Navratri Day 7: Goddess Kaalratri

Maa Kaalratri protects her devotees from all evil. She is worshipped during Navratri as she can destroy all darkness and bring peace to the world.

Goddess Kaalratri will be worshipped on the seventh day of Navratri (Saptami). Maa Kaalratri known to be the fiercest form of goddess Durga, rides a donkey and has dark complexion and long untied hair. She is depicted wearing a garland of skulls around her neck, drenched in blood and with four hands. She holds a thunderbolt and a scimitar in two of her hands while the other two hands are in abhaya (protecting) and varada (blessing) positions. Her name in Sanskrit is a combination of two words: Kaal means death or time and ratri means night or darkness. Thus Kaalratri is the one who brings death of darkness.

Story of Kaalratri

Legend has it that demons Shumbha and Nishumbha defeated the gods with the help of Chanda, Munda and Raktabeej and began to rule the three worlds. Indra and other gods prayed to Goddess Parvati and she created goddess Chandi to kill them. While goddess Chandi killed the other demons, she was unable to defeat Chanda, Munda and Raktabeej. It is said that it was then she created Maa Kaalratri from her forehead. Goddess Kaalratri killed Chanda and Munda but found it tricky to defeat Raktabeej as because of a boon from Lord Brahma every drop of his blood that falls on the ground would create another lookalike of him. Undeterred by this, Maa Kaalratri started drinking blood of each clone of Raktabeej and there came a point when she was eventually able to kill him. Yet another legend recounts that there was a demon named Durgasur who wanted to destroy the world and drove away all the devas from swarg and snatched four Vedas. Parvati got to know about this and created Kaalratri, instructing her to warn Durgasur against an attack. Durgasur's guards however tried to capture Kaalratri when she turned up as a messenger. Kaalratri then assumed a gigantic form and delivered the warning to him. Subsequently, when Durgasur came to invade Kailash, Parvati battled him and killed him, gaining the name Durga. Here Kaalratri serves as an agent who gives the message and warning from Parvati to Durgasur.

Significance of worshipping Maa Kaalratri

It is believed that Maa Kaalratri protects her devotees from all evil. She is worshipped during Navratri as she can destroy all darkness and bring peace to the world. Worshipping Kalaratri eliminates the malefic effects of planets in one's life and brings happiness. In spite of her fiery disposition, she blesses her devotees with whatever they seek from her and removes obstacles and sorrows. To worship the goddess, offer jaggery or food made from jaggery as prasad to Maa Kaalratri. Devotees also perform the sringar puja on Saptami night.