The Navaratri (alternatively transliterated as Navratri and pronounced sometimes as Navratra) festival is not limited to the well-known Chaitra and Sharadiya Navratris. For instance — today, 6 July 2024 — the Navaratri on the occasion of pratipada of the shukla paksha of Jyeshtha and Magha is being observed, which is known as Gupt Navratri.
Table of Contents
10 Mahavidyas worshipped on Gupt Navratri
During Gupt Navratri, 10 Mahavidyas are worshipped one by one:
- Kali
- Tara
- Tripurasundari
- Bhuvaneshwari
- Chhinnamasta
- Tripura Bhairavi
- Dhumavati
- Bagalamukhi
- Matangi
- Kamala or Kamalatmika
Adhering to the rituals associated with Gupt Navratri, as mentioned in Devi Bhagavata Purana, is believed to bring wealth, prosperity, and happiness into one’s life. It is worth noting that there are a total of four Navratris celebrated every year, coinciding with the change of seasons.
Since it’s a Navratri, all nine forms of Durga are invoked too:
- Shailputri
- Brahmacharini
- Chandraghanta
- Kushmanda
- Skandamata
- Katyayani
- Kalaratri
- Mahagauri
- Siddhidatri
Nomenclature
“Gupt” is the Hindi adaptation of the Sanskrit adjective “गुप्त”, which means hidden. As the Tantra sadhana (in which वशीकरण, where the sadhaka spiritually takes control of the thoughts and actions of another person, is an art that may be practised) done in this period is a secretive skill not taught to the people at large but a select few qualified for the ritual, the occasion came to be known as Gupt Navratri.
Tantra
Also known as Mantramārga (path of mantra) in Hinduism or Mantrayāna (mantra vehicle) and Guhyamantra (secret mantra) in Buddhism, the term “Tantra” is mentioned in the hymns of the Rigveda, such as in 10.71, with the meaning of “warp (weaving)”. It is also found in other Vedic-era texts, such as in section 10.7.42 of the Atharvaveda and many Brahmanas. In these and post-Vedic texts, the contextual meaning of Tantra is that which is “principal or essential part, main point, model, framework, feature”. In the Smritis and epics of Hinduism (and Jainism), the term means “doctrine, rule, theory, method, technique or chapter” and the word appears both as a separate word and as a common suffix, such as atma-tantra, meaning “doctrine or theory of the atma (self)”.
After about 500 BCE, in Buddhism, Hinduism and Jainism, the term “Tantra” became a bibliographic category, like the word Sutra (which means “sewing together”, mirroring the metaphor of “weaving together” in Tantra). The same Buddhist texts are sometimes referred to as tantra or sutra; for example, Vairocabhisambodhi-tantra is referred to as Vairocabhisambodhi-sutra too.
The connotation of the word tantra to mean an esoteric practice or religious ritualism is a colonial-era European distortion. This term is based on the metaphor of weaving, where the Sanskrit root tan means the warping of threads on a loom. It implies “interweaving of traditions and teachings as threads” into a text, technique or practice.
Not so-Tantric north Indian rituals
While Tantra is a reclusive form of Hindu worship, regular rituals are observed by Hindus in north Indian states on the occasion. These rituals involve things like an urn, मौली to tie on a कलश, a mango stalk with 5 or 7 leaves, रोली, water from the Ganga, a coin and wheat or rice grains put in the कलश. Farmers are advised to sow barley these days, taken from a large earthen pot.
The Mother is decorated with a red cloth, सिंदूर, perfume, bindi, red bangles, mehndi, kajal, comb and some makeup items. Some women apply even lipstick and nail paint on Devi, indicating that the occasion began being observed in the modern era.
Believers: The Shakta sect
The Srimad Devi Bhagavatam, also known as the Devi Bhagavata Purana, is not one of the 18 Mahapuranas of Hinduism. However, the Shakta sect considers the text a major Purana. It promotes devotion towards Mahadevi, integrating themes from the Shaktadvaitavada tradition. While this is generally regarded as a Shakta Purana, some scholars interpret this Purana as a Shaiva Purana.
The Purana consists of 12 cantos with 318 chapters. Along with the Devi Mahatmya, it is one of the most important works in Shaktism, a tradition within Hinduism that reveres Devi or Shakti as the primordial creator of the universe and also as Brahman. It celebrates the divine feminine as the origin of all existence: as the creator, the preserver and the destroyer of everything, as well as the one who empowers spiritual liberation.
While all major Puranas of Hinduism mention and revere the Shakti, this text centres around her as the primary divinity. The underlying philosophy of the text is Advaita Vedanta-style monism combined with the devotional worship of Shakti. Shaktas claim Vyasa narrated the text to King Janamejaya, the son of Parikshit who survived the Mahabharata war after his mother Uttara’s womb was struck by Ashwatthama’s Brahmastra from which the foetus was saved by Krishna.
In the original story, after Parikshit invites the curse of Rishi Shamika for insulting the latter under the influence of Kaliyuga by tossing a dead snake around the saint’s neck, who said he would die by snake bite, the king spent the rest of his days in penance, listening to Shuka, Vyasa’s son, who narrated the story of the life of Krishna, which is compiled as Srimadbhagavatam.
Shaktism encompasses a multitude of goddesses, all of whom are considered different aspects, manifestations, or personifications of the same supreme goddess Shakti. It includes various forms of worship, from those centred on the highly worshipped Durga to the gracious Parvati, and the fierce Kali. After the decline of Buddhism in India, various Hindu and Buddhist goddesses were combined to form the Mahavidya, a pantheon of ten goddesses. The most common forms of the Mahadevi worshipped in Shaktism include Durga, Kali, Saraswati, Lakshmi, Parvati, and Tripurasundari. Also worshipped are the various Gramadevatas across the Indian villages.
Shaktism also encompasses various tantric sub-traditions, including Vidyapitha and Kulamārga. Shaktism emphasises that intense love of the deity is more important than simple obedience, thus showing an influence of the Vaishnavaite idea of the passionate relationship between Radha and Krishna as an ideal bhava. Similarly, Shaktism influenced Vaishnavism and Shaivism. The goddess is considered the consort and energy (shakti) of the gods Vishnu and Shiva; they have their shaktis, Vaishnavi for Vishnu and Maheshvari for Shiva, and consorts Lakshmi and Sati/Parvati. An adherent of Shaktism is called Shakta. According to a 2010 estimate by Johnson and Grim, Shaktism is the third largest Hindu sect constituting about 3.2% of Hindus.
The Sruti and Smriti texts of Hinduism form an important scriptural framework in Shaktism. Scriptures such as the Devi Mahatmya, Devi-Bhagavata Purana, Kalika Purana, and Shakta Upanishads like the Devi Upanishad are revered. The Devi Mahatmya in particular, is considered in Shaktism to be as important as the Bhagavad Gita. The Devi is revered in many Hindu temples and is worshipped during various Hindu festivals. The goddess-focused tradition and festivals such as the Durga puja are very popular in eastern India.
The earliest archaeological evidence of a possible Upper Paleolithic shrine dedicated to Shakti worship was found at the Baghor I site in the Sidhi district of Madhya Pradesh, India. Excavations led by renowned archaeologists G. R. Sharma from Allahabad University and J. Desmond Clark from the University of California, with assistance from Jonathan Mark Kenoyer and JN Pal, dated the Baghor formation to a period between 9000 BC and 8000 BC. The roots of Shakti worship can also be linked to the Indus Valley civilisation.
Goddesses frequently mentioned in the Vedic texts include Ushas (dawn), Vāc (speech, wisdom), Sarasvati (as the river), Prithvi (earth), Nirriti (annihilator), Shraddha (faith, confidence). Deities like Uma are also present in the Upanishads as a different manifestation of the divine and the possessor of supreme knowledge (Brahman), as seen in sections 3 and 4 of the ancient Kena Upanishad.
History of Shaktism
According to Thomas Coburn, hymns dedicated to goddesses can be found in the ancient Hindu epic Mahabharata, particularly in the Harivamsa section, which was added to the work between 100 and 300 CE. The archaeological and textual evidence suggests that by the third or fourth century, the goddess had gained as much prominence as God in Hindu tradition. The literature on Shakti theology flourished in ancient India, culminating in the Devi Mahatmya, one of the most significant texts of Shaktism. C Mackenzie Brown, a professor of Religion, describes this text as the culmination of centuries of Indian ideas about the divine woman and a foundation for subsequent literature and spirituality focused on female transcendence. In Shaktism, the Devi Mahatmya is considered as important as the Bhagavad Gita.
Thomas B Coburn, a professor of Religious Studies, points out that while the Devi Mahatmya is not the earliest literary fragment indicating devotion to a goddess figure, it is the earliest in which the object of worship is conceptualised as Goddess with a capital G.
A separate sect that considers all Hindu gods subservient to Shakti surfaced not before the 3 century CE when Devi Mahatmya was composed.
The Devi Mahatmyam was incorporated into the Markandeya Purana in either the 5th or 6th century. The Dadhimati Mata inscription from 608 CE includes a passage from this text, indicating its existence before the 7th century. Scholars generally place its composition between 400–600 CE.
Hymns dedicated to goddesses can be found in the ancient Hindu epic Mahabharata, particularly in the later Harivamsa section added between 100 to 300 CE. According to archaeological and textual evidence, the Goddess had become an integral part of the Hindu tradition by the third or fourth century.
C Mackenzie Brown asserts that the Devi Mahatmyam represents the culmination of centuries of Indian beliefs about the divine feminine, serving as a cornerstone for literature and spirituality focused on feminine transcendence in the subsequent centuries.
Anyway, by and large, the people who observe Gupt Navratri are not known to be conscious of the sampradaya or sect they belong to. They revere all gods and goddesses in the Hindu pantheon.