Cite
MLA
“The Navadurga.” Hindu History, 2026, https://www.hinduhistory.in/devata/navadurga/. Accessed .
APA
Hindu History. (2026). The Navadurga. Retrieved , from https://www.hinduhistory.in/devata/navadurga/
प्रथमं शैलपुत्रीति द्वितीयं ब्रह्मचारिणी।
तृतीयं चन्द्रघण्टेति कूष्माण्डेति चतुर्थकम्॥
पञ्चमं स्कन्दमातेति षष्ठं कात्यायनीति च।
सप्तमं कालरात्रिश्च महागौरीति चाष्टमम्॥
नवमं सिद्धिदात्री च नवदुर्गाः प्रकीर्तिताः।
prathamaṃ śailaputrīti dvitīyaṃ brahmacāriṇī |
tṛtīyaṃ candraghaṇṭeti kūṣmāṇḍeti caturthakam ||
pañcamaṃ skandamāteti ṣaṣṭhaṃ kātyāyanīti ca |
saptamaṃ kālarātriś ca mahāgaurīti cāṣṭamam ||
navamaṃ siddhidātrī ca navadurgāḥ prakīrtitāḥ |
Shailaputri rides a white bull with a trident and lotus. Brahmacharini walks barefoot with a rosary and water-pot. Chandraghanta, with the half-moon like a bell on her brow, rides a tiger with ten arms. Kushmanda rides a lion with eight. Skandamata holds the child Kartikeya on her lap. Katyayani carries sword, shield, lotus and trident on a lion. Kalaratri is dark, three-eyed and rides a donkey. Mahagauri is white on a white bull. Siddhidatri sits on a full-blown lotus with discus, conch, mace and lotus.
01The names in the Devi Kavacham
The nine names come from the Devi Kavacham, the ‘armour of the Devi’ that is recited before the Durga Saptashati. Markandeya asks Brahma for a secret that protects all beings, and Brahma answers with the list: prathamaṃ śailaputrīti, first Shailaputri, then Brahmacharini, Chandraghanta, Kushmanda, Skandamata, Katyayani, Kalaratri, Mahagauri, and ninth Siddhidatri; these, he says, are proclaimed as the Navadurga. The kavacham’s own colophon places it in the Varaha Purana. The Agni Purana knows a different group of nine with fierce names, Rudrachanda, Prachanda, Chandogra and others, so the word Navadurga has more than one meaning in the Shastras.
02Nine nights, nine forms
In both Navaratris, Chaitra in spring and Sharad in autumn, households and temples worship the forms in order, one each day. On the first day the kalash is set up and barley is sown in a bed of earth, and Shailaputri, Parvati as the daughter of Himavan, is worshipped. Brahmacharini on the second is the Devi in her long tapas for Shiva. Skandamata on the fifth is the mother of Kartikeya. Katyayani on the sixth is the Devi born in the ashram of Maharshi Katyayana, whom the gopis of Braj worshipped for Krishna. On Ashtami or Navami nine young girls are seated, their feet washed, and fed as the nine Durgas: the kanya puja.
03Temples of the nine
Some of the nine have temples of their own. The red Durga temple at Durga Kund in Varanasi, beside its square tank, worships the Devi as Kushmanda. Rani Bhabani of Natore in Bengal built it in the 18th century, and the Devi Bhagavata tells how the Devi stayed here to guard Kashi after saving King Subahu and Prince Sudarshan. In Delhi the Chhatarpur Mandir, begun by Baba Sant Nagpal Ji in 1974, is the shrine of Adya Katyayani. In Nepal, the Newar city of Bhaktapur keeps its own Navadurga tradition of masked dances. Most temples of the Devi across Bharat set up all nine forms during Navaratri and change the alankara, the dress and ornament of the murti, each night to show the form of the day.
In the texts
- Devi Kavacham, verses 3–5 (recited before the Durga Saptashati)
- Durga Saptashati (Devi Mahatmya), Markandeya Purana
- Agni Purana
