Astro River InstituteThe first night of Navratri belongs to Shailaputri, the Goddess as the daughter of the Himalaya. This year's date for the first night, and the ghatasthapana time for your city, are in the box below.
Every Navratri begins with her. On the first morning, before anything else, the kalash is filled and set down, the barley is sown, the lamp is lit — and the Goddess who is invited into that pot of water on the first day is Maa Shailaputri, the daughter of the mountain. In autumn her day comes straight after the new moon that closes Pitru Paksha: the fortnight of the ancestors ends, and the nights of the Goddess begin.
It is fitting. A mountain is the thing that does not move. Shailaputri is the Goddess as steadiness, the ground under everything that follows — and the eight forms that come after her, through penance and marriage and motherhood and war, all stand on the first.
Quick overview
- Night: the first of Navratri — Pratipada, the first lunar day of the bright fortnight.
- Her name: Śailaputrī, "daughter of the mountain" (śaila, mountain; putrī, daughter).
- Who she is: Parvati, born to Himavat, king of the Himalaya — Sati reborn.
- How she is shown: riding a bull, a trident in her right hand and a lotus in her left, the crescent moon on her head.
- Her mantra: ॐ देवी शैलपुत्र्यै नमः — Om Devī Śailaputryai namaḥ.
- Bhog commonly offered: pure ghee, or sweets made in ghee — a family custom whose lists vary.
- The first act of her day: ghatasthapana, the installing of the kalash.
This year
Chaitra Navratri 2027: Wednesday 7 April to Thursday 15 April
9 days in New Delhi
- Night 1 · Shailaputri
- Wednesday 7 April
- Ghatasthapana
- Wednesday 7 April: 06:05–10:17, the first part of the morning
- Abhijit (fallback)
- 11:58–12:49
- Good choghadiyas
- Labh 06:05–07:40 · Amrit 07:40–09:14 · Shubh 10:49–12:24
- Note
- Vaidhriti yoga from 07:26 through the abhijit muhurat. Disfavoured, not forbidden: where there is a choice, choose a time outside them.
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 daughter of the mountain
Shailaputri's story begins with a death. Sati, the first wife of Shiva, was the daughter of Daksha, a lord of creation who despised his ascetic son-in-law. Daksha held a great sacrifice and invited every god but Shiva. Sati went anyway; and when her father insulted her husband before the assembly, she gave up her body in the sacrificial fire. The Puranas tell what followed — Shiva's grief, the destruction of Daksha's sacrifice — and they tell that Sati was born again.
She was born to Himavat, the king of the Himalaya, and his queen Mena, and named Parvati, "she of the mountain". She grew up to win Shiva once more. Shailaputri is that girl at the beginning of the second life: the mountain's daughter, who already holds Shiva's trident and rides his bull, though the long penance and the marriage are still ahead of her.
So the nine nights open with a homecoming. The Goddess who was lost is born again, in the high, cold, still place — and the story of Navratri can begin.
How she is shown
Shailaputri is drawn simply, with two arms. She rides a bull — Nandi, Shiva's mount, which makes her Shiva's even before she is his wife. In her right hand is a trident (trishul); in her left, a lotus. A crescent moon sits in her hair. She is usually shown in white or soft colours, against snow and mountain.
Each sign points to the same quality. The bull is patience and strength under load. The trident is the will to act. The lotus is purity rising from muddy water. The mountain behind her is the thing that endures.
Her mantra and her verse
The short mantra many families use on the first day is the simple naming form:
ॐ देवी शैलपुत्र्यै नमः
Om Devī Śailaputryai namaḥ — "Om, salutation to the Goddess Shailaputri."
Her meditation verse (dhyāna), as it is recited in the Navadurga worship:
वन्दे वाञ्छितलाभाय चन्द्रार्धकृतशेखराम् ।
वृषारूढां शूलधरां शैलपुत्रीं यशस्विनीम् ॥Vande vāñchita-lābhāya candrārdha-kṛta-śekharām, vṛṣārūḍhāṁ śūla-dharāṁ śailaputrīṁ yaśasvinīm.
"For the gaining of what I long for, I bow to the glorious Shailaputri, who wears the half-moon as her crown, rides the bull and holds the trident."
The nine meditation verses come from the later ritual tradition of the Navadurga worship; the Devi Mahatmya itself gives only the nine names.
Your family priest may use a longer worship; these are enough for a household.
How the first night is kept
The first day of Navratri is the busiest of the nine, because everything is set up on it.
- Ghatasthapana in the morning. The kalash is installed on the morning of Pratipada — never at night, never while the new moon is still running. If the morning is lost, the abhijit muhurat around local noon is the fallback. Ghatasthapana: the time, the vidhi and what goes into the kalash
- The sankalpa — the vow to worship the Goddess for the nine days — is made once, at the start.
- The worship of Shailaputri. After the kalash is installed, the Goddess of the first day is worshipped: flowers, kumkum, the lamp, the mantra above, and the bhog.
- The akhand jyoti, if your family keeps one, is lit now and kept burning for the nine days.
- The fast, if you keep it, begins — one meal, a night meal, or fruit and milk, by your family's custom.
Many families also begin reading the Devi Mahatmya on the first day, a portion each day, to finish by Navami.
Bhog and colour
The bhog most widely offered to Shailaputri is pure ghee, or sweets made in ghee, given afterwards as prasad. This is a popular custom rather than a rule of the texts; if your family offers something else, keep your family's way.
The colour worn on the first day is not fixed to Shailaputri. In the modern custom of nine colours, the colour of the first day depends on the weekday on which Navratri begins, so it changes every year.
→ This year's colours of Navratri, day by day
Questions we are asked
Which goddess is worshipped on the first day of Navratri? Shailaputri, "the daughter of the mountain" — Parvati as the daughter of Himavat, king of the Himalaya. She is the first of the nine forms of Durga named in the Devi Kavacham.
Why is she called Shailaputri? Śaila means mountain and putrī daughter. She is Parvati, born to the mountain king Himavat after Sati gave up her body in Daksha's fire.
What is the mantra for Maa Shailaputri? Om Devī Śailaputryai namaḥ — "Om, salutation to the Goddess Shailaputri." Many families also recite her meditation verse, given above.
What bhog is offered to Shailaputri? Pure ghee, or sweets made in ghee, by popular custom. Lists vary by family.
What colour should be worn on the first day of Navratri? It changes every year, because the custom sets the first colour by the weekday on which Navratri begins. This year's colours are on our colours page.
What is done on the first day of Navratri? Ghatasthapana in the morning, the sankalpa for the nine days, the worship of Shailaputri, the lighting of the akhand jyoti if your family keeps one, and the start of the fast.
This page teaches. The dates and times are computed for each city from the positions of the Sun and Moon. Where a family or temple follows its own panchang, follow that.
Navratri: the nine nights, all on one page · Night 2 — Brahmacharini, the one who keeps the vow · The bhog for all nine days
