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In Sanatan Dharma, the festival of Shardiya Navratri is considered the most sacred time for the worship of spiritual energy, devotion and power. On the auspicious occasion of Maha Ashtami, the eighth day of Navratri, Goddess Mahagauri, the eighth form of Goddess Durga, is worshiped with full rituals. According to mythological beliefs and religious scriptures, the complexion of Maa Mahagauri is extremely fair, very beautiful and full of supernatural radiance. All their jewelery and clothes are also white in color, due to which they are also called Shwetambardhara. Mother Mahagauri has four arms, out of which one hand holds a trident, the other holds a damru, the third hand is adorned in Abhaya Mudra and the fourth hand is adorned in Varada Mudra. The vehicle of Goddess Mahagauri is Vrishabha i.e. bull. It is believed that whichever devotee comes to the shelter of Maa Mahagauri with true heart and devotion on the day of Maha Ashtami, poverty, fear, sorrow and negative energy gets eliminated from his life forever and he gets the path of success and prosperity.
According to mythology, Mother Parvati had performed rigorous and rigorous penance for thousands of years to get Lord Shiva as her husband. During this intense penance, Mother consumed only roots and water and later survived only on air. His body had become completely black due to thousands of years of sun, cold, rain and dust. When Lord Shiva was pleased with this selfless and extremely difficult penance of Mother Parvati, he appeared and accepted her as his better half. After this, Lord Shiva bathed the body of the goddess with Ganga water. As soon as the streams of holy water of Ganga fell on the body of Mother Parvati, her body became radiant, glorious and extremely white like lightning. Seeing her supernatural glorious form, Lord Shiva named her ‘Maha Gauri’. Since then, the tradition of worshiping this form of Mother Goddess on the eighth day of Navratri has been going on.
On the day of Maha Ashtami, one should take bath and meditate in the morning and wear clean white or pink colored clothes. After this, purify the place of worship and install the idol or picture of Maa Mahagauri there. Offering white flowers like mogra, jasmine or white lotus to Mata Mahagauri is considered very auspicious. Along with this, offer kumkum, akshat, incense, lamp and naivedya. Mother Mahagauri is very fond of offering coconut, halwa, puri and black gram. Siddha mantras of Mata during puja “Om Devi Mahagauriai Namah” Or “Ya Devi Sarvabhuteshu Maa Mahagauri form Sansthita, Namastesyaye Namastesye Namastesye Namo Namah” Should be chanted at least 108 times. Kanya Puja also has special significance on the day of Maha Ashtami. On this day, nine girls aged between 2 to 10 years and one Batuk (Bhairav) are respectfully called home and their feet are washed, Roli-Tika is applied to them and blessings are taken by feeding them prasad of halwa, puri, gram and giving them gifts as per their capacity.
Religious scholars and astrologers believe that by worshiping and worshiping Goddess Mahagauri, the dirt in the mind of the devotee is washed away and his concentration increases. To get relief from the inauspicious effects of planet Rahu, worship of Maa Mahagauri is considered best. People who are facing repeated failures in their career, business or education, meditating Maa Mahagauri on Maha Ashtami opens their closed paths and paves the way for new success. Apart from this, married women keep a fast on this day to pray for the long life and continued good fortune of their husbands and offer red chunari and suhaag material to the mother. Thus, this eighth day of Navratri is not just a religious ritual but a great opportunity to achieve purity, positivity and supreme success in life.