Before I get into business, I just want to explain how overwhelmed I am by the amount of love on my posts. Just a few months ago, I was this girl who feared to open her laptop because I didn’t know what to write about. Today, and for the past few days, I have been darting home excitedly just to write about my thoughts and share it with everyone else. It is all the sincere support and love that motivates me to do this, I remain forever grateful to everyone out there who have been reading. THANK YOU.
Coming back – it’s already the third day of Navarathri ! We have reached the final day of the first set as Durga prepares to handover the spotlight to the second of the trinity tomorrow, for the next three days.
Following up the story of Parvati and her avatar of Brahmacharini, today we look at Chandraghanta – the manifestation of Parvati’s marital bliss.
(If you hadn’t read up about Brahmacharini, I suggest you do ! It’s right here!)
The marriage between Shiva and Parvati was confirmed. On the day of the wedding, the groom however, turned up at the bride’s house with an odd assortment of a wedding crowd that consisted of his ghostly hordes. Even he, as opposed to traditional groom makeover, was dressed in the usual tiger skin, sporting dishevelled hair and snakes twisting around his body. It was more of a war procession than a wedding one, that drove all of the brides relatives away and caused the bride’s mother to faint in horror.
To complement his “look of war”, Parvati transformed into Chandraghanta and wedded Shiva. She shadows the look of Durga – eight arms, mounted on a tiger/lion and a golden complexion that legends say radiates – but she is the guise of success. A balance is struck between ferocity and charm. She is a loving mother when embraced and a malevolent warrior when crossed.
Likewise, Chandraghanta resides in most of us as THE balance between being a benevolent woman and a woman who wouldn’t hesitate to kick your ass if angered.
A short one for the third day today, but I hope that it piqued a little interest ! We are left with another two sets of three, a six out of nine. Tomorrow, we start anew for a second set as we welcome the resident of the pink lotus who has hands that never stop giving – our Mahalakshmi.
File Photo : Upasana Govindarajan (Pen and Pencil).
