Navratri 2023 - या देवी सर्वभूतेषु

The celebration of womanhood/Motherhood, Navratri, which we are going to celebrate in October is the most festive and colorful of all the festivals. Navratri occurs over 9 days during the month of Ashvin, in Hindu Calendar.

These celebrations end with the Dussehra (also called Vijayadashami) on the 10th day. In some parts, Dussehra is a focal point of the festival, so in many parts, celebrations are for 9 days instead of 10. Additionally, as Navratri depends on the lunar calendar, in some years it may be celebrated for 8 days, with Dussehra on the 9th.

There are four similar festivals, also called Navratri, which are held at various stages of the year. However, the early autumn festival, also called Sharad Navratri, is the most significant. It begins on the same day as Durga Puja, a 10-day festival devoted to the victory of the goddess Durga, which is particularly celebrated in certain eastern states.

Navratri is a major festival of Shaktas in India. Shaktas or Shaktism is one of the major Hindu faiths, wherein the divine reality is regarded as metaphorically a woman and Shakti (Mahadevi) is regarded as the supreme power. It includes many goddesses, which are considered incarnations of that one supreme goddess.

Shaktism has several sub-traditions, from worshiping Durga, compassionate Parvati to that of ferocious Kali. The Sruti and Smriti texts of Hinduism are the principal historical framework of the Shaktism tradition.

In addition, Devi Mahatmya is the most important text for this faith, other texts include the Devi-Bhagavata Purana, Kalika Purana and Shakta Upanishads such as the Devi Upanishad. The Devi Mahatmya in particular, is considered in Shaktism to be as important as the Bhagavad Gita.

The worship of goddesses or Shaktism developed rapidly after the decline of Buddhism from India. The roots of goddess supremacy are also found in Buddhist philosophy.

During this transition, The goddesses from Hindu and Buddhism were integrated and formed the “Mahavidyas”, the ten goddesses with different tantric and fierce incarnations. The most worshiped and common incarnations of Goddesses are Durga, Kali, Saraswati, Lakshmi, Parvati and Tripursundari. Goddess centric worship was centered around West Bengal, Odisha, Bihar, Jharkhand, Tripura and Assam.


The central theme of Shakta believes that, “the one true Truth is sensed in ten different faces, where the Divine Mother is worshiped and approached as ten incarnations”, these Goddesses are known as “ Mahavidyas”. Another doctrine in shaktism is that Mahavidyas are forms of Mahakali. But in nutshell, Mahavidyas are tantric in nature.

These ten Mahavidyas are in another orientation seen as ‘Wisdom Goddesses”. These Goddesses looked as divinity which is guiding spiritual seekers towards their final destination, i.e, liberation. For devotees, these forms are ethos of reverence, love and escalating intimacy. Through these ethos, one can reach the awakening towards enlightenment.

There are ten incarnations of ‘Mahavidyas’ are following-

Kali, Tara, Tripura Sundari, Bhuvaneshvari, Bhairavi , Chhinnamasta, Dhumavati, Bagalamukhi, Matangi and Kamala.


In the Goddess universe, the nature of the Goddess is always looked upon as motherly and nurturing. But for me, her fierce form is most nurturing and enlightening. As a chhinnamasta, she is the goddess of contradictions, where she is the consumer and food too. She is a symbol of devour and devourer. The dichotomy of receiver and giver, object and subject which crumbles into one.

I always feel, these contradictions are the basis of our life. These ten Mahavidyas not only give us the sense to understand that contradiction is the root of our life as being but also enlighten our way to reach our goal, in a spiritual sense, our own liberation.

So, on these divine nine days of navratri, we will try to understand the meaning and wisdom of contractions in our life, through each incarnation of Mahavidyas. Let's worship the mother goddess with open eyes and an eager mind, and pray for the wellbeing of everyone, everywhere…!!

नमस्तस्यै नमस्तस्यै नमस्तस्यै नमो नमः॥