Navaratri is a 9-night festival celebrating Goddess Durga’s victories over the demons that represent the negative qualities that keep us from realising our true, eternal self. The Divine Mother, in the form of Durga Maa, is the Remover of Miseries. She appears in 9 different forms, each an embodiment of the qualities that one needs to advance on the spiritual path.
Seeing Parvati’s beauty, the demon-king Mahishasur wanted Her to be his wife. She agreed, but only if he proved to be stronger than She was. Although he had a boon to not be killed by any man, he underestimated the power of God’s creative Shakti and was killed by Her in the form of Chandraghanta Devi. Mahishasur represents the great ego in man, especially the pride to think ourselves better than others. We pray to Her for the humility needed to free us from any kind of of pride. Her colour is orange.