Devi Jagaddhatri is worshipped as the divine mother who sustains and protects the entire universe. She is the peaceful form of Goddess Durga. Her name translates to “she who bears the world,” signifying her role in preventing the world from falling apart. Worshipping her is believed to bestow protection from evils, provide spiritual strength and upliftment, and celebrate the victory of good over evil.

Jagadhatri Puja is one of the important festivals celebrated after Durga Puja, Laxmi and Kali Puja in the month of Kartik. Devotees worship and celebrate reincarnation of Goddess Durga in the name of Jagaddhatri.

In Sanskrit, Bengali and Assamse the word ‘Jagaddhatri’ literally means ‘Holder (dhatri) of the World (Jagat)’. The cult of Goddess Jagaddhatri is directly derived from Tantra where she is a symbol of sattva besides being Durga and Kali, symbolising respectively Rajas and Tamas — all three basic components of Hindu philosophy.

 

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Jagadhatri Puja in West Bengal and other states

Devi Jagaddhatri is another form of Devi Durga, whose name means the one who bears Jagat or the world. However, unlike the warrior form of Durga, Jagadhatri represents a more peaceful, sustaining energy that upholds the universe. Her worship is said to free devotees from ego and materialistic desires.

Maa Jagaddhatri is worshipped in West Bengal, Odisha, and Jharkhand during the Shukla Paksha of the month of Kartik. In Bengal, her puja is celebrated as the comeback of Maa Durga exactly a month after Durga Puja, specifically in Chandannagar in the Hooghly district and Krishnanagar in the Nadia district.

Jagaddhatri Puja marks the end of the Hindu festivals, for the calendar year. Devotees again start counting the days, for the next festive season.

How Devi Jagaddhatri looks?

The idol is made similar to that of Goddess Durga as Goddess Jagaddhatri is depicted in Tantra and Purana as having the color of the morning sun, three-eyed and four arms holds a conch and a bow in her two left hands and in her two right hands, a chakra and a five-headed arrow and her mount is a lion. Conch is the symbol of brilliance and purity, chakra destroys the evil spirit, while arrow /shaft represent wisdom and bow represents concentration of mind. The Goddess thus brings the spirit of wisdom, and marks the auspicious time, as per Hindu calendar.

Devi Jagaddhatri is seated on a lion that is crushing the head of an elephant demon, named Karindrasura. The elephant represents the colossal ego (ahamkara) of the gods, which the goddess subdues, reminding all beings of the importance of humility.

She wears a sacred thread with a snake on it and is atop Karindrasura the dead elephant demon. The vanquished asura represents the ego of the gods that she crushed after they became too conceited and felt that Durga had defeated the demon Mahishasura because they used weapons grifted by the gods.

How did Devi Jagaddhatri destroy arrogance of Hindu Gods?

Goddess Jagaddhatri, a form of the Supreme Goddess Shakti, humbled the gods by exposing their arrogance after their victory over the demon Mahishasura. After Maa Durga defeated the powerful demon, the gods grew arrogant, believing that their weapons and combined strength were the cause of the victory.

Maa Jagaddhatri used a powerful teaching metaphor, described in the Kena Upanishad, to demonstrate that all divine power ultimately belongs to her. To teach the gods a lesson, the Goddess placed a simple blade of grass in front of the gods and challenged them to destroy it. Agni, the god of fire, tried to burn it but could not. Vayu, the god of wind, tried to blow it away with all his might but failed. Indra, the king of the gods, attacked the grass with his thunderbolt (Vajra) but could not even burn it. One by one, the gods’ mightiest powers proved useless against the insignificant blade of grass.

As the gods stood humiliated, realizing their power was not their own, realization dawned on them that their individual powers were mere fragments of the supreme, universal power of Shakti, the ultimate force that sustains creation!

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