Navadurga Mahagauri

Mahagauri
Devanagari	महागौरी
Affiliation	Avatar of Durga
Weapon	Trident, Damroo(tambourine)
Mount	Bull

Mahagauri (Devnagari: महागौरी) is the eight manifestation of goddess Durga and amongst the Navadurgas. Mahagauri is worshipped on the eighth day of Navratri. According to Hindu mythology, Goddess Mahagauri has the power to fulfill all the desires of her devotees. The one who worships the goddess gets relief from all the sufferings in life. Mahagauri has four arms. Her right arm is in the pose of allaying fear and right lower hand holds a trident in it. She holds a tambourine in her left upper arm and the lower one is in the form of a blessing.

Entymology

The name Mahagauri means extremely white, as she was white in colour and very beautiful. (Maha,महा = great, extreme; Gauri गौरी = white colour) She wears white clothes and rides a white bull.

According to a story, once Goddes Parvati performed intense penance to get Lord Shiva as her husband. During this period her body got covered with soil and turned black in colour. After a long time Lord Shiva got pleased with her penance. He gave her a boon that, she will become His wife soon. Then, Lord Shiva cleaned goddess Parvati with water from Ganga, and saw her skin shining like gold and thus he named her Mahagauri.That is why he named her Mahagauri. She is one of the nine goddesses.

References