Astro River InstituteThe fifth night of Navratri belongs to Skandamata, the Goddess with her son in her lap. This year's date for the fifth night in your city is in the box below.
Of the nine forms of Durga, only one is shown with a child. On the fifth night the Goddess who made the world sits down on a lotus, her son on her knee, one hand raised in blessing — and of all her forms this is the one most people find easiest to pray to.
Maa Skandamata is the mother of Skanda, the war god — known also as Kartikeya, Murugan and Subrahmanya. He was born for one purpose, to defeat a demon no one else could touch. So even this gentlest of her forms holds the battle inside it. The mother is not soft. She is raising the one who will win.
Quick overview
- Night: the fifth of Navratri — Panchami, the fifth lunar day of the bright fortnight.
- Her name: Skandamātā, "the mother of Skanda".
- Who she is: Parvati as the mother of Kartikeya, the commander of the gods' army.
- How she is shown: seated, often on a lotus, the child Skanda in her lap, with four arms — two holding lotuses, one raised in blessing — and a lion as her mount.
- Her mantra: ॐ देवी स्कन्दमातायै नमः — Om Devī Skandamātāyai namaḥ.
- Bhog commonly offered: bananas — a family custom whose lists vary.
This year
Chaitra Navratri 2027: Wednesday 7 April to Thursday 15 April
9 days in New Delhi
- Night 5 · Skandamata
- Sunday 11 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 mother of the war god
The demon Taraka had won a boon that only a son of Shiva could kill him — and Shiva, after Sati's death, had withdrawn from the world. Taraka was safe, the gods believed, forever. They were driven from heaven.
That is why Parvati's penance mattered so much, and why the gods sent Kama to wake Shiva: the whole of creation needed the child of that marriage. The Shiva Purana tells it, and Kalidasa's Kumarasambhava — "the birth of Kumara" — is named for it. When the child was born, he was Skanda, also called Kumara and Kartikeya, raised by the six Krittikas, the stars of the Pleiades. He grew in days into the commander of the gods' army, and killed Taraka.
So Skandamata is the answer to the whole story so far. The mountain's daughter took her vow, married, and bore the one who would set the worlds right. In the south, where Skanda is worshipped as Murugan, she is the mother of one of the most loved gods of Tamil devotion.
How she is shown
Skandamata is shown seated — often on a lotus, so she is also called Padmasana, "the one seated on the lotus". The child Skanda sits in her lap, sometimes with six faces. She has four arms: two hold lotuses, one supports the child, and one is raised in the gesture of blessing (abhaya or varada). A lion waits beside her.
She is usually drawn fair and bright, and the mood of her picture is warmth: the first time in the nine that the Goddess is shown holding someone.
Her mantra and her verse
The short mantra many families use on the fifth day:
ॐ देवी स्कन्दमातायै नमः
Om Devī Skandamātāyai namaḥ — "Om, salutation to the Goddess Skandamata."
Her meditation verse (dhyāna), as it is recited in the Navadurga worship:
सिंहासनगता नित्यं पद्माश्रितकरद्वया ।
शुभदास्तु सदा देवी स्कन्दमाता यशस्विनी ॥Siṁhāsana-gatā nityaṁ padmāśrita-kara-dvayā, śubhadāstu sadā devī skandamātā yaśasvinī.
"Seated always on the lion throne, a lotus held in each of two hands — may the glorious Goddess Skandamata always be the giver of 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 fifth night is kept
The kalash is worshipped as on every day, and Skandamata as the form of the day. Her day is kept especially by parents — for the health and future of their children — and by those hoping for a child. Many families offer her bananas.
In Bengal, the fifth day is the eve of Durga Puja proper: on the evening of Shashthi, the next day, the Goddess is ceremonially awakened — the bodhan — and the great days begin.
Kanya pujan: the worship of the Goddess in young girls
Bhog and colour
The bhog most widely offered to Skandamata is bananas. 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 fifth day is not fixed to Skandamata; 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 fifth day of Navratri? Skandamata, the fifth of the nine forms of Durga named in the Devi Kavacham — Parvati as the mother of Skanda.
Who is Skanda? The son of Shiva and Parvati, also called Kartikeya, Kumara, Murugan and Subrahmanya — the commander of the gods' army, born to defeat the demon Taraka.
What is the mantra for Maa Skandamata? Om Devī Skandamātāyai namaḥ — "Om, salutation to the Goddess Skandamata." Her meditation verse is given above.
What bhog is offered to Skandamata? Bananas, by popular custom. Lists vary by family.
Why do parents pray to Skandamata? Because she is the one form of the nine shown as a mother with her child. Her day is kept for the welfare of children, and by those hoping for one.
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.
Night 4 — Kushmanda, who made the world with a smile · Night 6 — Katyayani, the warrior · The bhog for all nine days · Navratri: the nine nights, all on one page
