Navaratri: the nine powers within

Dr. Beena Unnikrishnan · 12 October 2026

I have never been a ritual person, nor a scholar of tradition. And yet festivals have always been woven into my life. Rather than following every practice, I look beyond it for the meaning underneath. Sometimes I wonder whether this is laziness or just a convenient excuse. Either way, I have always enjoyed it.

Years ago, someone explained Navaratri to me in a way that has stayed in my heart ever since. I have always believed in the beauty of stories. They remain with us long after explanations fade.

Across India, the nine goddesses are seen, adorned and celebrated differently in every state, shaped by its culture and geography. The outer form keeps changing, but the qualities, the core values, remain the same. The goddesses of these nine days speak of the nine powers of a human being, given form as goddesses.

Imagine your life beginning as a child. That child is Shailaputri: the infant stage of clarity and joy, a power within us that we must keep alive. Then comes the time of bringing knowledge into your life, the stage of learning. This is the true wealth of life, the one that stays with you longest, and she is Brahmacharini. Then comes awakening. You begin to discover your senses and your emotions, and creative energy starts to stir within you, a power always guided by the moon. She is Chandraghanta. It is the moment we begin to seek our other half, whoever that may be. Then comes readiness, when body and mind long to nurture. She is Kushmanda: ready to create, ready to give life.

And then she becomes a mother, Skandamata. A new life comes into the world, and with it a new way of seeing: from now on, she looks at everything through a mother’s eyes.

When we hear the word mother, we think of a woman. But this is not only about women. It is just as true for a man. If it is hard to connect with the feeling of a child and a mother, think of a project instead, and walk it through these same steps. Your project becomes your child, and you will do anything to protect it. That fierce protector, guiding with love and firmness, is Katyayani.

Once you become a mother, or understand what it feels like, your perspective changes. You realise that for your child to be happy, the community around it has to be strong, because that is where your child will live. So you grow from the mother of a child into the mother of a community. First you feel for your own; only then can you truly feel for everyone. You begin to listen to people, and to think about the welfare of society. From this understanding comes fearlessness, for protecting a larger world demands a larger power, the strength to fight for good. She is Kalaratri.

Yet fearless power needs discipline and purity, or it can slip out of your hands into the wrong places. Discipline sustains it: Mahagauri, the art of living in harmony with the laws of the universe. And then, at last, you become a giver. Once you are complete, you become Siddhidatri, the most powerful form of all, because she is whole and has everything to bless.

These are, in truth, aspects of your own life. Look closely, and you will find the stage you are living right now, and you can allow this energy to carry you from one to the next, from the infant to the learner, and onward. This is what the nine nights truly are: a person’s nine powers.

None of this is biological. It is the inner energy of every human being. Because it is a feminine energy, we celebrate it through goddesses, for we need forms to celebrate. But once you understand its meaning, you can celebrate these nine powers within yourself, beyond gender. Then you live those nine nights, be yourself, and enjoy the powers within you. That is the true celebration of Navaratri.

First published in my newsletter The Speaking Canvas on LinkedIn.

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