Menoctoberish - a month of festivals

Day eight of Navratri is known as Ashtami. On this day, Goddess Durga is worshipped as Mahagauri. The attire that devotees will wear on this day will be of purple colour.

Gauri means 'white.' Austerities are referred to as 'tapas' in Indian tradition, which actually means 'heating' or even 'burning', so the result of Parvati’s tapas was that her skin blackened from the fire of her tapas – and as Kaalratri Maa, she defeated the enemies of the gods. This morning (in cosmic terms), Lord Shiva bathed Parvati with the waters of the Ganga, and lo and behold, the blackness washed away revealing the pristine goddess, whose face resembled the moon.

Dressed in white, sitting atop a white bull, holding authority in her right hand in the form of the trident, she holds Lord Shiva’s gift of the damaru, the two-headed drum, in her left. It is from this damaru that the Maheshwara Sutra is heard, and speech is gifted to humankind.

Meditation upon Mahagauri will bring the dedicated seeker to an appreciation of the myth of duality, the grand delusion of Maya. Mother Gauri enlightens the spiritual seeker and removes the fear of rebirth by granting salvation.