On the first morning of Devi Navaratri, many Telugu homes set up a kalasham, light a lamp that is meant to burn through the festival, and begin nine days of worship of the Mother. Across much of India, each of those nine days is dedicated to one form of the Goddess. Together these nine forms are called the Navadurga – the nine Durgas.
This guide introduces each form: what the name means, how she is traditionally depicted, and the story or idea she carries. It also explains where the list comes from, and why the alankarams you see at Vijayawada or Srisailam do not always follow it.
The nine names and their order come from the Devi Kavacham, the protective hymn traditionally recited before the Durga Saptashati (Devi Mahatmya). In it, the sage Markandeya asks Lord Brahma for a secret that protects all beings, and Brahma answers by naming the nine forms of the Goddess:
प्रथमं शैलपुत्री च द्वितीयं ब्रह्मचारिणी ।
तृतीयं चन्द्रघण्टेति कूष्माण्डेति चतुर्थकम् ॥
पञ्चमं स्कन्दमातेति षष्ठं कात्यायनीति च ।
सप्तमं कालरात्रीति महागौरीति चाष्टमम् ॥
नवमं सिद्धिदात्री च नवदुर्गाः प्रकीर्तिताः ।
उक्तान्येतानि नामानि ब्रह्मणैव महात्मना ॥prathamaṁ śailaputrī ca dvitīyaṁ brahmacāriṇī | tṛtīyaṁ candraghaṇṭeti kūṣmāṇḍeti caturthakam || pañcamaṁ skandamāteti ṣaṣṭhaṁ kātyāyanīti ca | saptamaṁ kālarātrīti mahāgaurīti cāṣṭamam || navamaṁ siddhidātrī ca navadurgāḥ prakīrtitāḥ | uktānyetāni nāmāni brahmaṇaiva mahātmanā ||
"The first is Shailaputri, the second Brahmacharini; the third is Chandraghanta, the fourth Kushmanda. The fifth is Skandamata, the sixth Katyayani; the seventh Kalaratri, and the eighth Mahagauri. The ninth is Siddhidatri. These are proclaimed as the Nine Durgas, and these names were spoken by the great Brahma himself."
— Devi Kavacham, verses 3–5
The Kavacham gives only the names and their order. The descriptions of each form – her weapons, her mount, her story – come from later stotras, Puranic retellings and temple iconography. That is why paintings and idols differ in small details, such as the number of arms or whether the Goddess rides a lion or a tiger. Such differences are part of a living tradition, not mistakes.
Daughter of the Mountain. Shailaputri is Parvati as the daughter of Himavan, king of the mountains. In her previous birth she was Sati, daughter of Daksha, who gave up her life when her father insulted Lord Shiva at his sacrifice; she was born again to the mountain king and once more became Shiva's consort.
Iconography: two arms, holding a trident and a lotus, riding the bull Nandi; a crescent moon adorns her head.
As the first form, she stands for a firm beginning. Devotees worship her on the day the kalasham is installed.
She who walks the path of austerity. This is Parvati in the years of her penance to win Shiva as her husband. Her austerity was so severe that, as Kalidasa describes in the Kumarasambhavam, she gave up even fallen leaves as food and came to be called Aparna.
Iconography: dressed simply in white and walking barefoot, with a rosary (japamala) in her right hand and a water pot (kamandalu) in her left. She has no mount.
She represents steady devotion: the patience to keep walking towards a goal when nothing seems to change.
She who wears the moon as a bell. Her name comes from the bell-shaped crescent moon on her forehead. She is the warrior form of the Goddess, golden in colour and ten-armed, ready to protect her devotees. One popular telling links her to the wedding of Shiva and Parvati, when the Goddess took this commanding form as Shiva's unusual wedding party arrived.
Iconography: ten arms bearing weapons such as the trident, mace, sword, bow and arrow, with one hand raised in blessing; she rides a lion, though some images show a tiger.
Tradition says the sound of her bell drives away fear and negative forces.
The Goddess of the cosmic egg. Her name is often explained as ku (a little), ushma (warmth) and anda (egg). Tradition holds that when there was only darkness, she created the universe with a gentle smile, and that she dwells at the heart of the Sun, giving it light and energy.
Iconography: eight arms – hence the name Ashtabhuja – holding a discus, mace, bow, arrow, lotus, a pot of nectar, a water pot and a rosary; she rides a lion (in some images a tiger).
She is worshipped as the source of life and radiance.
Mother of Skanda. Skanda is Kumaraswamy, Lord Subrahmanya, beloved in Telugu homes. As Skandamata the Goddess is shown holding her infant son on her lap. Through her, the son received the strength to defeat the asura Taraka.
Iconography: four arms – two holding lotuses, one holding the child Skanda, one raised in blessing; three-eyed and fair, she rides a lion and is often shown seated on a lotus, which gives her the name Padmasani.
She is the Goddess as a mother: tender towards her child and fearless in protecting him.
The daughter of the sage Katyayana. According to the Vamana Purana, the radiance that burst from the gods' anger against Mahishasura took form in the hermitage of the sage Katyayana, and so the Goddess is called Katyayani. She is the slayer of Mahishasura. The Narayani Stuti of the Devi Mahatmya (Chapter 11) also addresses her as Katyayani. In the Bhagavata Purana, the gopis of Vrindavan worship Katyayani in the month of Margashira, praying for Krishna as their husband.
Iconography: four arms with a sword and a lotus, the other two in the gestures of protection and blessing; she rides a lion.
The dark night of time. Kalaratri is the most fearsome of the nine: dark in colour, with dishevelled hair and three eyes said to flash like lightning. The name appears in the hymn of Brahma in the first chapter of the Devi Mahatmya, and popular tradition links her to the fierce power that destroyed the demon Raktabija, from every drop of whose blood a new demon arose.
Iconography: four arms, holding a cleaver and a vajra, with the other two hands in protection and blessing; she rides a donkey.
For all her fierce appearance she is also called Shubhankari, "the one who brings auspiciousness", because her fierceness is turned against what harms her devotees.
The radiantly white Goddess. As it is commonly told, after the long penance of her Brahmacharini years Parvati's form had grown dark with dust and hardship. Shiva bathed her in the waters of the Ganga, and she shone a brilliant white.
Iconography: dressed in white, with four arms – a trident and a damaru (drum) in two hands, the other two in protection and blessing; she rides a white bull.
Her day coincides with Durgashtami, a day of special worship of the Goddess in many Telugu homes.
Giver of spiritual perfection. Siddhidatri bestows siddhis – spiritual attainments – on those who seek her. In one tradition, Shiva himself received the siddhis by her grace, and half of his body became the Goddess: the form known as Ardhanarishvara.
Iconography: four arms holding a discus, conch, mace and lotus; she is seated on a lotus, sometimes on a lion, often attended by sages and celestial beings.
Her day, Maha Navami, is also the day of Ayudha Puja in the Telugu states.
The day-by-day Navadurga worship described here is widely followed, but it is not the only tradition. At Sri Kanaka Durga Temple on Indrakeeladri, Vijayawada, the Goddess is adorned in a different set of alankarams – among them Bala Tripura Sundari, Gayatri, Annapurna, Lalita Tripura Sundari, Saraswati, Mahalakshmi, Durga, Mahishasuramardini and Rajarajeswari. The temple announces the order each year. At Srisailam, Goddess Bhramaramba receives Navadurga alankarams during the Dasara Mahotsavams. At Basara, the greatest crowds come on Moola nakshatram for Saraswati puja. Please follow your own temple and family custom; neither practice is more correct than the other.
Many families recite the Lalita Sahasranamam or the Devi Mahatmya each evening. Those who prefer a short daily japa can use the Om Dum Durgayai Namah mantra. In Telangana, the same nine days are also the season of the flower festival Bathukamma.
Devi Navaratri begins on Ashwayuja Shukla Padyami, the day after Mahalaya Amavasya, and its nine nights run to Ashwayuja Shukla Navami; Vijayadashami falls on Ashwayuja Shukla Dashami. Because Navaratri follows the lunar calendar, it falls on different days each year, and a tithi can occasionally stretch or shorten the festival by a day. For the exact days and muhurtham timings, please follow your local Telugu panchangam or your temple's announcement. Full festival details are on our Dasara / Devi Navaratri page.
Read in order, the nine forms trace a single journey: the mountain's daughter who begins in steadiness, the ascetic who perseveres, the warrior who protects, the creator who gives light, the mother who nurtures, the fighter who destroys injustice, the dark night that destroys fear, the purified radiance, and finally the Mother who grants perfection. That is perhaps why the tradition places them across nine nights: so that each day the devotee meets the Mother in a new form. To learn more about the Goddess herself, read our page on Goddess Durga Matha.