Day 9 of Navratri: Maa Sidhidatri

A grand celebration is witnessed on the last of the navratri. Maa Sidhidatri is worshipped on this day.

Iconography of Maa Sidhidatri

Maa Sidhidatri sits on a lotus flower. She has four arms with which she holds shankh (conch), gada (mace), chakra (discus), and a lotus flower. She is worshipped by every being including devatas, asuras, yakshas, gandharvas, and siddhas.

Story behind Maa Sidhidatri

At the beginning of creation, Shiva meditated on Aadi Parashakti to bless him with powers so that he could help Lord Brahma and Lord Vishnu in sustaining the creation. Pleased by his devotion, She took the form of Sidhidatri and granted him the ashta sidhis (8 super powers) that includes:

1. Anima (ability to shrink oneself to a size of an atom)

2. Mahima (ability to infinitely magnify own size)

3. Garima (able to become extremely heavy) 4. Laghima (able to become extremely light) 5. Prapti (power of bending space and reaching any distant object)

6. Prakamya (achieving whatever one desires)

7. Ishitva (able to control the potencies of nature)

8. Vashitva (ability to influence one as they wish)

Along with these eight primary mystic yoga perfections, the Devi also granted him the 10 secondary perfections, called the ten mystic yoga perfections. These represent becoming free from the limitations of the body and senses and experiencing the expanded form of one's awareness.

i) freeing oneself from hunger, thirst and other bodily desires

ii) hearing and seeing things from far away

iii) moving at the speed of the mind (reaching distant places at the fraction of second)

iv) assuming any desired form

v) entering the body of another

vi) dying only when one wants

vii) witnessing the pastimes of demigods

viii) as well as the psstimes of apsaras

ix)) successfully executing one's desired goal or purpose

x) giving orders that cannot be contradicted

Lord Brahma seeked help from Maa Sidhidatri when he faced some difficulty in his task of the creation of life. The Devi then made Lord Shiva's body androgynous, giving Brahma the direction that the merging of purusha and prakriti is the seed of life itself. It was Maa Sidhidatri's blessings that helped Shiva balance the masculine and feminine energy and achieve the form of Ardhanaarishwar (half-man and half-woman).

Benefits of Worshipping Maa Sidhidatri

Worshipping Maa Sidhidatri bestows one with perfection and supernatural powers. She governs the planet ketu that symbolises detachment from material life and awakening towards spirituality. She removes ignorance from the life of her devotees and blesses them with spiritual wisdom, helping them walking towards enlightenment.