the role as the creator of worlds, Vishnu with the role of preserving the creation and its creatures, and Shiva with the role of destroying the worlds when it is time. She tells them that their powers are in the forms of their respective wives, who will help them perform their tasks. The Goddess assured them that she will also provide to them, divine miraculous powers, which will also help them carry out their duties. Saying this, she bestowed to them eight supernatural powers, in which they were named Anima, Mahima, Garima, Laghima, Prapti, Prakambya, Ishitva and Vashitva. Anima means reducing one's body to the size of a crumb, Mahima means expanding one's body to an infinitely large size, Garima means becoming infinitely heavy, Laghima means becoming weightless, Prapti means having omnipresence, Prakambya means achieving whatever one desires, Ishitva means possessing absolute lordship, and Vashitva means having the power to subjugate all. Apart from the eight supreme siddhis that goddess Siddhidatri had granted Trimurti, she is believed to have granted to them, nine treasures and ten other kinds of supernatural powers or potentialities. The two parts, man and woman, created Devas and Devis, Daityas, Danavas, Asuras, Gandharvas, Yakshas, Apsaras, Bhutas, Heavenly beings, Mythical Creatures, Plants, Aquatic, Terrestrial and Aerial animals, Nagas and Garudas, etc and many more species of the world were born and thus originated from them. The creation of the entire world was now fully complete, full of innumerable stars, galaxies as well as constellations. The solar system was complete with the nine planets. On Earth, firm landmass was created, surrounded by such vast oceans, lakes, streams, rivers and other bodies of water. All types of flora and fauna had originated and were given their proper habitations. The 14 worlds were created and constructed altogether, giving the above-mentioned creatures places of residences to stay in, as to which they all called home.
In this form Durga is seated on a lotus and is four-armed. She holds a lotus, mace, Chakra and shankha. In this form Durga removes ignorance and she provides the knowledge to realize that or Brahman. She is surrounded by Siddhas, Gandharvas, Yakshas, Devas (Gods) and Asura (Demons) worship her. The Siddhi that she provides is the realization that only she exists. She is the mistress of all achievements and perfections.
Source from Wikipedia