The form of the Goddess
worshipped on the first day of Navaratri is Shailaputri
(‘daughter of the mountains’).
Shailaputri is depicted
with a crescent moon on her forehead; holding a trident in one hand and a lotus
in the other. Her vahana (divine mount)
is Nandi.
Shailaputri (known by
her other names as Parvati, Uma etc.) is the daughter of Himavat (the King of
the Himalayas). In an earlier incarnation, she was Sati who immolated herself,
unable to bear the insult cast against her husband, Lord Shiva. She then
re-incarnates as the daughter of Himavat and Menaka. By Her Divine Will, she again
becomes the consort of Lord Shiva.
The esoteric
significance of Shailaputri is Shakti in the Muladhara Chakra that begins the
process of ascension to union with the Divine Beloved. The principal step to that culmination begins
at the Muladhara with the blessing of Shailaputri.
Among the Navagrahas, she governs the Moon. The
sacred offering to Shailaputri is ghee.
This offering is believed to bless the devotee with a life free from disease of
any kind.
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