Durga, also identified as Adi Parashakti, Devi, Shakti, Bhavani and by numerous other names, is a principal and popular form of Hindu goddess.[3][4][5] She is the warrior goddess, whose mythology centers around combating evils and demonic forces that threaten peace, prosperity and dharma of the good.[4][6] She is the fierce form of the protective mother goddess, willing to unleash her anger against wrong, violence for liberation and destruction to empower creation.[7]
Durga is depicted in the Hindu pantheon as a fearless woman riding a lion or tiger, with many arms each carrying a weapon,[1] often defeating the mythical buffalo demon.[8][9] She appears in Indian texts as the wife of god Shiva, as another form of Parvati or mother goddess.[8][10]
She is a central deity in Shaktism tradition of Hinduism, where she is equated with the concept of ultimate reality called Brahman.[11][6] One of the most important texts of Shaktism is Devi Mahatmya, also called as Durgā Saptashatī, which celebrates Durga as the Goddess, declaring her as the Supreme Being and the creator of the universe.[12][13][14] Estimated to have been composed between 400-600 CE,[15][16][17] this text is considered by Shakta Hindus to be as important scripture as the Bhagavad Gita.[18][19] She has a significant following all over India and in Nepal, particularly in its eastern states such as West Bengal, Odisha, Jharkhand, Assam and Bihar. Durga is revered after spring and autumn harvests, specially during the festival of Navratri.[20][21
Durga, also identified as Adi Parashakti, Devi, Shakti, Bhavani and by numerous other names, is a principal and popular form of Hindu goddess.[3][4][5] She is the warrior goddess, whose mythology centers around combating evils and demonic forces that threaten peace, prosperity and dharma of the good.[4][6] She is the fierce form of the protective mother goddess, willing to unleash her anger against wrong, violence for liberation and destruction to empower creation.[7]
Durga is depicted in the Hindu pantheon as a fearless woman riding a lion or tiger, with many arms each carrying a weapon,[1] often defeating the mythical buffalo demon.[8][9] She appears in Indian texts as the wife of god Shiva, as another form of Parvati or mother goddess.[8][10]
She is a central deity in Shaktism tradition of Hinduism, where she is equated with the concept of ultimate reality called Brahman.[11][6] One of the most important texts of Shaktism is Devi Mahatmya, also called as Durgā Saptashatī, which celebrates Durga as the Goddess, declaring her as the Supreme Being and the creator of the universe.[12][13][14] Estimated to have been composed between 400-600 CE,[15][16][17] this text is considered by Shakta Hindus to be as important scripture as the Bhagavad Gita.[18][19] She has a significant following all over India and in Nepal, particularly in its eastern states such as West Bengal, Odisha, Jharkhand, Assam and Bihar. Durga is revered after spring and autumn harvests, specially during the festival of Navratri.[20][21]
Devi's epithets synonymous with Durga appear in Upanishadic literature, such as Kali in verse 1.2.4 of the Mundaka Upanishad dated to about the 5th century BCE.[31] This single mention describes Kali as "terrible yet swift as thought", very red and smoky colored manifestation of the divine with a fire-like flickering tongue, before the text begins presenting its thesis that one must seek self-knowledge and the knowledge of the eternal Brahman.[32]
Durga, in her various forms, appears as an independent deity in the Epics period of ancient India, that is the centuries around the start of the common era.[33] Both Yudhisthira and Arjuna characters of the Mahabharata invoke hymns to Durga.[31] She appears in Harivamsa in the form of Vishnu's eulogy, and in Pradyumna prayer.[33] Various Puranas from the early to late 1st millennium CE dedicate chapters of inconsistent mythologies associated with Durga.[31] Of these, the Markandeya Purana and the Devi-Bhagavata Purana are the most significant texts on Durga.[34][35] The Devi Upanishad and other Shakta Upanishads, mostly dated to have been composed in or after the 9th century, present the philosophical and mystical speculations related to Durga as Devi and other epithets, identifying her to be the same as the Brahman and Atman (self, soul).[36][37]
Origins[edit source]
The historian Ramaprasad Chanda stated in 1916 that Durga evolved over time in the Indian subcontinent. A primitive form of Durga, according to Chanda, was the result of "syncretism of a mountain-goddess worshiped by the dwellers of the Himalaya and the Vindhyas", a deity of the Abhiras conceptualized as a war-goddess. Durga then transformed into Kali as the personification of the all-destroying time, while aspects of her emerged as the primordial energy (Adya Sakti) integrated into the samsara (cycle of rebirths) concept and this idea was built on the foundation of the Vedic religion, mythology and philosophy.[38]
Epigraphical evidence indicates that regardless of her origins, Durga is an ancient goddess. The 6th-century CE inscriptions in early Siddhamatrika script, such as at the Nagarjuni hill cave during the Maukhari era, already mention the legend of her victory over Mahishasura (buffalo-hybrid demon).[39]
European traders and colonial era references[edit source]
Some early European accounts refer to a deity known as Deumus, Demus or Deumo. Western (Portuguese) sailors first came face to face with the murti of Deumus at Calicut on the Malabar Coast and they concluded it to be the deity of Calicut. Deumus is sometimes interpreted as an aspect of Durga in Hindu mythology and sometimes as deva. It is described that the ruler of Calicut (Zamorin) had a murti of Deumus in his temple inside his royal palace.[40]
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Durga
