Navaratri Night 9 — Siddhidatri, the Giver of Perfection
The last of the nine is the one even Shiva is said to have worshipped — and half of him became her. The ninth night closes the circle that the mountain's daughter opened.
The ninth night honours Siddhidatri — "the giver (datri) of siddhi". Siddhi means accomplishment, perfection, the fulfilment of a practice. She is seated on a full-blown lotus — sometimes on a lion — with four arms holding a discus, a conch, a mace and a lotus. Around her, in paintings, sit gods, sages, siddhas and gandharvas, all worshipping.
The story as it is told
The story told on the ninth night goes back to the very beginning. When the universe was new, Shiva worshipped the Supreme Goddess to gain the powers needed to do his work. She appeared as Siddhidatri and gave him the eight great siddhis — the power to become as small as an atom (anima) or vast (mahima), heavy or weightless, to reach anywhere, to have any wish fulfilled, to rule, and to hold all things in one's sway.
And with them she gave herself. Half of Shiva's body became hers — and he became [Ardhanarishvara](/gods/ardhanarishvara), the Lord who is half woman.
What is old here, and what is not
Siddhidatri is one of the nine with no independent mythology before the Navaratri tradition. The story above is a devotional one, built to explain her name and her place at the end of the sequence. Both of the pieces it is built from, though, are old. The eight siddhis are listed in yoga and Puranic literature, and the image of Ardhanarishvara — Shiva and Parvati as one body — is among the oldest images of Shiva in Indian sculpture, found in the Kushan period nearly two thousand years ago.
The story is a fitting close. The cycle that began on the first night with Shailaputri, a newborn girl already turned towards Shiva, ends on the ninth with the two of them as one.
Mahanavami
The ninth day is Mahanavami. In Bengal it is the last full day of Durga Puja, before the farewell. Across much of India it is the day of kanya pujan, if it was not done on Ashtami, and of the havan that closes the nine days. In the South, the ninth day honours Saraswati — books are placed before her and not opened until the next morning — and Ayudha Puja honours tools, weapons, instruments and vehicles: everything that helps a person do their work.
That fits Siddhidatri's name. Siddhi is not magic. It is the point at which effort becomes accomplishment.
To carry from the ninth night: The nine nights do not end with a battle won. They end with completion — of the work, and of the person doing it.
Previous: [Night 8 — Mahagauri](/learn/all/navaratri-night-8-mahagauri) · Then: [the stories of Vijayadashami](/learn/all/rama-and-the-untimely-worship-of-durga) · The series: [Navaratri, explained](/learn/all/navaratri-the-nine-nights-explained)
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Related teachings
Navaratri Night 1 — Shailaputri, Daughter of the Mountain
Sati walks uninvited into her father's sacrifice and gives up her body there. She is born again as the daughter of the Himalaya — and the nine nights begin.
Navaratri Night 2 — Brahmacharini, the Austerity That Moved Shiva
When beauty failed to reach Shiva, Parvati went into the forest and did not come back until he came to her. The second night honours the young woman who gave up even leaves.
Navaratri Night 3 — Chandraghanta, the Bell and the Wedding
Shiva arrives for his wedding with ghosts and goblins, and the bride's mother faints. The third night honours the bride who stood her ground — a story the devotional tradition reads into a name.
Navaratri Night 4 — Kushmanda, the Smile That Lit the Dark
Before there was anything, there was darkness — and then a goddess smiled. The fourth night's story is a creation story built entirely out of a name, and it says so.
Navaratri Night 5 — Skandamata, Mother of the War God
A demon who could be killed only by Shiva's son, a child carried by fire and river and raised by six star-mothers — and the goddess who holds him on her lap.