Maa Kushmanda
Whose smile birthed the cosmos — source of light and vitality.
- Vahana
- The lion
- Bhog (offering)
- Malpua
- Flower
- Marigold
- Colour
- Yellow
Significance
Kushmanda is the one who made the world. The name is read as ku-ushma-anda, the little cosmic egg warmed into existence. Before there was anything, the account says, there was darkness — and she smiled, and the smile was the universe.
She is placed in the core of the sun and described as the source of its light rather than its recipient. The fourth night is the turn from preparation to creation, and it is the first of the three that in the wider scheme belong to Lakshmi rather than Durga. Where the first three cleared ground, this one begins to fill it.
How she is shown
Eight arms; a smile said to have created the universe
What is done on this day
Offer malpua, traditionally given to a brahmin rather than eaten. The day is associated with health and vitality, and with beginning something that has been waiting.
The nine colours are widely published as if fixed, but they are not — the sequence is assigned from the weekday Navratri begins on, so it shifts every year. The colour shown here is the one most commonly associated with this form; follow your own community's list where it differs.
ॐ देवी कूष्माण्डायै नमः