5th Day of Navaratri – Significance, Rituals and Puja Vidhi

Navaratri is the nine-night observance dedicated to the Goddess in her successive forms. Each tithi carries its own name, colour, and mode of worship. The fifth day, Panchami, is set apart for Maa Skandamata, the compassionate mother of Lord Skanda (Kartikeya), commander of the divine forces.

Her name joins Skanda with Mata. In the classical telling she is the maternal face of Durga: serene, protective, and seated with the child-god in her lap. Households across the Tamil and wider Indian tradition keep this day with green attire, banana bhog, stotra path, and, where the sankalpa calls for it, a homa performed by the priestly lineage.

This article stays with what the title asks for—who Skandamata is, why Panchami is kept for her, the colour and offerings of the day, and the puja vidhi as tradition lays it down. For the exact Panchami date in the current year, consult the festival calendar.

Who is Goddess Skandamata?

Maa Skandamata is the fifth of the Navadurga. She is remembered as the mother of Lord Kartikeya—also called Skanda, Subrahmanya, and Murugan—born of Shiva and Parvati and raised as the general of the devas. By carrying him, she stands for maternal shakti that both nurtures and arms the devotee against fear.

She is also called Padmasana Devi because she is shown seated on a lotus. The lotus marks purity that is not withdrawn from the world: growth that rises through water yet remains untouched by it. In the Devi cycle of Navaratri, the fifth day therefore turns the mind from outer struggle toward the quiet strength of the mother who holds the warrior-child.

Scriptural and puranic memory links her to the campaigns in which Kartikeya leads the celestial army. Worship on this tithi is framed as honouring that maternal source—not as a bargain for results, but as alignment with the form the Goddess takes on Panchami.

Iconography of Maa Skandamata

Traditional murti and print show Skandamata with a calm face and four arms. Two hands hold lotuses. One arm supports the infant Skanda on her lap; the child often holds a spear, the vel that marks his office. The remaining hand is held in abhaya mudra, the gesture of fearlessness.

She may be seated on a lotus, on a lion, or shown with both emblems nearby. The lotus speaks of detachment and inner flowering; the lion, of the Durga-power that does not abandon the field. The child in the lap is the centre of the image: motherhood as the seat of courage rather than its opposite.

When a home altar is set for the fifth day, an image in this form—Skandamata with Kartikeya—is placed at the centre, with green cloth, fresh flowers, and a lit deepam before her.

Spiritual significance of the fifth day

Panchami in Sharad Navaratri is kept as the day of divine motherhood within the Navadurga sequence. Tradition presents Skandamata as the meeting of tenderness and strength: the same shakti that cradles the child also steadies the devotee who asks for clarity and protection from fear.

Classical and popular observance associate her seva with several themes that the household brings to the sankalpa:

• Motherly care — the Goddess as guardian of the family circle, especially where children and domestic harmony are in the prayer.
• Courage without agitation — abhaya as a quality of mind, not only a mudra on the murti.
• Learning and steady intellect — seekers and students often choose this tithi for stotra and japa.
• Inward purity — the lotus seat as a reminder that sadhana can go on inside ordinary life.

The shastras prescribe the rite; they do not fix a worldly result to it. The fruit is left to the Goddess. Families facing strain at home, or wishing to keep a clean, sattvic Panchami, often add a dedicated Skandamata Homa to the day’s worship, performed by priests and, at AstroBhava, telecast live from the ashram.

Colour of the day: green

Each Navaratri tithi is paired in popular custom with a colour. For the fifth day the colour is green. Green is read as growth, balance, and a calm field for the mind—fitting for a form of the Goddess who is both mother and seat of fearlessness.

Devotees wear green cloth for the puja, and many drape the altar in green fabric or use green leaves and flowers in the decoration. The point is not fashion; it is a simple outer mark that the day has a distinct bhava. Paired with the banana bhog and the Skandamata mantra, the colour helps the household keep Panchami distinct from the days before and after.

Puja vidhi for Navaratri Panchami

The sequence below follows common griha and ashram practice for the fifth day. Details vary by sampradaya; the spine of the rite does not.

1. Morning purification and sankalpa

Rise early, bathe, and wear clean green attire if the household keeps the colour vrata. Sweep and wipe the puja space. Sit facing the altar and take sankalpa—name, gotra if known, and the intention of the day’s worship—spoken softly or held in mind.

2. Kalash and altar

If Ghatasthapana was done on day one, the same kalash continues. If needed, a kalash of clean water, mango leaves, and coconut may be set with due mantra. Place the image of Skandamata with Kartikeya at the centre. Light a deepam; offer flowers and a simple garland.

3. Bhog and upacharas

Offer water, sandal or kumkum, rice grains, betel, and flowers. Banana is the bhog most often named for Skandamata; kheer, honey, coconut, and seasonal fruit are also given. Keep the offering sattvic and freshly prepared.

4. Path and mantra

Recite portions of the Durga Saptashati as the family custom allows, and the Skandamata stotra. The mula mantra used in many homes is:

Japa is done with a steady seat and clear pronunciation. Guidance on pace and breath is set out in the house note on how to chant a mantra correctly.

5. Vrat, aarti, and evening close

Many observe a fast—nirjal, phalahar, or a single sattvic meal—according to health and capacity. At dusk, perform aarti with incense and bell, sing a short bhajan, and distribute prasad. Charity of food or cloth on this day is a traditional close to the vrata.

When Panchami falls, and how the house keeps it

Sharad Navaratri follows the lunar calendar; the fifth day is the Panchami tithi within those nine nights. Because tithi boundaries shift by place and year, the practical step is to check the day’s tithi on the daily panchang for one’s own city, or to open the month view on the tithi calendar.

AstroBhava is an online-only ritual service. Named priests perform the rites at the house’s Yagna Ashram near Coimbatore and at designated temples in Tamil Nadu and Kerala; the seva is telecast live to devotees abroad. There are no walk-in branches. On Navaratri Panchami the ashram may schedule Skandamata-related homa and path alongside the wider Durga cycle, so that households who cannot keep a full home altar still sit through the rite with sankalpa in their own name.

Those who wish a single, focused fire-rite for this form of the Goddess may see the catalogue entry for Skandamata Homa, grouped with other observances under spiritual growth and devotion.

Questions devotees ask