3 min readChandigarhMar 1, 2026 12:33 PM IST
First published on: Mar 1, 2026 at 12:33 PM IST
Written by Priya S Tandon
Chaitra Navaratri begins on March 19, 2026. It marks Pratipada, the first day of the Shukla Paksha, or bright half, of the Chaitra month in the Hindu lunar calendar. It is believed to commemorate the day when Lord Brahma began the creation of the universe. The season itself symbolises renewal. New saplings sprout, plants bear buds, trees are clothed in fresh green leaves, and birds and insects fill the air with sound as winter gives way to spring. Nature appears at its most vibrant. Unlike the Gregorian New Year, celebrated on January 1, our ancestors marked the beginning of the year on the first day of the Chaitra month.
For generations, devotees have worshipped the Divine Mother in the forms of Durga, Lakshmi, and Saraswati during Navaratri. But what is the deeper significance of this worship?
Sri Sathya Sai Baba observed, “The life of a man who cannot respect and love one’s mother is utterly useless. Recognising one’s mother as the very embodiment of all divine forces, one must show reverence to her and treat her with love. This is the true message that this nine-night festival gives us. The supreme Shakti manifests herself in the form of Durga, Lakshmi, and Saraswati. Durga grants us energy – physical, mental, and spiritual. Lakshmi bestows on us all forms of wealth, not just money, but intellectual wealth and the wealth of character. Even health is a kind of wealth. Saraswati bestows intelligence, the capacity for intellectual inquiry, and the power of discrimination. The Navaratri festival is celebrated to proclaim the power of the Goddesses to the world. One’s own mother is the combination of all these divine beings. She provides us with energy, wealth, and intelligence, and constantly desires our advancement in life.”
Worship of the Divine Mother is, therefore, a reminder to value and revere the feminine aspect of creation. This extends to respecting all women, including mothers, sisters, wives, daughters, granddaughters, and colleagues. The tradition of Kanya or Kanjak Poojan, in which prepubescent girls are worshipped on Ashtami or Navami, underscores this ethos. It serves as a cultural reminder that reverence for women must be embedded in character, not confined to ritual.
Each of us is born from a mother who nurtured us in her womb for nine months and endured childbirth. Mothers sustain their children in infancy and guide them through life. For this gift of birth and care, we remain indebted. To be born human is itself a rare blessing.
Human beings alone possess the faculty of discernment between right and wrong. It is through human birth that one can seek liberation or union with the divine.
When we honour the feminine principle, we recognise that Durga, Lakshmi, and Saraswati are not distant deities but living forces within and around us. Durga manifests as energy and dynamism, Saraswati as speech and knowledge, and Lakshmi as abundance and willpower.
Navaratri can thus be celebrated not only through ritual but by consciously channelling our energy, resources, and wisdom, guided by discernment and willpower, towards a higher spiritual aspiration. Jai Mata ki.
(The writer curates a daily podcast on mythology)
For generations, devotees have worshipped the Divine Mother in the forms of Durga, Lakshmi, and Saraswati during Navaratri. (Representative Image) 
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