Navratri : Nine Phases of Womanhood

 

Each day of Navaratri is associated with phases of womanhood. 

Shailputri - The little girl 

Bramhacharini- The young girl who follows austerity 

Chandraghanta - The girl in her youth, set to get married 

Kushmanda - The young girl, reached her age of maturity. Married and ready to bear a child 

Skandmata - The mother of a young child, who has devoted herself to her motherly duties 

Katyayani - When the time comes, this girl, now a lady is set to get back in her fierce form to win the world

Kaalratri- When there is a catastrophe that comes upon her people, this lady is all set to face it and eradicate it away. She eradicates it and makes her family safe.

MahaGauri - She then gets back to doing her daily chores and is at peace with herself. The phase when her duties are reduced a bit and she can relax for herself.

Siddhidaatri - This is the final phase is a woman’s life, where she has had all the experiences in her life and has grown matured with all the experiences. She can now share her experiences with all to help them resolve the problems.

In the typical male dominating society, there was and is (sadly)a need for a navratri festival to instill the fact to honour and respect a woman in each of her phase of life.

The navratri shows that a female is to be respected when she is a girl, an adolescent, in her youth, when she is a mother, when she is doing her duties, or even when she has grown old with experience.

I hope we as a society learn to celebrate womanhood not just for these 9 days but throughout a lifetime.

Written by : Ms. Sneha Nikum, Professor, Computer Department, Satribai Phule Pune University, Pune