Chaitra Navratri Panchami 2026 Date

About Chaitra Navratri Panchami

Day five of Chaitra Navratri is for Skandamata — Parvati shown not as a warrior but as a young mother, baby Kartikeya on her lap, riding a lion. She is offered bananas as bhog, and her colour is white (Shubhra). Her planet is Budha (Mercury).

The name comes from a Puranic backstory. The demon Tarakasura had a boon that only Shiva's son could kill him, so the gods pushed Shiva and Parvati to marry. Their son Skanda — Kartikeya — destroyed Tarakasura, and Parvati earned the title Skandamata, 'Skanda's mother.' Her image carries this story: four arms, two holding lotuses, one in Abhaya mudra (the 'fear not' gesture), and one cradling the infant. Because she is often shown seated on a lotus, she is also called Padmasana. Tantric tradition links her to the Vishuddha chakra at the throat — the fifth chakra, governing clear speech and inner stillness. At the Skandamata Durga temple in Varanasi, an old shrine to this form, Skanda is unusually shown with a single head rather than the six-faced Shanmukha.