Goddess Durga is the supreme – mother divine protecting, blessing, comforting, blessing and forgiving. Her blessings are never enough, she gives us all her energy and rides the tiger, depicting pure strength. During the nine days of Navratri, nine different forms of Goddess Durga are worshipped, which are based on the three main forms that Goddess Durga manifests herself into: Maha-Saraswati, Maha-Lakshmi and Maha-Kali/Parvati.
In 2018, Navratris would be celebrated from 18th March 2018 to 25th March 2018 and again from 10 October 2018 till 18 October 2018. While in some parts of India women fast during Navratri and perform puja daily along with chanting of mantras. Please read here for the Navratri customs and rituals. On each day, different form of Maa Durga is worshipped. The nine forms of Goddesses to whom the Puja is dedicated on different days are Shailaputri, Bharmacharini, Chandraghanta, Kushmanda, Skandamata, Katyayani, Kaalratri, Mahagauri and Siddhidatri.
The appearance and messages that are conveyed by these nine different goddesses are quite different as well, please check the individual links below for more information. In some avatar, Goddess rides a Bull or a Tiger, Lion and even a Donkey and has different number of hands holding different weapons/powers for destruction of evil, etc:
Day 1 Puja: Shailaputri (referred as Daughter of the mountains and represents Mother Nature)
Day 2 Puja: Bharmacharini (referred as Strong Penance and represents Devout Austerity)
Day 3 Puja: Chandraghanta (i.e. She carries a half moon/Chandra in the shape of a bell/Ghanta on her forehead and represents Courage)
Day 4 Puja: Kushmanda (i.e. Creator of the Universe and represents New Beginning)
Day 5 Puja: Skandamata (i.e, Mother of Skanda/Kartikeya and represents Labour & Care)
Day 6 Puja: Katyayani (i.e. Born to Rishi Katyayana, a Warrior Goddess and represents Great Courage)
Day 7 Puja: Kaalratri (i.e. dark/kaal as night/ratri and represents illusion)
Day 8 Puja: Mahagauri (i.e. pure and white and represents Purity)
Day 9 Puja: Siddhidatri (i.e. Grantor of wealth, paranormal power/Siddhi and represents Act of Giving)