Navaratri 2025 – Day 5: Maa Skandamata 💚 (Green – Harmony, Growth, Balance)

  

Day 5 Navaratri 2025: Maa Skandamata, Apta Leaves & Handloom Weaves

The Citizen Advocate Summary: Declaring April 11 as Safe ePay Day

Proposing April 11 as Safe ePay Day to mark UPI’s pilot launch on April 11, 2016, by NPCI with 21 banks, initiated by Dr. Raghuram G. Rajan in Mumbai. This initiative celebrates UPI’s seamless integration of banking and merchant payments.

April 11 – Declare ‘Safe ePay Day’,

Yes, April 11 is vacant in the UN Observance Day calendar

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Navaratri Day 5 – Skandamata, Green Harmony & Handloom Traditions

 Discover Navaratri 2025 Day 5 – Skandamata’s blessings, handloom heritage, green harmony, and the parallel with trusted digital payments.

 On Day 5 of Navaratri 2025, celebrate Skandamata with green traditions, handloom saris, and the modern trust of Safe ePayments.

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The Opening

The fifth day of Navaratri is dedicated to Maa Skandamata, the divine mother of Kartikeya (Skanda). She is portrayed seated on a lotus, carrying her son in her lap — a reminder that true strength is born from compassion. To worship her is to seek balance, not only in devotion but also in life: between nurture and protection, prosperity and humility, tradition and progress.

This year, Sept 26, 2025, aligns Day 5 with the color green 💚 in the widely circulated Navaratri color code. Green is more than festive symbolism; it represents renewal, prosperity, and harmony. Just as green calms the eye in nature, it restores balance in our spiritual and social lives.

In our digital world, green has taken on new meaning. The green tick ✅ on a UPI payment, the green padlock on secure banking sites, and the green signal of verified transactions all reassure us: “You are safe. Proceed with trust.” In this way, Skandamata’s blessings and the color green find resonance in the story of Safe ePayments.

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Cultural + Spiritual Significance

Maa Skandamata’s form highlights two qualities often seen as opposites but which, in truth, complete each other: gentleness and courage. Her blessings are sought for wisdom, prosperity, and liberation from fear.

On this day, devotees traditionally offer bananas as prasad, symbolic of fertility, nourishment, and abundance. Rituals vary across India:

• North India: Devotees dress in green, performing aartis and bhajans in honor of the goddess.
• Bengal: Skandamata’s maternal form blends into the Durga Puja celebrations of Maa as the universal mother.
• South India: The focus shifts towards Kartikeya, the divine commander, highlighting family continuity and protection of dharma.

At its heart, Day 5 is about recognizing that motherhood is not weakness but the foundation of resilience.

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Regional Focus: Maharashtra (Ghatasthapana + Apta Leaves)

In Maharashtra, Day 5 carries the distinctive tradition of Ghatasthapana and the exchange of Apta (Shami) leaves, revered as tokens of gold. Families and neighbors exchange these leaves to symbolize wealth shared and trust renewed.

The ritual recalls the Mahabharata, where the Pandavas hid their weapons in a Shami tree during exile and reclaimed them to restore dharma. The Shami Puja thus embodies courage, protection, and rightful prosperity.

Today, Apta leaves inspire a modern parallel: just as communities exchange them to reaffirm trust, our financial systems must also circulate trust. Safe ePayments are the new Apta leaves — digital tokens of prosperity that connect citizens, consumers, and customers.

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Global Focus: Australia (Sydney & Melbourne Navaratri Gatherings)

Among the diaspora in Sydney and Melbourne, Navaratri Day 5 is both festive and reflective. Community halls resound with garba, devotional music, and the laughter of children dressed in green. For many, these gatherings serve as anchors of identity, ensuring that younger generations not only dance but also understand the meanings of rituals like Skandamata’s worship.

Here, the color green symbolizes continuity across continents — a shared rhythm that bridges tradition and modern identity. It reassures families abroad that care, balance, and prosperity can flourish no matter where they are rooted.

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Navaratri Color Code 2025 (Detailed Table)

Day	Date	Goddess	Color	Symbolism
Day 1	Sept 22	Shailaputri	White ⚪	Purity, new beginnings
Day 2	Sept 23	Brahmacharini	Red 🔴	Devotion, determination
Day 3	Sept 24	Chandraghanta	Blue 🔵	Calm, courage
Day 4	Sept 25	Kushmanda	Yellow 💛	Energy, brightness
Day 5	Sept 26	Skandamata	Green 💚	Harmony, growth
Day 6	Sept 27	Katyayani	Grey ⚫	Strength, resilience
Day 7	Sept 28	Kalaratri	Orange 🟠	Fearlessness, power
Day 8	Sept 29	Mahagauri	Peacock 🦚	Beauty, balance
Day 9	Sept 30	Siddhidatri	Pink 🌸	Love, fulfillment

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Safe ePayments Parallel (CCC Link)

Skandamata’s Qualities	Safe ePayments Features
Nurture & Care	Builds trust in families’ digital adoption
Protection	Fraud prevention & transaction security
Guidance	Awareness through financial literacy
Prosperity & Growth	Financial inclusion via secure banking

The Citizen–Consumer–Customer (CCC) framework is echoed in Skandamata’s story. Just as she balances care with courage, Safe ePayments balance speed with safety. Trust, once nurtured, becomes the foundation of lasting prosperity.

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Handloom Weaves in Green

The handloom tradition of India gives vibrant expression to the philosophy of green. Artisans across the country weave this color into fabrics that symbolize renewal, prosperity, and harmony.

• West – Paithani Silks (Maharashtra): Parrot-green saris with peacock motifs embody abundance and continuity, often worn at weddings and rituals. The shimmer of zari borders echoes the golden symbolism of Apta leaves.
• Central – Chanderi & Maheshwari (Madhya Pradesh): These light weaves present emerald checks and stripes paired with golden zari, reflecting understated elegance and Skandamata’s quiet strength.
• North – Banarasi Brocades (Uttar Pradesh): Deep jade and emerald brocades, woven with intricate gold, are considered auspicious bridal attire, symbolizing wealth and divine blessings.
• South – Kasavu & Kanchipuram (Kerala & Tamil Nadu): Green-bordered Kasavu saris balance Kerala’s iconic white-gold, while bottle-green Kanchipuram silks celebrate marital harmony and festivity.
• East – Baluchari & Sambalpuri (West Bengal & Odisha): Balucharis in green tell mythological stories through woven motifs, while Sambalpuri Ikats reflect the fertile landscapes of Odisha.

These weaves are not just textiles but woven philosophies. They endure across generations, much like trust in financial systems must endure across time. A Paithani or Banarasi handed down through families is a legacy of resilience, just as secure ePayments are a digital legacy of reliability.

Thus, handlooms and Safe ePayments converge on the same truth: prosperity is strongest when woven with trust.

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Extended Reflections

• Environmental hook: Green as sustainability — safe ePayments reduce paper trails, queues, and carbon footprints.
• Psychological hook: Green calms the mind — secure transactions calm financial anxieties.
• Digital hook: The green tick ✅ is the new Apta leaf — trust exchanged daily in millions of payments.
• Fibonacci harmony: Just as nature’s spirals balance beauty and proportion, digital systems thrive when security, design, and trust are aligned.

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Closing Reflection

On Day 5, Maa Skandamata blesses devotees with harmony and courage. Her form teaches that prosperity without trust is incomplete.

From Apta leaves in Maharashtra to diaspora garbas in Sydney and Melbourne, and from Paithani silks to Banarasi brocades, the message is consistent: harmony must be nurtured, prosperity must be shared, and trust must be sustained.

👉 May Maa Skandamata bless us with The Joy of Safe ePayments — trusted, balanced, and ever-growing.

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Disclaimer
This blog is a personal reflection intertwining Navaratri traditions, cultural observations, and the evolving story of Safe ePayments.
It does not represent the views of any bank, institution, or organisation.

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🌿💳🧠🌍Appeal  for Safe ePay Day 🌟

 

## Call to Action 

I urge governments, financial institutions, businesses, and communities worldwide to join hands in declaring April 11 as **Safe ePay Day**.

Let’s celebrate UPI’s milestone by making **Safe ePay Day** a global movement for secure, innovative fintech.

Together, we can build a future where financial access is universal, and every e-payment is safe—starting with **Safe ePay Day** in 2026.

 

No Vada Pav, not even one bite,
Till SafeePay Day takes off in flight.
Quirky vow with a Mumbai flair—
Announce the date, and I’ll be there!

 

📌 References

1.    Nayakanti, P. (2025, September 7). September 07 — National Buy a Book Day and April 11 — Safe ePay Day: Building Trust, One Page and One Payment at a Time. Medium.
Retrieved from https://medium.com/@nshantin/september-07-national-buy-a-book-day-and-april-11-safe-epay-day-building-trust-one-80483f34d7e7

2.   Nayakanti, P. (2025, August 13). 218th Lalbagh Flower Show via RV Road Interchange! Innovation in Banking.
Retrieved from https://innovationinbanking.blogspot.com/2025/08/august-13-metro-rides-blooms-218th.html

Prashant Nayakanti. (n.d.). LinkedIn profile. Retrieved September 2025, from
https://in.linkedin.com/in/prashantnayakanti