Shailaputri

Shailaputri is the first of the nine forms of Durga, the Navadurga, invoked in turn across the nine nights of Navratri. Worshipped on the festival's opening day, she is envisioned as the daughter of the Himalayas and identified in devotional tradition with Sati reborn.

Identity and origin

Her name, from shaila ("mountain") and putri ("daughter"), reflects her parentage: she is held to be the daughter of Himavan, the personification of the Himalayas, and is also known by the names Hemavati and, in her fuller identity, Parvati. Tradition holds her to be the rebirth of Sati, the daughter of Daksha who immolated herself after her father insulted her husband Shiva; reborn to Himavan, she eventually won Shiva a second time through her own penance. The systematic worship of nine distinct, individually named forms of Durga across the nine nights of Navratri is a comparatively late liturgical development. It is set out in the Devi Kavaca, a protective hymn appended to the Durga Saptashati (the Devi Mahatmya section of the Markandeya Purana), rather than forming part of the Devi Mahatmya's own narrative, which describes the Goddess's battles with various demons without organizing her into this specific nine-part sequence.

Iconography

Shailaputri is depicted seated on Nandi, the bull that is also Shiva's mount, signifying strength, steadiness and righteous conduct. In her right hand she holds a trishul, or trident, representing command over creation, preservation and destruction, and in her left a lotus, denoting purity and spiritual awakening. A crescent moon rests on her forehead, an attribute shared with Shiva, associating her with calm and auspiciousness.

Mantra

वन्दे वाञ्छितलाभाय चन्द्रार्धकृतशेखराम्।
वृषारूढां शूलधरां शैलपुत्रीं यशस्विनीम्॥

(Vande vanchchitalabhaya chandrardhakritashekharam, vrisharudham shooldharam shailaputrim yashasvinim) — "I bow to Shailaputri, radiant and glorious, who bestows the fulfillment of wishes, bears the crescent moon on her brow, rides the bull, and holds the trident." The verse is drawn from the Devi Kavaca and is recited by devotees on the opening day of Navratri.

Worship and significance

In tantric and yogic tradition, Shailaputri is associated with the Muladhara chakra, the root energy center at the base of the spine held to be the foundation of physical stability and the starting point of spiritual practice; her worship on the first night of Navratri is understood as the awakening of this foundational energy before the following nights advance through the remaining eight forms of the Goddess. Devotees mark the day with fasting, offerings of white flowers, vermilion and unbroken rice (akshat), and sweets prepared in ghee, and perform her aarti seeking good health, stability and protection. A temple to Shailaputri in Varanasi draws pilgrims particularly during Navratri, and she is popularly associated with the moon in astrological practice, her worship held to ease the difficulties linked to unfavorable lunar placements in a devotee's horoscope.