Shailputri means Daughter of the Mountains. Parvati was the daughter of Himalaya, the king of mountains. She was playing with her friends near a pond of lotus one day when she saw a cow approaching her in pain and agony. Parvati wanted to know the reason so she placed her hand on the cow’s forehead and closed her eyes to meditate. Parvati saw a demon Tarika, sister of Tarkasur, who was sent on Earth to kill Parvati. The reason was obvious. Parvati was the daughter of the most powerful king, Himalaya. So Parvati herself was very powerful and mighty. Killing Parvati will make it easy for Tarkasur to kill Himalaya. But Tarika saw a herd of cows on the way and felt hungry. She started feeding on the cows one by one. The shepherd of the herd tried to take on Tarika but was also killed. One cow tried to escape from the herd slowly so that she could get some help. This was how Parvati met the cow in pain. When Parvati got to know about the situation, she knew that to defeat Tarika is very difficult if taken on directly. So she decided to play a trick. Parvati took shape of a small mountain (Shail) and asked the cow to hide behind her and cry loudly. Due to the sound, Tarika came running to eat the cow. But Shail did not let her approach the cow. This fight between Tarika and Shail went on for a long. Due to this Parvati’s friends have time to call for King Himalaya. Meanwhile, the friends and villagers of shepherd also came in searching for the cows and shepherds. By then, Tarika was already furious and tired and did not know what to do next. So she took a leap of anger to finally kill Shail first and then take on the cow. This gave Shail the opportunity to change to Parvati in split second with her trident ready to kill. The moment Tarika was in the air, Parvati charged upon her with her trident and killed Tarika by force. Everyone who witnessed this saw a golden halo behind the head of Parvati. The cow went and got a lotus from the pond and handed it to Parvati. Himalaya then coined the term Mata Sahilputri for Parvati and Parvathi then said that anyone who worships cow before her with a lotus will be blessed with powers to fight evil spirits. Hence, worshipping Mata Shailutri on day 1 of Navratri gives freedom from evil spirits.

Benefits of Mata Shailputri Pooja:

1. To gain fearlessness from evil powers
2. To get confidence to fight for the right over wrong
3. To make rapid and quick decisions at the right time as to when and how to act.
4. To create an environment where no one is ever threatened by those in the position of power
5. To fight with the evil spirits
6. To save your loved ones from devilish encounters
7. To gain bravery to stand for the right