Navratri: Kaalratri Maa, the devi for Day 6, is the most fierce form of Durga

Neha Mangal

Ma Kaalratri is the goddess  worshiped on the seventh day of Navratri. Kaal means time as well as death in Hindi whereas ratri means night or darkness/ignorance. Hence, Maa Kaalratri is the one who brings the death of darkness or the one who ends ignorance. She is also commonly referred as Kali.  Ma Kaalratri is the most fierce form of Durga. Her complexion is dark as night and has untied thick long hair. She has four hands and carries a scimitar and a thunder bolt in two of her hands. The other two hands are held in the form of ‘giving’ and ‘protecting’. She has three eyes and flames come out of her nostrils when she breathes. Her necklace shines like the Moon in the night sky. She rides a donkey. She is also referred as Shubhankari as she always brings auspicious results to her devotees.

There is an interesting story behind this terrorising form of Durga. Once two demons named Shumbha and Nishumbha invaded Devaloka and defeated lord Indra and his army. After losing his kingdom, Lord Indra along with all the other gods went towards the Himalayas to seek help of Mahadev and Parvati. They prayed to Goddess Parvati and persuaded her to help them in getting their kingdom back.

Parvati created Chandi and sent her to kill the demons. In the battlefield, Shumbha and Nishumbha sent two demons Chanda and Munda. Chandi created another goddess, Kali, to fight Chanda-Munda. Kali killed both of them and thus came to be known as Chamunda. Chandi also killed Shumbha – Nishumbha and thus help Indra and other gods win back their kingdom from the demons

Thereafter, Maa Kaalratri battled the demon Raktabeeja who had a boon that each drop of his spilled blood will create another demon/Raktbeej. The goddess drank the blood of the demon as she went ahead, to defeat him completely.

She became so fierceful and destructive that she started killing everyone who came in front of her. All the gods prayed to Lord shiva to stop her, so Shiva planned and decided to lye down on the ground and come below her foot trying to stop her. When she was engaged in killing everyone, Lord Shiva laid down below her foot. By seeing her beloved husband below her foot, she bit her tongue (Her idols and pictures contain this look) and helped him (God Shiva) to stand. In this guilt, she forgot about the fight and hence Lord Shiva calmed her down.

Ruler of the Planet Shani, Mata Kaalratri is considered to be the seventh form of Goddess Durga. She is considered to be the destroyer of ignorance and darkness. She is  associated with the Crown Chakra (also known as the Sahasrara Chakra), thereby giving the invoker, siddhis and niddhis (particularly, knowledge, power and wealth). It is the point of connection between us and the higher consciousness. Therefore, if there is any blockage or imbalance, chanting mantra of Devi Kalaratri balances that.

Devi Mantra:

ॐ देवी कालरात्र्यै नमः ।।”