Giriraj Singh offers Navratri greetings on Maa Chandraghanta day
Synopsis
Key Takeaways
On the third day of Sharadiya Navratri, Union Textiles Minister Giriraj Singh offered devotional greetings to Maa Chandraghanta — the third form of Goddess Durga — on Tuesday, October 13, 2026, invoking the classical Sanskrit shloka in his post on X.
The minister's post reads: 'Sharadiya Navratri ke pavan avsar par Aadishakti Maa Bhagwati ke tritiya swaroop Maa Chandraghanta ji ke charno mein koti-koti naman!' — meaning, 'On the auspicious occasion of Sharadiya Navratri, crores of salutations at the feet of Maa Chandraghanta, the third form of Aadishakti Maa Bhagwati.' He followed it with the devotional verse: 'Ya Devi Sarvabhuteshu Maa Chandraghanta rupena sansthita. Namastasyai namastasyai namastasyai namo namah' — a prayer honouring the goddess as she who dwells in all beings in the form of Chandraghanta.
Maa Chandraghanta: the warrior goddess of the third day
Maa Chandraghanta is worshipped on the third day of Navratri and is depicted bearing a half-moon (chandra) shaped like a bell (ghanta) on her forehead — a form associated with courage, grace, and the destruction of evil. The nine-night festival of Sharadiya Navratri, celebrated every autumn, is among the most widely observed Hindu festivals across northern and western India, with Bihar — the minister's home state — marking it with deep cultural fervour.
A ritual of public representation during festival season
For Indian political figures, posting festival greetings on social media during Navratri has become a routine act of cultural engagement with constituents. Giriraj Singh, a Lok Sabha MP from Begusarai, Bihar, regularly marks religious occasions publicly. The broader pattern reflects how public representatives across the political spectrum use major Hindu festivals as moments of community connection.