Shardiya Navaratri Day 1: Shailaputri Devi

Navaratri means ‘nine nights’, and it is a grand celebration of nine different aspects of Durga Maa, the Great Goddess. Known by thousands of names, there is only one Divine Mother; She is the creative power of God and so She is the Mother of all creation. During this nine-night festival, we praise and worship Her different forms to invoke Her blessing for everyone.

On this first night, Goddess Shailaputri is venerated (‘Shaila’ is another name for the Himalayan mountains and ‘Putri’ means ‘the daughter’). We celebrate the extraordinary focus and determination She had in Her sadhana in order to gain Lord Shiva as Her husband. Shailaputri is the most powerful and glorified of all the nine forms of Durga. She took the aspect of Shailputri to destroy pride and the demons of ‘too much’ and ‘too little’. We pray to Her to help us surrender to the Divine.