Navratri 2024 Day 1: Maa Shailputri, Puja Vidhi, Mantra, and Significance

Navratri Day 1 Maa Shailputri: Navratri, one of the major festivals of Hindus, which is purely dedicated to honor Goddess Durga. Devotees offer prayers to Maa Durga for nine days and nine nights. Maa Durga is the ultimate source of energy, which never ends. During these days, nine unique manifestations of Maa Durga are worshipped. The first day of Navratri is starting today, on Pratipada Tithi of Shukla Paksha in Ashwina Month i.e., October 3, 2024. Maa Shailputri is worshipped on this particular day as she is the first form of Devi Durga. Let's know more about Maa Shailputri:
Navratri 2024: Significance
The very first day of Navratri festival is dedicated to honour Shailputri Mata, who is the duaghter of Himalaya and Maina. She is depicted as sitting on a Nandi bull, carrying a flower in her left hand and a trident in the right. She has all the divine powers of Lord Brahma, Lord Shiva and Lord Vishnu. She is the ruler of Moon planet and people who is affected by the Moon or has psychological issues, can worship Maa Shailputri and seek blessings.
Importance of Meditation on this day
It's an excellent time for those who want to perform meditation or who wish to open their chakras as Maa Shailputri, the goddess of the Root Chakra, begins her upward journey as Shakti toward Shiva, who resides in the Crown Chakra. Now is the ideal moment to use chakra channeling to become conscious of your higher self. Through this medium, people can even feel as though they are looking for their soul, which is a divine experience.
Through the Root Chakra, or Mooladhaar Chakra, people can harness their power to overcome any obstacle in life. It is thought that Maa Shailputri blesses individuals who perform with commitment, dedication, and good intentions.
Navratri 2024: Story
In the previous birth, Maa Shailputri was the daughter of King Daksha, named as Sati. King Daksha was totally against Lord Shiva but Goddess wanted to marry Lord Shiva. Goddess Sati got married to Lord Shiva. Once King Daksha arranged a grand Yajna and he invited everyone in that yajna but not Lord Shiva. Goddess Sati wanted to attend that so she asked Lord Shiva about this but Lord Shiva asked her not to visit there without invitation otherwise it would be inauspicious. Even after his denial, she attended the Yajna so when she went to her parents place, king Daksha insulted Lord Shiva. At last she could not bear his husband's insult and had a guilt feeling that Lord Shiva stopped her but she did not even listen to him and came to meet her parents. She then immediately surrendered herself in the fire and left the body and took rebirth as the daughter of Himalaya to marry Lord Shiva.
Navratri 2024: Ghatsthapana
Devotees firstly do Ghatasthapana or Kalash Sthapana on the first day of Navratri and seek divine blessings of Goddess Durga. People decorate their home with flowers and diyas and worship Goddess Shailputri by following proper puja rituals and invoke the idol by chanting Mantras.
Navratri 2024: Puja Vidhi
1. Wake up early in the morning and take a holy bath.
2. Clean your house and especially puja room where you want to keep the idol and perform puja for the rest of the days.
3. Wear beautiful clean clothes before starting puja rituals.
4. Take all puja samagri (Paan, supari, elaichi, coconut, incense sticks, Gangajal, earthen diya, desi cow ghee, shringaar items, kumkum or vermillion, flowers, and fruits).
5. Take a wooden plank, spread a red colour cotton cloth and place an idol of Goddess Durga. Then sprinkle Gangajal.
6. Adorn the idol with shringar items and garland, put kumkum or vermillion and light a diya with desi ghee, offer paan with supari, laung and elaichi and five different types of seasonal fruits.
7. Take a kalash and decorate it with mango leaves, tie a red sacred thread (Kalawa) around the kalash then place coconut on that kalash.
8. Then take an earthen pot, fill it with soil and then spread the grain seeds (Jawar). Now, add another layer of soil and then put some water inside and cover it with a plate.
9. Devotees must invoke the idol by chanting some mantras dedicated to Shailputri Mata. Offer a lotus flower to Goddess Shailputri and recite Durga Saptashati Paath.
10. Performing puja is mandatory for fast observers.
11. One must perform aarti of Maa Durga before breaking their fast.
12. Devotees often break their fast with Sama kheer, sabudana tikki, fried potatoes etc.
13. Some devotees break their fast only with fruits which is believed to cleanse the body, mind and the soul.
Mantra
1.ॐ देवी शैलपुत्र्यै नमः॥
Om Devi Shailaputryai Namah॥
2. वन्दे वाञ्छितलाभाय चन्द्रार्ध कृतशेखराम् ।
वृषारूढाम् शूलधराम् शैलपुत्रीम् यशस्विनीम् ॥
Vande Vanchhitalabhaya Chandrardhakritashekharam।
Vrisharudham Shuladharam Shailaputrim Yashasvinim॥