Kushmanda Devi being worshiped today on fourth day of Navaratri

KATHMANDU: On the fourth day of Navaratri, Kushmanda Devi, the fourth of the nine Durgas, is being worshiped in the Dashainghar, or puja room today.

Every year, on Ashwin Shukla Chaturthi— the fourth day of Durgapaksha— devotees engage in a traditional ritual to honor Goddess Kushmanda.

The name “Kushmanda” is derived from the spiritual, metaphysical, and supernatural energies she embodies, collectively referred to as “Kushma.”

As the fourth goddess of Navadurga, Kushmanda blesses her devotees by dispelling these three forms of heat.

Various Puranas describe her as holding a goblet filled with “sura and a vessel of blood”.

According to the Goddess Kawach of Srhree Durga Saptashati (Chandi), it is said that the threefold hot world within her is known as Bhagwati Kushmanda.

The Navratri festivities began on the first day, Thursday with barley jamara placed in the Dashainghar in accordance with Vedic rituals.