Navratri : Day 1 : Devi Shailputri Is Worshipped Today
One of all nine forms of Devi Durga is worshipped every day in Navaratri. The first form of Maa Durga is Shailputri, who was born to the King of Mountains. “Shail” means mountain and “putri” means daughter. Hence, she is called Shailputri – the daughter of mountain. Maa Shailputri, an absolute form of Mother Nature, is worshipped on the first day of Navratri. She is also referred to as Goddess Parvati, the consort of Lord Shiva and mother of Lord Ganesha and Kartikeya. The image of Maa Shailputri is a divine lady, holding a trishul in her right hand and lotus flower in her left hand. She rides on Nandi, a bull.
Maa Shailputri is the goddess of the muladhara chakra or root chakra, and upon awakening this Shakti one begins their journey to spiritual awakening and to their purpose in life. Without energising the muladhara chakra one doesn’t have the power and strength to do anything worthwhile. It is said that one should worship Maa Shailputri to make full use of the precious human life. Therefore, this Avtar of Goddess Durga is worshipped on the first day of Navratri.
Navratri is a special occasion. A time for new beginnings and offering your dedication and reverence to the Goddess Shakti. This Navratri, bring home and institute a Meru Prusth Shree Yantra – a beautiful, divine symbol of the blessings of Goddess Lakshmi herself.
Navratri is celebrated in most Indian states. However Navratri is very popular festival in the western states of Gujarat, Maharashtra and the southern state of Karnataka. On the very first day of Navratri, Goddess Durga is invoked into a Kalash with full Vedic rituals along with chanting of Mantras. The invocation and dwelling of Goddess Durga into the Kalash is known as Ghatasthapana or Kalashsthapana and is done at an appropriate time of the day.
In Kalash Sthapana, a pot or kalash with an image of Goddess Durga is installed in the house on the day. The pot or kalash is filled with water and is covered with cow dung and seeds (like barely or wheat) are sown on the dung. The pot is kept on a sand bed and seeds are sown on this too.
Special pujas are conducted on the pot and water is sprinkled daily. The seeds sprout and reach about 3 or 5 five inches on the tenth day. They are distributed as Prasad on the Vijayadashami day.
Legend behind incarnation of Devi Shailputri
According to Shiv Mahapuran and other Hindu mythologies, Devi Sati, daughter of Prajapati Daksha, was got married with Mahadev. But King Daksha was completely not in favor of this marriage. One day, he organized a Maha Yagya. All deities and near dear ones were invited except Shiv and Sati. Finding this, Sati got deeply hurt and realized that her father was only insulting her husband Shiva. In this intolerable situation, she scarified her body burnt in fire of yogic Yagya. This sight was extremely painful for Mahadev. He made himself isolated from all and went for a penance of long eras. Without him the whole universe was in disorder. But, re-birth of Sati with name Parvati at home of King Himalaya nurtured rays of hope. However, it was very difficult for Parvati to get her Lord Shiva, as Mahadev lost himself in densest of Sadhna.
With mammoth efforts and immense devotion, Devi Parvati began her search and journey toward Lord Shiva. After many endeavors, she blessed with a re-chance to marry with Mahadev. Thereby, Shailputri symbolized herself as a true Goddess of root chakra. Her awakening was toward establishing universal love with Lord Shiva that glorified her as the Goddess of awareness.
On the first day of Navratri, devotees place enters in Moolchakra and worship Goddess Shailputri to establish dedication keeping Mooladhar in mind, and commence Durga pooja auspiciously.
In West Bengal Navratri is celebrated as Durga Puja. In West Bengal, Goddess Durga is worshipped on the last three days of Navratri and these three days are famously known as Durga Saptami, Durga Ashtami and Durga Navami. It would be correct to say that Durga Puja in West Bengal is a smaller version of 9 days Navratri. Kalparambha and Bilva Nimantran during Durga Puja, which is done on the sixth day of Navratri, is symbolically same as Ghatasthapana or Kalashsthapana in other states.
