Lalitā Navaratna Mālai (லலிதா நவரத்ன மாலை) literally means “The Garland of Nine Gems in Praise of Goddess Lalitā.”
The name can be understood word by word:
- Lalitā (ललिता / லலிதா) — “the graceful one,” “the charming/playful one.” Here it refers to Śrī Lalitā Tripurasundarī, the Supreme Goddess of the Śrīvidyā tradition.
- Nava (नव / நவ) — nine.
- Ratna (रत्न / ரத்ன) — jewel or precious gem.
- Mālā / Mālai (माला / மாலை) — garland.
So Navaratna Mālai = “a garland of nine precious gems.”
In the title, the “gems” are the nine verses/stanzas themselves. The poet metaphorically strings nine beautiful verses together like nine jewels and offers this poetic garland to Lalitā Devī.
There is also a deeper significance to navaratna. The nine gems traditionally correspond to the Navagrahas—ruby (Sun), pearl (Moon), coral (Mars), emerald (Mercury), yellow sapphire (Jupiter), diamond (Venus), blue sapphire (Saturn), hessonite (Rāhu), and cat's-eye (Ketu).
Its structure is traditional: It starts with the Kāppu (invocatory protection) addressed to Shri. Ganapathy, followed by nine stanzas conceived as nine jewels, and concludes with the phala-stuti (benefits of recitation).