Astro River InstituteThe sixth night of Navratri belongs to Katyayani, the warrior form of the Goddess — and the Goddess to whom the young women of Vraja prayed for Krishna. This year's date for the sixth night in your city is in the box below.
Katyayani has two faces, and both are loved. One is the warrior: the Goddess born in a sage's hermitage, who rides out on a great cat with a sword that shines like the moon to kill the buffalo-demon. The other is gentle and very young: a goddess of the riverbank, to whom girls in Krishna's village made a month-long vow at dawn, so that he would be their husband.
Maa Katyayani holds both at once. That is why her day, the sixth of Navratri, is kept with such feeling — by those who need courage, and by those praying for a good marriage, for themselves or for a daughter.
Quick overview
- Night: the sixth of Navratri — Shashthi, the sixth lunar day of the bright fortnight.
- Her name: Kātyāyanī, "she of Katyayana" — the Goddess born in the hermitage of the sage Katyayana, and first worshipped by him.
- Who she is: the warrior form of Durga, told in one Puranic telling as the slayer of Mahishasura; and the goddess of the gopis' vow in the Bhagavata Purana.
- How she is shown: four arms, a sword and a lotus, the other two hands in blessing, riding a lion or tiger.
- Her mantra: ॐ देवी कात्यायन्यै नमः — Om Devī Kātyāyanyai namaḥ.
- The marriage prayer: Kātyāyani mahāmāye…, from the Bhagavata Purana — below.
- Bhog commonly offered: honey — a family custom whose lists vary.
This year
Chaitra Navratri 2027: Wednesday 7 April to Thursday 15 April
9 days in New Delhi
- Night 6 · Katyayani
- Monday 12 April
Times are New Delhi clock time. Computed for each city from the positions of the Sun and Moon (Lahiri). Where your family or temple follows its own panchang, follow that.
Who she is: the Goddess of the sage's hermitage
When the gods, driven from heaven by the buffalo-demon Mahishasura, poured out their anger together, it took shape as a single blazing Goddess. The Vamana Purana tells that their combined radiance gathered in the hermitage of the sage Katyayana, and that the Goddess born from it was named for him; the Kalika Purana says that Katyayana was the first to worship her, and so she is Katyayani. Each god gave her his weapon. She rode out and killed Mahisha.
The same battle is the heart of the Devi Mahatmya, the scripture of Navratri, where the Goddess who kills Mahisha is simply the Devi — Durga, Chandika. Katyayani is the name by which the sixth night remembers her.
The prayer of the gopis
Katyayani's second story is told in the Bhagavata Purana. In the first month of winter, the young cowherd girls of Vraja kept a vow: every morning at dawn they bathed in the Yamuna, made an image of the Goddess in sand on the riverbank, worshipped her with flowers and incense, and prayed. Their prayer is still said, across India, by girls and women hoping for a good marriage:
कात्यायनि महामाये महायोगिन्यधीश्वरि ।
नन्दगोपसुतं देवि पतिं मे कुरु ते नमः ।Kātyāyani mahāmāye mahāyoginy adhīśvari, nanda-gopa-sutaṁ devi patiṁ me kuru te namaḥ.
"O Katyayani, great power of illusion, great yogini, sovereign Goddess — make the son of Nanda the cowherd my husband. Salutation to you." (the prayer in Bhagavata Purana 10.22.4)
In the prayer as it is said today, many replace "the son of Nanda" with a prayer for a good husband in general. A temple of Katyayani stands at Vrindavan, in the land of that story, and draws pilgrims all year.
How she is shown
Katyayani has four arms. In one hand she holds a sword — her verse calls it candrahāsa, "bright as the moon" — and in another a lotus; the other two are raised in the gestures of fearlessness and of blessing. She rides a great cat: a lion in most pictures, a tiger in her verse. She is golden and radiant, and often dressed in red.
Her mantra and her verse
The short mantra many families use on the sixth day:
ॐ देवी कात्यायन्यै नमः
Om Devī Kātyāyanyai namaḥ — "Om, salutation to the Goddess Katyayani."
Her meditation verse (dhyāna), as it is recited in the Navadurga worship:
चन्द्रहासोज्ज्वलकरा शार्दूलवरवाहना ।
कात्यायनी शुभं दद्याद्देवी दानवघातिनी ॥Candrahāsojjvala-karā śārdūla-vara-vāhanā, kātyāyanī śubhaṁ dadyād devī dānava-ghātinī.
"Her hand shining with the moon-bright sword, the finest of tigers her mount — may Katyayani, the Goddess who slays the demons, grant what is good."
The nine meditation verses come from the later ritual tradition of the Navadurga worship; the Devi Mahatmya itself gives only the nine names.
How the sixth night is kept
The kalash is worshipped as on every day, and Katyayani as the form of the day. Many families offer her honey. Girls and women who keep the marriage prayer often say it on her day — a set number of times, or every day for a fixed period afterwards, as their family teaches.
In Bengal, the sixth day is Shashthi, the first of the great days of Durga Puja: the Goddess is ceremonially awakened in the evening — the bodhan — and the pandals open.
Durga Ashtami: the great eighth day
Bhog and colour
The bhog most widely offered to Katyayani is honey. This is a popular custom rather than a rule of the texts; keep your family's list if it differs.
The colour worn on the sixth day is not fixed to Katyayani; in the modern custom of nine colours it changes each year with the weekday on which Navratri begins.
→ This year's colours of Navratri, day by day
Questions we are asked
Which goddess is worshipped on the sixth day of Navratri? Katyayani, the sixth of the nine forms of Durga named in the Devi Kavacham — the warrior Goddess of the sage Katyayana's hermitage.
What is the story of Katyayani? In the Vamana Purana, she is the Goddess born from the gods' combined radiance in the hermitage of the sage Katyayana, who killed the buffalo-demon Mahishasura; the Kalika Purana says Katyayana was the first to worship her. In the Bhagavata Purana, she is the Goddess to whom the gopis of Vraja prayed for Krishna as their husband.
What is the Katyayani mantra for marriage? Kātyāyani mahāmāye mahāyoginy adhīśvari, nanda-gopa-sutaṁ devi patiṁ me kuru te namaḥ — the gopis' prayer from the Bhagavata Purana (10.22.4). It is said with devotion by those hoping for a good marriage; how and how often is a matter of family teaching. No prayer is a promise of a result.
What is the simple mantra for Maa Katyayani? Om Devī Kātyāyanyai namaḥ — "Om, salutation to the Goddess Katyayani."
Which colour saree for Katyayani Devi? No scripture assigns a colour to her. In the modern custom of nine colours, the sixth day's colour changes every year; she is often shown in red. This year's list is on our colours page.
What bhog is offered to Katyayani? Honey, by popular custom. Lists vary by family.
This page teaches. The dates are computed for each city from the positions of the Sun and Moon. Where a family or temple follows its own panchang, follow that.
For a question about marriage in your own chart — the seventh house, its lord, the dasha that is running — a private consultation is where it is read in full. Book a private consultation · The 5th and 7th houses: love and marriage in the chart
Night 5 — Skandamata, the mother of Skanda · Night 7 — Kalratri, the night of time · The bhog for all nine days · Navratri: the nine nights, all on one page
