Siddhidhatri

Siddhidhatri
Goddess of spiritual attainments
File:Siddhidatri Sanghasri 2010 Arnab Dutta.JPG Statue of Siddhidhatri
Affiliation	Avatar of Durga
Planet	Saturn
Mantra	oṁ devyai siddhidātryai namaḥ siddhagandharvayakṣāghair suraiḥ amaraiḥ api sevyamānā sadā bhūyāt siddhidā siddhidāyinī
Weapon	mace, chakra, shankha, lotus in which 8 siddhis are absorbed
Symbol	lotus
Consort	Shiva

Siddhidhatri or Siddhidatri (Sanskrit: सिद्धिदात्री, romanized: Siddhidātrī, lit. 'giver of perfection') is a form of the Hindu goddess Mahadevi, venerated as the goddess of siddhi (spiritual attainments and powers). She is the ninth and last of the Navadurga, and is worshipped on the ninth day of Navaratri.

Iconography

The goddess is depicted with four hands holding a chakra (discus), shankha (conch shell), mace, and lotus. She is seated on either a fully bloomed lotus or a lion as her mount. In some pictorial depictions, she is flanked by gandharvas, yakshas, siddhas, asuras, and devas, who are portrayed as paying obeisance to the goddess.

Legend

According to a legend, during the beginning of the universe, Shiva worshipped the unmanifest form of the great goddess, Mahadevi, to perform the act of creation. The goddess is said to have emerged from the left half of Shiva as Siddhidhatri. She is also believed to have conferred the ashta siddhi (eight spiritual attainments) upon Shiva.

Owing to her origin from Shiva’s left half, this form of the goddess is often associated with the composite deity Ardhanarishvara, in which the left portion represents Parvati.

References

Further reading

• Dictionary of Hindu Lore and Legend () by Anna Dhallapiccola