Maha Navami

Maha Navami is the ninth and final day of Shardiya Navratri, on which Maa Siddhidatri, the ninth and last form of Durga, is worshipped. It is believed that Maa Siddhidatri grants all forms of siddhi (spiritual attainment), and it was by her grace that half of Lord Shiva's body became the goddess, giving rise to the Ardhanarishvara form.

On this day, the concluding purnahuti (final oblation) of the nine-day Durga Puja havan is performed, closing out the entire Navratri worship with offerings into the sacred fire. Devotees who did not perform Kanya Pujan on Ashtami complete it on this day instead.

In South India, Maha Navami is observed as 'Ayudha Puja', in which one's tools, vehicles, books, and instruments are worshipped, in the belief that the goddess's shakti resides in every instrument of one's work. The following day, Dussehra closes the Navratri festival with Lord Rama's victory over Ravana.

Siddhidatri sits on a lotus, rides a lion, and holds a mace, a chakra, a conch and a lotus in her four hands. The Markandeya Purana lists eight siddhis, anima, mahima, garima, laghima, prapti, prakamya, ishitva and vashitva, and Maa Siddhidatri is believed to grant them all. She is offered sesame as bhog.

In the morning, after bathing, Maa Siddhidatri is worshipped, and the purnahuti closing the nine days of worship is offered into the havan fire. The havan includes offerings of navgraha samidha, jaggery, sesame, and ghee into the fire.

In homes where Kanya Pujan is held on Navami instead of Ashtami, nine young girls and one boy are served a meal, given clothes and dakshina, and the fast is broken with the proper ritual.

As part of Ayudha Puja in South India, tools, vehicles, and machinery at home and at the workplace are cleaned, decorated with flowers and turmeric, and worshipped. In Bengal, Maha Navami brings the Navami homa, and in the evening the pandals hold the aarti with dhunuchi dancing, since the Goddess departs the next day.