Figure in the Hindu festival stories
Skandamata
Fifth Navadurga — mother of Skanda (Kartikeya)
In short
Skandamata is the fifth of the nine Navadurga forms, worshipped on the fifth night of Navratri. Her name means 'mother of Skanda,' the war-god Kartikeya. She is shown holding her infant son on her lap, seated on a lion, four-armed and three-eyed, radiant with tender maternal love and protective strength.
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Skandamata’s story and role
Fifth in the Navadurga sequence of the Devi Kavacha, Skandamata is worshipped on the fifth night of Navratri. Her name joins 'Skanda,' another name for the war-god Kartikeya, with 'mata,' mother: she is the goddess as the mother of Skanda, the divine commander who leads the armies of the gods. She is thus a maternal form of Parvati.
In her iconography she is four-armed and three-eyed, seated upon a lion. She holds the infant Skanda on one lap or arm; two of her hands typically bear lotus flowers, and one is held in the abhaya mudra, the gesture that dispels fear. The lion beneath her carries the courage and majesty of the goddess even in this tender form, so that the same figure who cradles a child is also fearless and unconquered.
On her night she is invoked for a mother's protection, for family wellbeing and for the nurturing of spiritual growth. She teaches that divine love is not soft weakness but a strength that both shelters and empowers, holding the vulnerable close while standing ready to defend them.
What Skandamata represents
Skandamata symbolises divine motherhood, the nurturing love that shelters and raises the soul, uniting a mother's boundless tenderness with the fierce strength that guards what she cherishes.
Festivals with Skandamata
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About Skandamata
Who is Skandamata the mother of?
She is the mother of Skanda, also known as Kartikeya, the war-god who commands the armies of the gods. 'Skandamata' simply means 'mother of Skanda.'
How is Skandamata depicted?
She is four-armed and three-eyed, seated on a lion, holding the infant Skanda on her lap. She typically holds lotus flowers and shows the abhaya mudra, the fear-dispelling gesture.
Why does a nurturing mother ride a lion?
The lion carries the courage and majesty of the goddess. It shows that her motherly tenderness and her fearless protective strength are one: love that shelters and also defends.
What does worshipping Skandamata bring?
Honoured on the fifth night of Navratri, she is invoked for maternal protection, family wellbeing and the nurturing of spiritual growth in the devotee.
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