Chaitra Navratri Shashthi 2028 Date

About Chaitra Navratri Shashthi

Day six honours Katyayani — the form of Durga who, per the Shwetavaraha Kalpa, actually struck down Mahishasura with ten arms. Named after sage Katyayana, who asked the goddess to be born as his daughter, she is also the deity the gopis of Vraja worshipped to win Krishna as husband.

Katyayani's story has two threads that meet on this day. The first is martial: the Devi Mahatmya describes the gods pooling their fury into a warrior goddess to kill the buffalo demon Mahishasura, and the Shwetavaraha Kalpa names her specifically — ten-armed, lion-mounted — as the slayer. The second is romantic. In the Bhagavata Purana, the unmarried gopis of Vraja bathe in the Yamuna through the cold month of Margashirsha and worship Katyayani to gain Krishna as their husband. From this episode comes her long-standing role as the goddess prayed to for a desired spouse and for clearing obstacles like Manglik Dosha from a horoscope. The traditional offering on Shashthi is honey — a sweet meant to teach the devotee to direct ferocity, not suppress it.