Shailaputri Ji

Shailaputri, "daughter of the mountain," is the first of the Navadurga, the nine forms of Durga worshipped across the nine nights of Navratri. She is Parvati, daughter of the Himalayan mountain-king Himavat, and marks the goddess's fresh beginning after her previous life as Sati.

Her name joins shaila (mountain) and putri (daughter). She is also called Sati Bhavani, Parvati and Himavati, and is described as embodying the combined power of Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva.

She is shown with two arms and a crescent moon on her forehead, holding a trident in her right hand and a lotus in her left, riding the bull Nandi. In yogic tradition she is associated with the root chakra, Muladhara, from which the awakened energy begins its ascent toward Shiva at the crown.

In her previous life she was Sati, daughter of Daksha. When Daksha held a great yagna and pointedly did not invite her husband Shiva, Sati attended anyway; Daksha insulted Shiva before the assembly, and Sati, unable to bear it, immolated herself in the sacrificial fire. She was reborn as Parvati, daughter of Himavat, and in time married Shiva again. Navratri's opening Ghatasthapana ritual, establishing a sacred pot as the seat of Shakti for the nine days, is performed on her day.

Daughter of Himavat and Menavati; consort Shiva. She is best understood not as a separate figure but as the first stage of Parvati's own unfolding across the nine Navadurga forms.

Her day opens Navratri and is considered auspicious for beginning yogic practice and taking initiations, marking the goddess's fresh start after the Sati episode.

Named shrines include a Shailaputri temple at Marhia Ghat in Varanasi, one at Baramulla in Jammu and Kashmir, a cave shrine at Zewan in Srinagar where she is worshipped as a shila (rock), and a temple in Sianj village, Mandi district, Himachal Pradesh, where she is honoured as a Rajmata of the Mandi region.