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{{Redirect|Mahishasuramardini|the radio programme of All India Radio|Mahisasuramardini (radio programme)}} |
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{{Infobox deity<!--Wikipedia:WikiProject Hindu mythology--> |
{{Infobox deity<!--Wikipedia:WikiProject Hindu mythology--> |
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| Sanskrit_Transliteration = Durga |
| Sanskrit_Transliteration = Durga |
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| Pali_Transliteration = |
| Pali_Transliteration = |
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| Affiliation = |
| Affiliation = Devi, Mother Goddess, Parvati, Adi Shakti, Shakti, Adi Parashakti |
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Consort Lord Shiva = |
Consort = Lord Shiva = |
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| God_of = Goddess of Victory of Good over Evil |
| God_of = Goddess of Victory of Good over Evil |
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| Abode = Forest of Madamba Kadamba| Weapon = trident, discus, <br> Scimitar, lasso, <br> Conch shell, Mace, Bow and arrow, spear, sword (longsword), shield, bell, pink lotus flower, battle-axe, thunderbolt, elephant goad, lasso, snake, rod, spade, vajra, goblet, hammer weapon, iron weapon, weapon made out of thorns, javelin, dagger |
| Abode = Forest of Madamba Kadamba| Weapon = trident, discus, <br> Scimitar, lasso, <br> Conch shell, Mace, Bow and arrow, spear, sword (longsword), shield, bell, pink lotus flower, battle-axe, thunderbolt, elephant goad, lasso, snake, rod, spade, vajra, goblet, hammer weapon, iron weapon, weapon made out of thorns, javelin, dagger |
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|Consort = [[Shiva]] |
| Consort = [[Shiva]] |
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| Mount = lion or tiger |
| Mount = lion or tiger |
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| Planet = Mars |
| Planet = Mars |
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Goddess '''Durga''' ({{IPA-hns|d̪uːrgaː}}; {{lang-sa|दुर्गा}}), meaning "the inaccessible"<ref>{{cite web |title= Durga, |url= http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/174252/Durga |publisher= Encyclopædia Britannica Online |date= |accessdate=7 October 2009}}</ref> or "the invincible"; ''durga'') is the most popular incarnation of [[Devi]] and one of the main forms of the Goddess [[Shakti]] in the [[Hindu]] pantheon. |
Goddess '''Durga''' ({{IPA-hns|d̪uːrgaː}}; {{lang-sa|दुर्गा}}), meaning "the inaccessible"<ref>{{cite web |title= Durga, |url= http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/174252/Durga |publisher= Encyclopædia Britannica Online |date= |accessdate=7 October 2009}}</ref> or "the invincible"; ''durga'') is the most popular incarnation of [[Devi]] and one of the main forms of the Goddess [[Shakti]] in the [[Hindu]] pantheon. |
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==Chapters of Durga Saptashati== |
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==Origins and evolution== |
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While Lord Vishnu was sleeping on Sheshnaag bed after the creation of the world, two demons came out from the earwaxes of the Lord, the demon came out from the right ear and the other demon came out from the left ear. The teo demons were looking at each other, they questioned each other in asking who are they, but the demons did not know who were they. Sheshnaag, the many snake-faced creature was looking at them, he told them that the two demons were born out of Lord Vishnu's ears were mere creatures but demons as well. The two demons looked at the ocean, a shark came out to gobble them up but Sheshnaag scared him away. The two demon brothers paid their gratitude to him. Lord Vishnu was chanting Goddess Shakti's Beej Mantra in his mind, "Om Hreem, Om Kleem". The demon brothers were looking at Lord Vishnu, they were curious to know who is he and what he is doing in a slumber, Sheshnaag told the two fellow demons that's Lord Vishnu and he is not slumbering, he is practicing meditation. The two demons went back into the ears of Lord Vishnu and heard the Mantra. The demons praticed the Mantra, grasped it and did meditation to the Goddess, after a long time, the Goddess appeared to them, the demons paid their gratitude to her and asked the Goddess who are the demons, their names, clan and family. The Goddess gave the demons their names Madhu and Kaitabh, Madhu and Kaitabh were very happy, the demon brothers said that they are feeble and scared and can't come out. They said that when they come out, the demon creatures of the underwater come running to gobble them up, they do not have any power to fight with them. Goddess Shakti presented a little bit of her powers to the demon brothers that they can protect themselves. She enlightened the demons that she is a mother, she goes everywhere when her children call upon her, when a child is in trouble, his mother protects him, whatever a son askes from his mother, the mother gives him what he wants. She warns the demon brothers that the powers that Madhu and Kaitabh has been given, will not be misused. Finally, she vanished away, Madhu and Kaitabh have becaome very powerful and tested out the powers that Goddess Shakti has given them, they went underwater and saw the shark, Madhu and Kaitabh killed the shark by opening and closing his mouth again and again. Later, Madhu and Kaitabh planned to attack Brahma, they reached Brahma who was meditating. After Brahma woke up from meditation, he got scared to see Madhu and Kaitabh and he vanished away that Madhu and Kaitabh can't kill him. Brahma reached Lord Vishnu and prayed to him for help and shelter. Lord Vishnu woke up from his slumber and promised Brahma that he will kill Madhu and Kaitabh, the demon brothers waged a war with him, Lord Vishnu fought proficently, the war went on for five thousand years, Lord Vishnu was pooped out from fighting the demon brothers, Brahma was scared and invoked the Supreme Goddess, the Supreme Goddess arrived there in the form of Maha Kali. Brahma persuaded her to kill Madhu and Kaitabh because Lord Vishnu was sick and tired of fighting Madhu and Kaitabh for 5,000 years. Maha Kali killed Madhu and Kaitabh by severing thie heads with her sword. Brahma paid his gratitude to Maha Kali. She returned to her original form as Goddess Shakti, she promised them that she will incarnate as her next incarnation to kill Demon Mahishasur. Basically, Lord Vishnu killed Madhu and Kaitabh by putting them on his lap and beheading them with his discus. |
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Ramprasad Chanda writes the following about the evolution of Durga from primitive goddess to her current form.<ref>McDaniel, June (2004). ''[http://books.google.com/books?id=caeJpIj9SdkC Offering Flowers, Feeding Skulls: Popular Goddess Worship in West Bengal]''. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-516791-0. Pp. 214.</ref> |
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:"...it is possible to distinguish two different strata – one primitive and the other advanced. The primitive form of Durga is the result of [[syncretism]] of a mountain-goddess worshiped by the dwellers of the [[Himalaya]] and the [[Vindhya]]s, a goddess worshiped by the nomadic [[Abhira]] shepherd, the [[Vegetation deity|vegetation spirit]] conceived as a female, and a war-goddess. As her votaries advanced in civilisation the primitive war-goddess was transformed into the personification of the all-destroying time ([[Kali]]), the vegetation spirit into the primordial energy ([[Adya Sakti]]) and the saviouress from “[[samsara]]” (cycle of rebirths) , and gradually brought into line with the [[Historical Vedic religion|Brahmanic]] mythology and philosophy." |
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⚫ | After the death of Madhu and Kaitabh, the two demon brothers Rambh and Karambh came on the throne of the netherlands. Their Mother Danu instructed them to do penance and obtain desired boons. Hence, Rambh and Karambh did penance to please Agni and Varun (Fire/Water) respectively. Rambh started doing penance in Agni chakra whereas Karambh was being half immersed in river water while doing penance. Lord Indra took disguise of a crocodile and killed Karambh while Rambh successfully comepletely his penance and got a boon from Agni that he will obtain a extremely powerful son, who will rule over the three worlds in this universe. Rambh fell in love with Mahishi (buffalo woman) and got married to her. Mahishi soon got pregnant by Rambh. once her lover, a Mahish, tried to abduct her. Rambh came in forefront to protect his wife. It happened so that Rambh got killed by the Mahish. In the cremation process of Rambh, Mahishi jumped into the fire, to sacrifice her life to express her love for her husband. Hence, Yama was stopped from taking away the soul of Rambh. Hence, Rambh got retained into the womb of Mahishi. Hence, from cremation fire, emerged two demons namely Raktabeej (rebirth of Rambh) and Mahishasur (the child of Rambh). Mahishasur also did penance and obtained a boon from Lord Brahma, that he won't be killed by any man. Mahishasur thought that he has obtained immortality indirectly by this boon as according to him, a lady would never be able to kill a powerful demon like him. At the same time, while Mahishasur was doing penance, Parvati too started with a penance to get rid of her dark complexion, which was developed over her fair skin, due the penance she had done to obtain Lord Shiva as her husband. While she was engrossed in her penance, Shiva came upto her and washed off her face with the water of Ganga (Ganges), due to which, Parvati's dark complexion shedded from her and got accumulalted over the plants present there. In this way, Parvati justified her name Maha Gauri. The very place where she had shedded her dark complexion was the place, where Rishi Katyayan's wife used to do gardening and used the same plantations for cooking purpose. In course of time, Narayani got pregnant. At the same time, Mahishasur reached the peak of evilness by mercilessly killing human beings, who doing worship of gods. All the Gods including Indra, Varun, etc and also Shiva and Brahma gathered at the Vishnu's realm to seek help from the protector of the world as to what could be done. Lord Vishnu (protector) instructed all the Gods to combine their powers. The combination of the powers of all Gods including Trinity, Indra, etc fell upon Mars. The planet Mars directed that combination of that powers to Katyayan's child who was about to take birth, as it's ruling planet was Mars. Narayani gave birth to a girl who was named as Katyayani being the daughter of sage Katyayan. She was the incarnation of Mahalakshmi as she had the powers of all Gods and those powers were nothing but brightness and the beej mantra was 'Hreem'. She was so powerful and independent that as she grew up, she started living in the forest Madamba Kadamba. The only thing that was missing was beauty as she was born from the dark cell of Parvati. But as she grew up, all the Gods started praying to her (Mahalakshmi) and gathered near her. The Sea God presented her various ornaments, jewelleries, beautiful look, a beautiful crown to wear. All the Gods presented her with the clone of therr weapons like Lord Vishnu gave a clone of his discus, Lord Shiva gave trident, etc. In this way, she had to develop eighteen hands to hold all the weapons presented by various male Gods. Hence, she came to be known as eighteen-handed Mahalakshmi. Himavan, father of Parvati, present a Lion to Goddess Chandika to ride upon. Soon the battle between Goddess Chandika and demons army started. She created the same number of female warriors to fight the male demons army. Finally, her army won over the demon army and Katyayani herself killed many demons like Shichsur, Asiloma, Vidhan, Vashkaal, Ugrasen, Ramchandi etc. To celebrate their victory, Chandika's female soldiers played flutes, drums, sitars, bells etc. |
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==Story== |
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{{unreferenced section|date=August 2013}} |
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After the death of the demon army of Mahishasur, he was furious and came in forefront to battle the Goddess. Mahishasur failed to battle with Goddess without using his supernatural powers, which he had to use. He kept changing form from lion to elephant to buffalo. At last, the Goddess transformed into Chandi (with ten arms, not eighteen) and killed Mahishasur. |
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After killing Mahishasur, the Gods cried in joy and played flutes, drums, sitars and rang bells, they also did a veneration to the Goddess to their victory for killing Mahishasur. Chandika became very happy, the Gods tossed flowers at her and sang the Mahishasur Mardini song to the Goddess: |
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''O darling daughter of the Himalayas (Parvati), who makes the whole world happy, who rejoices with cosmos. The daughter of Nandagopa, the resider on the peak of Vindhyachal Mountains, plays with Lord Vishnu, a glittering mien on her face, the Goddess who is praised by other Gods. The wife of the Lord with the blue throat (Lord Shiva), the daughter of several clans, the wisher of everyone's wellbeing. Victory and victory to you, O slayer of Mahishasur, the one who has captivating braided hair, the daughter of the mountains. O Goddess who showers boons on Gods, the punisher of those who are indisciplined, the tolerater of ugly faced ogres, the enjoyer of happiness, the nourisher of the three worlds, the pleaser of Lord Shiva, the remover of all sins, the rejoicer with the holy sound, the one is is angry with the kids of Danu (Danavas), the one who is angry with the children of Diti (Daityas), the furious smasher of pride, the daughter of the ocean (Lakshmi). Victory and victory to you, O slayer of Mahishasur, the one who has captivating braided hair, the daughter of the mountains. O Mother of the entire cosmos, the one who loves to live in the forest of Madamba Kadamba trees, the maintainer of a serene smile, the liver in the highest peaks in the mighty Himachal, the one who is sweeter than honey, the Lordess of the demons Madhu and Kaitabh, the destroyer of Kaitabh, the one who enjoys dancing. Victory and victory to you, O slayer of Mahishasur, the one who has captivating braided hair, the daughter of the mountains. O Goddess who breaks the heads of demons into countless pieces, the lopper of the elephant trunks in war, the rider on the valorous Lion (Singha), which tears the heads of elephants apart with its claws, the severer of heads of the generals of the demon armies with her own hands. Victory and victory to you, O slayer of Mahishasur, the one who has captivating braided hair, the daughter of the mountains. O Goddess who has the power which never diminishes, to gain victory over enemies in the battlefield, the creator of Ganas, the attendants of Lord Shiva, known for his tricky strategy, as her assistant, the annihilator of demons, the evil beings, with evil thoughts and minds. Victory and victory to you, O slayer of Mahishasur, the one who has captivating braided hair, the daughter of the mountains. O Goddess of forgiveness and the giver of refuge, to the heroic soldiers of the enemy rank, the wives come seeking refuge for them, O Goddess who is armed with trident, ready to throw the heads of those, the causer of pain to the three worlds, O Goddess who shines like the blazing sun, the dancer on the beats, produced by the beating of drums by the Gods. Victory and victory to you, O slayer of Mahishasur, the one who has captivating braided hair, the daughter of the mountains. O Goddess who blew away the demon into smoke (Dhumralochan), who had smoking eyes, by merely uttering syllable "Hum", O Goddess who ate the demon Raktabeej, who colud use blood as seed to create his clones and fell him into the battlefield, O Goddess, the enjoyer of the company of Lord Shiva, the slayer of Shumbh and Nishumbh (Conceit/Deprecation), as the sacrifice in the battlefield. Victory and victory to you, O slayer of Mahishasur, the one who has captivating braided hair, the daughter of the mountains. O Goddess who decks herself with ornaments, on her throbbing limbs in the field of battle, when she gets her bow ready to fight, O Goddess who beheaded her arch enemies, the demons in the battlefield with a shining sword, O Goddess who turned the battlefield of the fourfold army, into a stage of drama with screaming little soldiers. Victory and victory to you, O slayer of Mahishasur, the one who has captivating braided hair, the daughter of the mountains. O Goddess, whose victory is sung, by the whole cosmos, which is interested in singing her victory, O Goddess who attracts the attention of Lord Shiva, by the tinkling sound of her anklets, while she is engaged in dancing, O Goddess, the enjoyer of dancing and drama by versatile angels, O Goddess who is the half of Lord Shiva. Victory and victory to you, O slayer of Mahishasur, the one who has captivating braided hair, the daughter of the mountains. O Goddess of the pious people, who is graceful to such people, O Goddess who appears in a kind form to the pious, O Goddess with the moon-like face, who is as like the moon to those in the dark, O Goddess whose face shines in the moonlit night, O Goddess whose eyes are like blue lotuses, attracts devotees like bees, O Goddess who attracts Lord Shiva like a bee. Victory and victory to you, O slayer of Mahishasur, the one who has captivating braided hair, the daughter of the mountains. O Goddess who derives pleasure, from battles with demons, assisted by warriors, O Goddess who is surrounded by hunters, from the tribes of Mallikas, Jillakas and Bhillakas, with their huts surrounded by creepers, O Goddess who is beautiful liike a fully-bloomed lotus, O Goddess who is slender as a creeper full of red tender leaves. Victory and victory to you, O slayer of Mahishasur, the one who has captivating braided hair, the daughter of the mountains. O Goddess, who walks like a royal elephant in a rut, in whose face there is a copious flow of ichors, O Goddess, who is the daughter of the oceans (Lakshmi), from where the full moon rises, O Goddess who is the ornament of the three worlds, O Goddess who is worshipped by the God of love (Kamdev), who bestows all that is desired. Victory and victory to you, O slayer of Mahishasur, the one who has captivating braided hair, the daughter of the mountains. O Goddess, with a beautiful forehead, which is of delicate prettiness, is like a pure and tender lotus leaf, O Goddess, who moves likes majestic swans, the mover of delicate steps, the one who is the epitome of arts, O Goddess, whose trees are surrounded by bees from bakula trees, which normally crowd the tops of lotus leaves. Victory and victory to you, O slayer of Mahishasur, the one who has captivating braided hair, the daughter of the mountains. O Goddess, with sweet tender thoughts, whose sweet enchanting tunes, of the flute in her hands (Krishna Kali), put the sweet voiced nightingale to shame, O Goddess who stays in pleasant mountain groves, which resound with the voice of tribal folks, O Goddess, whose playground is filled with her female tribal attendants, who have many qualities similar to her. Victory and victory to you, O slayer of Mahishasur, the one who has captivating braided hair, the daughter of the mountains. O Goddess, who wears yellow silks on her waist, which has such a dazzling brilliance, that puts the sun to shame, O Goddess, whose toe nails shines like suns, because of the reflection of the light, from the crowns of Gods and demons who bow at her lotus feet, O Goddess, whose breasts challenge, the foreheads of elephants and the peak of golden mountains. Victory and victory to you, O slayer of Mahishasur, the one who has captivating braided hair, the daughter of the mountains. O Goddess, whose splendour, defeats the sun with his thousand rays, O Goddess, who is salutated by the sun, who has thousands of rays, O Goddess who was praised, by Tarakasur after his defeat in the war between him and your son (Kartikeya), O Goddess who was pleased by the King Surath and the rich merchant named Samadhi, who entered into meditation and who prayed for endless meditation. Victory and victory to you, O slayer of Mahishasur, the one who has captivating braided hair, the daughter of the mountains. O Goddess, the personification of mercy, and who is auspiciousness herself, he who worships the lotus feet, daily without fail, would for sure be endowed with wealth, by the Goddess whose seat is lotus, and if I consider, O lotus feet as the only refuge, is there anything I would be denied for? Victory and victory to you, O slayer of Mahishasur, the one who has captivating braided hair, the daughter of the mountains. O Goddess, who sprinkles the water from the ocean, taken on a golden pot on her playground, O Goddess, please get the same pleasure from doing so, like Indra gets in heaven when he fondles, the pitcher like breasts of his consort Shachi (Indrani), so I take refuge in the lotus feet, O Goddess, which is also a place that where Lord Shiva resides. Victory and victory to you, O slayer of Mahishasur, the one who has captivating braided hair, the daughter of the mountains. He who keeps the face adorned by the moon, in his thoughts, would never face rejection, by the bevy of the fairies with moonlike faces, in the celestial court of Indra, O Goddess, who is esteem to Shiva, I am sure that you would not reject my wishes. Victory and victory to you, O slayer of Mahishasur, the one who has captivating braided hair, the daughter of the mountains. Please shower some mercy on me, as you are most merciful on the opressed, O Supreme Mother Goddess of the cosmos, be pleased, to give me the independence, to consider you as my Mother and do not reject my prayer if it's improper but be pleased to drive away all my sorrows. Victory and victory to you, O slayer of Mahishasur, the one who has captivating braided hair, the daughter of the mountains. Victory and victory to you, O slayer of Mahishasur, the one who has captivating braided hair, the daughter of the mountains, the one who has captivating braided hair, the daughter of the mountains.'' |
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After hearing the song, Chandika promised the Gods that she will be back at anytime, anywhere and at anyplace, before leaving, she enlightened the Gods about destiny and karma. Chandika was merged into Parvati's body to manifest as her next incarnation to kill Shumbh and Nishumbh. |
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After the death of Mahishasur, Shumbh and Nishumbh did penance to Lord Brahma, Brahma blessed them the boon of being killed by a woman, Shumbh and Nishumbh were crowned Kings and have attained supernatural powers and have also created an army. Lord Indra knew about Shumbh and Nishumbh's powers and has also sent in a large army against Shumbh and Nishumbh's army. The battle commenced between the demon brothers and Lord Indra who was fighting all alone with the demon brothers. Meanwhile, the demon army has destroyed all of the armies of Lord Indra. The Gods then gave the heavens to the demons, especially Shumbh and Nishumbh. The Gods then went to the Kailash Mountains and prayed to Parvati to destroy Shumbh and Nishumbh, Parvati became furious and she created an all-powerful Goddess by the name of Ambika, she has eight hands holding weapons and promises the Gods that she will destroy Shumbh and Nishumbh. Shumbh and Nishumbh were also associated by other demons like Dhumralochan, Chand-Mund, Raktabeej and Demon Messenger Sugriv. Goddess Parvati promises Ambika that later she will have to kill an endless army, other Goddesses will be assisting her. Ambika went to the forest and made trouble for the demons up in the heavens, Shumbh sent Demon-Messenger Sugriv to go see who's making trouble for Shumbh and Nishumbh. Sugriv came to the forest and saw Ambika, he was mesmerized by her beauty and asked her politely, in a kind, respectful and sweet voice to come to Shumbh and Nishumbh at the heavens. Ambika told him that she will marry the one who defeats her in a war. Sugriv understands, he tries to make her understand and convinces her but he fails. Sugriv conveys this to Shumbh and Nishumbh back at heaven, they were very angry and sent Dhumralochan and his army to get Ambika at heaven with force. Later, the demon soldiers of Dhumralochan were singing his praises. Ambika heard this, she took her warrior form having the same wearing a red saree and has eight hands holding weapons. She came to the battlefield and spotted Dhumralochan and his army. Dhumralochan's army attacked Ambika with their weapons. Ambika attacked them back with their own. Until it was finally time when Ambika was very angry and from the flames of her anger of her mouth and her third eye incinerated Dhumralochan and his army. The Gods congratulated Ambika on killing Dhumralochan and his army. Shumbh and Nishumbh came to know about Dhumralochan's death and, they were angry at this and sent Chand and Mund to kill Ambika. Chand is the brother of Mund, who has his head always banging from right to left and left to right. Meanwhile, the saints and Gods did prayers to Ambika to kill the demons and to give back Indra's heaven. The demons of Shumbh and Nishumbh reached earth and tried to kill the Gods and saints. Ambika appeared in her warrior form and killed the sent demons of Shumbh and Nishumbh. Chand and Mund came to Ambika with their soldiers. On seeing the uncountable number of soldiers, Ambika called upon Parvati to assist her on the battlefield and she appeared on the battlefield in the form of Jagadamba, their third eyes started to emit fire and took the shape of a new Goddess. The newborn Goddess had terrible appearance, which is: She is portrayed wearing a girdle of severed human hands, a garland of human skull heads representing the fifty letters of the Sanskrit alphabet or a garland or flowers, for her clothing, she wears tiger skin like Lord Shiva. She has three eyes that symbolizes past, present and future and sometimes, when she gets too furious, her eyes looked bright red. She has two dead heads for her earrings. She is often shown having four hands holding scimitar, demon head, trident and container, and often trident, sword or iron weapon and thorn like weapon made out of thorns, often she is portrayed having four hands holding scimitar or sword in the left hands and a severed demon head in upper and lower left hands while the remaining two on the right are the hand gestures of boon-conferrings and fear-dispellings. And now she has sharp claws like a lioness. She started to attack the demons by blowing a storm out of her mouth, turning them into ashes (burning them alive), beheading their heads, decapitating them by eating their skin alive, eating them alive, scratching them, choking them, stabbing their chests, drinking their blood, breaking their bones, breaking their necks, twisting their hands and legs and swinging them away. When Chand and Mund's army was gone, she beheaded them and presented them to Ambika and Jagadamba. They both gave the Goddess's name as Kali Chamunda now because she killed Chand and Mund. Shumbh and Nishumbh has gotten new news about the killing of Chand and Mund and their army. They were very angry and sent a new demon called Raktabeej, he has accumulated from the Gods. Meanwhile, Goddess Durga appeared to Jagadamba, Kali and Ambika. She learnt about Raktabeej and there is a big war of bloodshed, to provide the Goddesses extra power, she created nine Goddesses by the names of Brahmani, Maheshwari, Kumari, Vaishnavi, Varahi, Narasinghi, Indrani, Shivadooti (Ambika) and Chamunda. All holding weapons or not holding weapons, riding a swan, bull, peacock, eagle, ram, lion, jackal, lion, tiger, owl or corpse. Durga created one more Goddess, by the name of Chandika. When Raktabeej came with his army, he was terrified seeing the 14 Goddesses, so was his army. Kumari cut off Raktabeej's head, but whatever the drop of Raktabeej's blood falls to the ground, another new Raktabeej arose, the 12 other Goddesses, even Durga and Ambika tried but no use. Jagadamba assigned Kali to drink the blood of Raktabeej prohibiting it from falling on the ground. Jagadamba pierced her trident in his chest and Kali widened her tongue to an incredible size and ate the demons and Raktabeej up. All other Goddesses praised her. Jagadamba retransformed herself into Parvati. She told the Matrikas to go inside Ambika's body then inside Chandika into Durga's body and then Durga's into Parvati's after the death of Shumbh and Nishumbh. Back at heaven, Shumbh was having a nightmare in which Dhumralochan, Chand-Mund and Raktabeej kidnapped a beauty. The beauty became Parvati and choked Shumbh's neck so hard. Nishumbh was in control of the throne and got the news of Raktabeej's death. Later, after Shumbh's naptime, Ambika and Kali were on their own. Shumbh and Nishumbh came with a final large army. Kali killed the army and Ambika killed Shumbh and Nishumbh. The Gods were very happy and expressed their gratitude. |
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The demon Durgasur had acquired all four books of total knowledge (The Vedas - Rig, Yajur, Atharva, Sam) from Lord Brahma through penance and the three worlds. He also received a boon from Lord Brahma that caused all the worships, rituals, prayers, venerations, offerings and oblations that were offered to the Gods to reach him instead, making him invincible. Durgasur became very arrogant and started tormenting the whole world. As a consequence, it did not rain for one hundred years and the whole world was hit by a very severe drought. Durgasur took away all the foods and the world became barren. The Gods, saints, sages, celestial beings, Yakshs, Yakshinis, men, women and children took refuge in the caves of the Himavan, and meditated upon the Supreme Goddess, Parvati. She appeared in front of them bearing such a wonderful and unbelievable form. She had countless eyes that gave her the name Satakshi, and was carrying grains, cereals, vegetables, greens, fruits, herbs etc and because of this, she was being called by a second name Shakambhari. The Goddess was so moved by their plight that tears rolled down from her eyes for nine continuous days and nights. The tears became a river, which ended the drought, she presented grains, cereals, vegetables, greens, fruits and herbs that grew in seconds. The Gods, saints, sages, celestial beings, Yakshs, Yakshinis, men, women and children then requested her to recover the Vedas, which were in possession of Durgasur. Durgasur discovered through his messengers that people were living happily and immediately sent in a very large army. The Goddess protected the Gods, saints, sages, celestial beings, Yakshs, Yakshinis, men, women and children by putting up a huge wall of fire around them, and then let her discus hover around it. There ensued a tremendous battle between the Goddess and Durgasur. Goddess Satakshi/Shakambhari took the form of Goddess Durga, the nine Matrikas appeared from her, namely Brahmani, Maheshwari, Kaumari, Vaishnavi, Varahi, Narasinghi, Indrani, Shivadooti and Chamunda, for extra help, the Nava Durgas also appeared from her namely Shailputri, Brahmacharini, Chandraghanta, Kushmanda, Skand Mata, Katyayani, Kaal Ratri, Maha Gauri and Siddhidatri, Goddess Lakshmi knew about this and created eight Goddesses of her own namely Adi Lakshmi, Dhan Lakshmi, Dhanya Lakshmi, Gaj Lakshmi, Santan Lakshmi, Veer Lakshmi, Vidya Lakshmi and Vijay Lakshmi. Again, the ten wisdoms appeared from Durga again namely Kali (Mahavidya), Tara (Devi), Shodashi (Lalita-Tripur Sundari), Bhuvaneshwari, Bhairavi, Chinnamasta, Dhumavati, Bagla Mukhi, Matangi and Kamala. There were four groups of each form groups like the Mahavidyas co-operating with the Nava Durga, so that's two, the Matrikas co-operating with the Ashta Lakshmis so that's another two, the 36 Goddesses in mixed-up two co-operating groups fought the huge army of Durgasur, Goddess Saraswati came to know about this and appeared in her warrior form as Maha Saraswati to help which makes a total of 37 war Goddesses. The Gods, saints, sages, celestial beings, Yakshs, Yakshinis, men, women and children watched ashtonished during the furious war between the army of Durgasur and the spiritual groups of Goddess armies, Matrikas, Nava Durgas, Ashta Lakshmi and Mahavidyas together destroyed the huge armies of Durgasur. The Matrikas, Mahavidyas and Nava Durgas went back into Durga's body and the Ashta Lakshmi went back into Lakshmi and she vanished away with Saraswati. Goddess Durga fought with Durgasur and killed him with her trident and recovered the Vedas from his possession. At that very moment all the chants and japas that the Gods, saints, sages, celestial beings, Yakshs, Yakshinis, men, women and children had performed earlier but had been absorbed by the demon. Durgasur transformed into the bright light of a 10,000 suns and entered the Devi. She then handed over the Vedas to the deities. Ishwari is also known as Durga because she killed the demon Durgasur. The story of Satakshi/Shakambhari is told in Chapter 28 of the Devi Bhagawati Puran, titled, "On the glory of Satakshi/Shakambhari Devi". Also, in the Devi Mahatmyam, her story is told in Chapter 11 and in the secret of the manifestations an addendum to the Devi Mahatmyam. |
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==History== |
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[[File:Durga Puja celebration.jpg|thumb|Durga Puja celebration during [[Navratri]]]] |
[[File:Durga Puja celebration.jpg|thumb|Durga Puja celebration during [[Navratri]]]] |
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[[File:Durga Slays Mahisasura.jpg|thumb|x216px|right|text|Durga Slays Mahishasura, [[Mahabalipuram]] sculpture.]] |
[[File:Durga Slays Mahisasura.jpg|thumb|x216px|right|text|Durga Slays Mahishasura, [[Mahabalipuram]] sculpture.]] |
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[[File:Durga Loro Jonggrang copy.jpg|thumb|Durga Mahishasuramardini, 9th-century [[Prambanan]], [[Java]].]] |
[[File:Durga Loro Jonggrang copy.jpg|thumb|Durga Mahishasuramardini, 9th-century [[Prambanan]], [[Java]].]] |
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According to Devi Mahatmyam in Markandeya Puran, composed by the great poet-sage Ved-Vyasa, himself, there is the entire account of the physical expression of the "Formless Energy" or Adi Shakti from the combined powers of the Trinity and all other Gods and the annihilation of demonic forces disrupting natural functioning of the cosmos. The account starts with the cosmic man - Lord Vishnu, lying motionless on his Sheshnaag bed during apocalypse. Slowly the creator Brahma emerged from his navel but was immediately challenged by two demons Madhu and Kaitabh, who emerged from the earwax of Lord Vishnu's ears. Brahma, seeing the Supreme God sleeping, under the spell of his own energy 'Mahamaya', prayed to the Goddess to leave Narayan's body and awaken him. Hearing his prayers, the Goddess left the body of Lord Vishnu, who in turn, severed the heads of the demons and thus Brahma began the process of creation. The second phase begins with Mahishasur, a wicked Demon King, receiving boons of Form-shifting from Brahma. With these magical powers he manages to defeat Indra's army and capture the heavens. Defeated Indra, along with all other deities of Fire, Sun, Waters and Earth approached Brahma-Vishnu-Mahesh, the Supreme Trinity, who are manifestations of the Supreme God, engaged in creating, preserving, destroying and recreating the cosmos. The Trinity, were also discussing the reign of terror of the tyrant Mahishasur, seated in Vaikunth, the Supreme Abode, when the helpless deities approached them. The Trinity, got enraged thus and emitted all their energy. Similarly solar deities, deities of Fire and Water, deities of Earth and Death and all other Gods emitted fierce beams of energy. All the emitted Energies pervaded the entire universe like a mountain of light and coalesced to give form to the Primodial source of energy, Maha Shakti or Durga. The Almighty Goddess thus evolved received gifts of weapons from the Gods and roared in laughter. The earth shook, clouds struck lightning that caused storms and forest fires. Mahishasur understood that his time of death had come and gathered all his army to fight the Goddess. The Almighty Goddess appeared in a fierce beam of light and breathed an army of divine warriors, who gave the army of Mahishasur tough fight. The Goddess hurled her weapons on the demonic forces, and then rode fiercely on her vehicle Lion, killing demons in all directions. She hurled mountains and stones on the generals Chiksur, Chamar, Baskal etc and mutilated them with her trident. Mahishasur changed forms and attacked the Goddess, in forms of buffalo, elephant, wicked man and lion and each time Durga defeated him. However, Mahishasur's arrogance angered her and she roared "Roar, Oh ignorant demon, till I drink my potion, once I'm done, I'll bring your end and the Gods then would roar similarly." While saying this, she pounced on buffalo demon, subdued his neck with her feet and hurled her trident at him. Stunned by the terrible energy of the almighty, the demon unable to bear her feet on his neck, started emerging from the mouth of the buffalo. The Goddess immediately chopped his head off with a scimitar and he fell dead. Thus, Durga freed Mahishasur and his accomplices from the sin of tyranny and cleansed them with her weapons. The third phase narrates, how King of Gods, Indra being defeated by demons Shumbh and Nishumbh approached Shiva and Parvati, the parents of the universe and Goddess Parvati, an incarnation of the Supreme Goddess herself, gave birth to Goddess Ambika or Kaushiki from her body cell. The Goddess Durga thus took form as Ambika, the beautiful divine energy. Lured by her celestial beauty, demons Shumbh and Nishumbh, send a marriage proposal to her, to which she replied, "Only a man who can defeat me in war will be accepted by me as my Husband." The demons, enraged sent General Dhumralochan, who could emit chocking fumes, to capture and bring the Goddess. The Goddess breathed fire and charred the general and her vehicle, the giant Lion killed and devoured the demonic army. The demon Kings now sent, wicked demons Chand-Mund, to capture the Goddess, who in turn, transformed into dark energy, Kali and started devouring the demons, with their vehicles, and beheaded Chand-Mund. Raktabeej, a magical giant, was sent to capture the Goddess. The Goddess transformed herself into multiple forms, Brahmani, Maheshwari, Kaumari, Vaishnavi, Varahi, Indrani, Narasinghi, Shivadooti and Chamunda. They all started devouring the demonic armies. Raktabeej challenged the Goddesses and a terrible fight started. The magical demon had the capacity to regenerate from his own blood. So Goddess Ambika requested Goddess Chamunda to devour the demon's blood along with the regenerated demons. Thus all were killed and Shumbh-Nishumbh were alone left to fight the Goddesses. Goddesses combined again into one Ambika and she fought and killed the demon kings with her trident. The deities thanked the Goddess and she promised that she will re-incarnate whenever there is a disturbance due to demonic forces in the cosmos. |
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⚫ | After the death of |
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==Relationship with Kali== |
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Goddess Kali is a darker form of Adi Shakti, Parvati or Durga, they work together in battles killing demons like Shumbh and Nishumbh and many demons, for Raktabeej, Durga had to invoke the nine Matrikas from her. |
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==Worship== |
==Worship== |
Revision as of 23:16, 26 September 2013
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Durga | |
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Devanagari | दुर्गा |
Goddess Durga (Hindustani pronunciation: [d̪uːrgaː]; Sanskrit: दुर्गा), meaning "the inaccessible"[1] or "the invincible"; durga) is the most popular incarnation of Devi and one of the main forms of the Goddess Shakti in the Hindu pantheon.
Chapters of Durga Saptashati
While Lord Vishnu was sleeping on Sheshnaag bed after the creation of the world, two demons came out from the earwaxes of the Lord, the demon came out from the right ear and the other demon came out from the left ear. The teo demons were looking at each other, they questioned each other in asking who are they, but the demons did not know who were they. Sheshnaag, the many snake-faced creature was looking at them, he told them that the two demons were born out of Lord Vishnu's ears were mere creatures but demons as well. The two demons looked at the ocean, a shark came out to gobble them up but Sheshnaag scared him away. The two demon brothers paid their gratitude to him. Lord Vishnu was chanting Goddess Shakti's Beej Mantra in his mind, "Om Hreem, Om Kleem". The demon brothers were looking at Lord Vishnu, they were curious to know who is he and what he is doing in a slumber, Sheshnaag told the two fellow demons that's Lord Vishnu and he is not slumbering, he is practicing meditation. The two demons went back into the ears of Lord Vishnu and heard the Mantra. The demons praticed the Mantra, grasped it and did meditation to the Goddess, after a long time, the Goddess appeared to them, the demons paid their gratitude to her and asked the Goddess who are the demons, their names, clan and family. The Goddess gave the demons their names Madhu and Kaitabh, Madhu and Kaitabh were very happy, the demon brothers said that they are feeble and scared and can't come out. They said that when they come out, the demon creatures of the underwater come running to gobble them up, they do not have any power to fight with them. Goddess Shakti presented a little bit of her powers to the demon brothers that they can protect themselves. She enlightened the demons that she is a mother, she goes everywhere when her children call upon her, when a child is in trouble, his mother protects him, whatever a son askes from his mother, the mother gives him what he wants. She warns the demon brothers that the powers that Madhu and Kaitabh has been given, will not be misused. Finally, she vanished away, Madhu and Kaitabh have becaome very powerful and tested out the powers that Goddess Shakti has given them, they went underwater and saw the shark, Madhu and Kaitabh killed the shark by opening and closing his mouth again and again. Later, Madhu and Kaitabh planned to attack Brahma, they reached Brahma who was meditating. After Brahma woke up from meditation, he got scared to see Madhu and Kaitabh and he vanished away that Madhu and Kaitabh can't kill him. Brahma reached Lord Vishnu and prayed to him for help and shelter. Lord Vishnu woke up from his slumber and promised Brahma that he will kill Madhu and Kaitabh, the demon brothers waged a war with him, Lord Vishnu fought proficently, the war went on for five thousand years, Lord Vishnu was pooped out from fighting the demon brothers, Brahma was scared and invoked the Supreme Goddess, the Supreme Goddess arrived there in the form of Maha Kali. Brahma persuaded her to kill Madhu and Kaitabh because Lord Vishnu was sick and tired of fighting Madhu and Kaitabh for 5,000 years. Maha Kali killed Madhu and Kaitabh by severing thie heads with her sword. Brahma paid his gratitude to Maha Kali. She returned to her original form as Goddess Shakti, she promised them that she will incarnate as her next incarnation to kill Demon Mahishasur. Basically, Lord Vishnu killed Madhu and Kaitabh by putting them on his lap and beheading them with his discus.
After the death of Madhu and Kaitabh, the two demon brothers Rambh and Karambh came on the throne of the netherlands. Their Mother Danu instructed them to do penance and obtain desired boons. Hence, Rambh and Karambh did penance to please Agni and Varun (Fire/Water) respectively. Rambh started doing penance in Agni chakra whereas Karambh was being half immersed in river water while doing penance. Lord Indra took disguise of a crocodile and killed Karambh while Rambh successfully comepletely his penance and got a boon from Agni that he will obtain a extremely powerful son, who will rule over the three worlds in this universe. Rambh fell in love with Mahishi (buffalo woman) and got married to her. Mahishi soon got pregnant by Rambh. once her lover, a Mahish, tried to abduct her. Rambh came in forefront to protect his wife. It happened so that Rambh got killed by the Mahish. In the cremation process of Rambh, Mahishi jumped into the fire, to sacrifice her life to express her love for her husband. Hence, Yama was stopped from taking away the soul of Rambh. Hence, Rambh got retained into the womb of Mahishi. Hence, from cremation fire, emerged two demons namely Raktabeej (rebirth of Rambh) and Mahishasur (the child of Rambh). Mahishasur also did penance and obtained a boon from Lord Brahma, that he won't be killed by any man. Mahishasur thought that he has obtained immortality indirectly by this boon as according to him, a lady would never be able to kill a powerful demon like him. At the same time, while Mahishasur was doing penance, Parvati too started with a penance to get rid of her dark complexion, which was developed over her fair skin, due the penance she had done to obtain Lord Shiva as her husband. While she was engrossed in her penance, Shiva came upto her and washed off her face with the water of Ganga (Ganges), due to which, Parvati's dark complexion shedded from her and got accumulalted over the plants present there. In this way, Parvati justified her name Maha Gauri. The very place where she had shedded her dark complexion was the place, where Rishi Katyayan's wife used to do gardening and used the same plantations for cooking purpose. In course of time, Narayani got pregnant. At the same time, Mahishasur reached the peak of evilness by mercilessly killing human beings, who doing worship of gods. All the Gods including Indra, Varun, etc and also Shiva and Brahma gathered at the Vishnu's realm to seek help from the protector of the world as to what could be done. Lord Vishnu (protector) instructed all the Gods to combine their powers. The combination of the powers of all Gods including Trinity, Indra, etc fell upon Mars. The planet Mars directed that combination of that powers to Katyayan's child who was about to take birth, as it's ruling planet was Mars. Narayani gave birth to a girl who was named as Katyayani being the daughter of sage Katyayan. She was the incarnation of Mahalakshmi as she had the powers of all Gods and those powers were nothing but brightness and the beej mantra was 'Hreem'. She was so powerful and independent that as she grew up, she started living in the forest Madamba Kadamba. The only thing that was missing was beauty as she was born from the dark cell of Parvati. But as she grew up, all the Gods started praying to her (Mahalakshmi) and gathered near her. The Sea God presented her various ornaments, jewelleries, beautiful look, a beautiful crown to wear. All the Gods presented her with the clone of therr weapons like Lord Vishnu gave a clone of his discus, Lord Shiva gave trident, etc. In this way, she had to develop eighteen hands to hold all the weapons presented by various male Gods. Hence, she came to be known as eighteen-handed Mahalakshmi. Himavan, father of Parvati, present a Lion to Goddess Chandika to ride upon. Soon the battle between Goddess Chandika and demons army started. She created the same number of female warriors to fight the male demons army. Finally, her army won over the demon army and Katyayani herself killed many demons like Shichsur, Asiloma, Vidhan, Vashkaal, Ugrasen, Ramchandi etc. To celebrate their victory, Chandika's female soldiers played flutes, drums, sitars, bells etc.
After the death of the demon army of Mahishasur, he was furious and came in forefront to battle the Goddess. Mahishasur failed to battle with Goddess without using his supernatural powers, which he had to use. He kept changing form from lion to elephant to buffalo. At last, the Goddess transformed into Chandi (with ten arms, not eighteen) and killed Mahishasur.
After killing Mahishasur, the Gods cried in joy and played flutes, drums, sitars and rang bells, they also did a veneration to the Goddess to their victory for killing Mahishasur. Chandika became very happy, the Gods tossed flowers at her and sang the Mahishasur Mardini song to the Goddess:
O darling daughter of the Himalayas (Parvati), who makes the whole world happy, who rejoices with cosmos. The daughter of Nandagopa, the resider on the peak of Vindhyachal Mountains, plays with Lord Vishnu, a glittering mien on her face, the Goddess who is praised by other Gods. The wife of the Lord with the blue throat (Lord Shiva), the daughter of several clans, the wisher of everyone's wellbeing. Victory and victory to you, O slayer of Mahishasur, the one who has captivating braided hair, the daughter of the mountains. O Goddess who showers boons on Gods, the punisher of those who are indisciplined, the tolerater of ugly faced ogres, the enjoyer of happiness, the nourisher of the three worlds, the pleaser of Lord Shiva, the remover of all sins, the rejoicer with the holy sound, the one is is angry with the kids of Danu (Danavas), the one who is angry with the children of Diti (Daityas), the furious smasher of pride, the daughter of the ocean (Lakshmi). Victory and victory to you, O slayer of Mahishasur, the one who has captivating braided hair, the daughter of the mountains. O Mother of the entire cosmos, the one who loves to live in the forest of Madamba Kadamba trees, the maintainer of a serene smile, the liver in the highest peaks in the mighty Himachal, the one who is sweeter than honey, the Lordess of the demons Madhu and Kaitabh, the destroyer of Kaitabh, the one who enjoys dancing. Victory and victory to you, O slayer of Mahishasur, the one who has captivating braided hair, the daughter of the mountains. O Goddess who breaks the heads of demons into countless pieces, the lopper of the elephant trunks in war, the rider on the valorous Lion (Singha), which tears the heads of elephants apart with its claws, the severer of heads of the generals of the demon armies with her own hands. Victory and victory to you, O slayer of Mahishasur, the one who has captivating braided hair, the daughter of the mountains. O Goddess who has the power which never diminishes, to gain victory over enemies in the battlefield, the creator of Ganas, the attendants of Lord Shiva, known for his tricky strategy, as her assistant, the annihilator of demons, the evil beings, with evil thoughts and minds. Victory and victory to you, O slayer of Mahishasur, the one who has captivating braided hair, the daughter of the mountains. O Goddess of forgiveness and the giver of refuge, to the heroic soldiers of the enemy rank, the wives come seeking refuge for them, O Goddess who is armed with trident, ready to throw the heads of those, the causer of pain to the three worlds, O Goddess who shines like the blazing sun, the dancer on the beats, produced by the beating of drums by the Gods. Victory and victory to you, O slayer of Mahishasur, the one who has captivating braided hair, the daughter of the mountains. O Goddess who blew away the demon into smoke (Dhumralochan), who had smoking eyes, by merely uttering syllable "Hum", O Goddess who ate the demon Raktabeej, who colud use blood as seed to create his clones and fell him into the battlefield, O Goddess, the enjoyer of the company of Lord Shiva, the slayer of Shumbh and Nishumbh (Conceit/Deprecation), as the sacrifice in the battlefield. Victory and victory to you, O slayer of Mahishasur, the one who has captivating braided hair, the daughter of the mountains. O Goddess who decks herself with ornaments, on her throbbing limbs in the field of battle, when she gets her bow ready to fight, O Goddess who beheaded her arch enemies, the demons in the battlefield with a shining sword, O Goddess who turned the battlefield of the fourfold army, into a stage of drama with screaming little soldiers. Victory and victory to you, O slayer of Mahishasur, the one who has captivating braided hair, the daughter of the mountains. O Goddess, whose victory is sung, by the whole cosmos, which is interested in singing her victory, O Goddess who attracts the attention of Lord Shiva, by the tinkling sound of her anklets, while she is engaged in dancing, O Goddess, the enjoyer of dancing and drama by versatile angels, O Goddess who is the half of Lord Shiva. Victory and victory to you, O slayer of Mahishasur, the one who has captivating braided hair, the daughter of the mountains. O Goddess of the pious people, who is graceful to such people, O Goddess who appears in a kind form to the pious, O Goddess with the moon-like face, who is as like the moon to those in the dark, O Goddess whose face shines in the moonlit night, O Goddess whose eyes are like blue lotuses, attracts devotees like bees, O Goddess who attracts Lord Shiva like a bee. Victory and victory to you, O slayer of Mahishasur, the one who has captivating braided hair, the daughter of the mountains. O Goddess who derives pleasure, from battles with demons, assisted by warriors, O Goddess who is surrounded by hunters, from the tribes of Mallikas, Jillakas and Bhillakas, with their huts surrounded by creepers, O Goddess who is beautiful liike a fully-bloomed lotus, O Goddess who is slender as a creeper full of red tender leaves. Victory and victory to you, O slayer of Mahishasur, the one who has captivating braided hair, the daughter of the mountains. O Goddess, who walks like a royal elephant in a rut, in whose face there is a copious flow of ichors, O Goddess, who is the daughter of the oceans (Lakshmi), from where the full moon rises, O Goddess who is the ornament of the three worlds, O Goddess who is worshipped by the God of love (Kamdev), who bestows all that is desired. Victory and victory to you, O slayer of Mahishasur, the one who has captivating braided hair, the daughter of the mountains. O Goddess, with a beautiful forehead, which is of delicate prettiness, is like a pure and tender lotus leaf, O Goddess, who moves likes majestic swans, the mover of delicate steps, the one who is the epitome of arts, O Goddess, whose trees are surrounded by bees from bakula trees, which normally crowd the tops of lotus leaves. Victory and victory to you, O slayer of Mahishasur, the one who has captivating braided hair, the daughter of the mountains. O Goddess, with sweet tender thoughts, whose sweet enchanting tunes, of the flute in her hands (Krishna Kali), put the sweet voiced nightingale to shame, O Goddess who stays in pleasant mountain groves, which resound with the voice of tribal folks, O Goddess, whose playground is filled with her female tribal attendants, who have many qualities similar to her. Victory and victory to you, O slayer of Mahishasur, the one who has captivating braided hair, the daughter of the mountains. O Goddess, who wears yellow silks on her waist, which has such a dazzling brilliance, that puts the sun to shame, O Goddess, whose toe nails shines like suns, because of the reflection of the light, from the crowns of Gods and demons who bow at her lotus feet, O Goddess, whose breasts challenge, the foreheads of elephants and the peak of golden mountains. Victory and victory to you, O slayer of Mahishasur, the one who has captivating braided hair, the daughter of the mountains. O Goddess, whose splendour, defeats the sun with his thousand rays, O Goddess, who is salutated by the sun, who has thousands of rays, O Goddess who was praised, by Tarakasur after his defeat in the war between him and your son (Kartikeya), O Goddess who was pleased by the King Surath and the rich merchant named Samadhi, who entered into meditation and who prayed for endless meditation. Victory and victory to you, O slayer of Mahishasur, the one who has captivating braided hair, the daughter of the mountains. O Goddess, the personification of mercy, and who is auspiciousness herself, he who worships the lotus feet, daily without fail, would for sure be endowed with wealth, by the Goddess whose seat is lotus, and if I consider, O lotus feet as the only refuge, is there anything I would be denied for? Victory and victory to you, O slayer of Mahishasur, the one who has captivating braided hair, the daughter of the mountains. O Goddess, who sprinkles the water from the ocean, taken on a golden pot on her playground, O Goddess, please get the same pleasure from doing so, like Indra gets in heaven when he fondles, the pitcher like breasts of his consort Shachi (Indrani), so I take refuge in the lotus feet, O Goddess, which is also a place that where Lord Shiva resides. Victory and victory to you, O slayer of Mahishasur, the one who has captivating braided hair, the daughter of the mountains. He who keeps the face adorned by the moon, in his thoughts, would never face rejection, by the bevy of the fairies with moonlike faces, in the celestial court of Indra, O Goddess, who is esteem to Shiva, I am sure that you would not reject my wishes. Victory and victory to you, O slayer of Mahishasur, the one who has captivating braided hair, the daughter of the mountains. Please shower some mercy on me, as you are most merciful on the opressed, O Supreme Mother Goddess of the cosmos, be pleased, to give me the independence, to consider you as my Mother and do not reject my prayer if it's improper but be pleased to drive away all my sorrows. Victory and victory to you, O slayer of Mahishasur, the one who has captivating braided hair, the daughter of the mountains. Victory and victory to you, O slayer of Mahishasur, the one who has captivating braided hair, the daughter of the mountains, the one who has captivating braided hair, the daughter of the mountains.
After hearing the song, Chandika promised the Gods that she will be back at anytime, anywhere and at anyplace, before leaving, she enlightened the Gods about destiny and karma. Chandika was merged into Parvati's body to manifest as her next incarnation to kill Shumbh and Nishumbh.
After the death of Mahishasur, Shumbh and Nishumbh did penance to Lord Brahma, Brahma blessed them the boon of being killed by a woman, Shumbh and Nishumbh were crowned Kings and have attained supernatural powers and have also created an army. Lord Indra knew about Shumbh and Nishumbh's powers and has also sent in a large army against Shumbh and Nishumbh's army. The battle commenced between the demon brothers and Lord Indra who was fighting all alone with the demon brothers. Meanwhile, the demon army has destroyed all of the armies of Lord Indra. The Gods then gave the heavens to the demons, especially Shumbh and Nishumbh. The Gods then went to the Kailash Mountains and prayed to Parvati to destroy Shumbh and Nishumbh, Parvati became furious and she created an all-powerful Goddess by the name of Ambika, she has eight hands holding weapons and promises the Gods that she will destroy Shumbh and Nishumbh. Shumbh and Nishumbh were also associated by other demons like Dhumralochan, Chand-Mund, Raktabeej and Demon Messenger Sugriv. Goddess Parvati promises Ambika that later she will have to kill an endless army, other Goddesses will be assisting her. Ambika went to the forest and made trouble for the demons up in the heavens, Shumbh sent Demon-Messenger Sugriv to go see who's making trouble for Shumbh and Nishumbh. Sugriv came to the forest and saw Ambika, he was mesmerized by her beauty and asked her politely, in a kind, respectful and sweet voice to come to Shumbh and Nishumbh at the heavens. Ambika told him that she will marry the one who defeats her in a war. Sugriv understands, he tries to make her understand and convinces her but he fails. Sugriv conveys this to Shumbh and Nishumbh back at heaven, they were very angry and sent Dhumralochan and his army to get Ambika at heaven with force. Later, the demon soldiers of Dhumralochan were singing his praises. Ambika heard this, she took her warrior form having the same wearing a red saree and has eight hands holding weapons. She came to the battlefield and spotted Dhumralochan and his army. Dhumralochan's army attacked Ambika with their weapons. Ambika attacked them back with their own. Until it was finally time when Ambika was very angry and from the flames of her anger of her mouth and her third eye incinerated Dhumralochan and his army. The Gods congratulated Ambika on killing Dhumralochan and his army. Shumbh and Nishumbh came to know about Dhumralochan's death and, they were angry at this and sent Chand and Mund to kill Ambika. Chand is the brother of Mund, who has his head always banging from right to left and left to right. Meanwhile, the saints and Gods did prayers to Ambika to kill the demons and to give back Indra's heaven. The demons of Shumbh and Nishumbh reached earth and tried to kill the Gods and saints. Ambika appeared in her warrior form and killed the sent demons of Shumbh and Nishumbh. Chand and Mund came to Ambika with their soldiers. On seeing the uncountable number of soldiers, Ambika called upon Parvati to assist her on the battlefield and she appeared on the battlefield in the form of Jagadamba, their third eyes started to emit fire and took the shape of a new Goddess. The newborn Goddess had terrible appearance, which is: She is portrayed wearing a girdle of severed human hands, a garland of human skull heads representing the fifty letters of the Sanskrit alphabet or a garland or flowers, for her clothing, she wears tiger skin like Lord Shiva. She has three eyes that symbolizes past, present and future and sometimes, when she gets too furious, her eyes looked bright red. She has two dead heads for her earrings. She is often shown having four hands holding scimitar, demon head, trident and container, and often trident, sword or iron weapon and thorn like weapon made out of thorns, often she is portrayed having four hands holding scimitar or sword in the left hands and a severed demon head in upper and lower left hands while the remaining two on the right are the hand gestures of boon-conferrings and fear-dispellings. And now she has sharp claws like a lioness. She started to attack the demons by blowing a storm out of her mouth, turning them into ashes (burning them alive), beheading their heads, decapitating them by eating their skin alive, eating them alive, scratching them, choking them, stabbing their chests, drinking their blood, breaking their bones, breaking their necks, twisting their hands and legs and swinging them away. When Chand and Mund's army was gone, she beheaded them and presented them to Ambika and Jagadamba. They both gave the Goddess's name as Kali Chamunda now because she killed Chand and Mund. Shumbh and Nishumbh has gotten new news about the killing of Chand and Mund and their army. They were very angry and sent a new demon called Raktabeej, he has accumulated from the Gods. Meanwhile, Goddess Durga appeared to Jagadamba, Kali and Ambika. She learnt about Raktabeej and there is a big war of bloodshed, to provide the Goddesses extra power, she created nine Goddesses by the names of Brahmani, Maheshwari, Kumari, Vaishnavi, Varahi, Narasinghi, Indrani, Shivadooti (Ambika) and Chamunda. All holding weapons or not holding weapons, riding a swan, bull, peacock, eagle, ram, lion, jackal, lion, tiger, owl or corpse. Durga created one more Goddess, by the name of Chandika. When Raktabeej came with his army, he was terrified seeing the 14 Goddesses, so was his army. Kumari cut off Raktabeej's head, but whatever the drop of Raktabeej's blood falls to the ground, another new Raktabeej arose, the 12 other Goddesses, even Durga and Ambika tried but no use. Jagadamba assigned Kali to drink the blood of Raktabeej prohibiting it from falling on the ground. Jagadamba pierced her trident in his chest and Kali widened her tongue to an incredible size and ate the demons and Raktabeej up. All other Goddesses praised her. Jagadamba retransformed herself into Parvati. She told the Matrikas to go inside Ambika's body then inside Chandika into Durga's body and then Durga's into Parvati's after the death of Shumbh and Nishumbh. Back at heaven, Shumbh was having a nightmare in which Dhumralochan, Chand-Mund and Raktabeej kidnapped a beauty. The beauty became Parvati and choked Shumbh's neck so hard. Nishumbh was in control of the throne and got the news of Raktabeej's death. Later, after Shumbh's naptime, Ambika and Kali were on their own. Shumbh and Nishumbh came with a final large army. Kali killed the army and Ambika killed Shumbh and Nishumbh. The Gods were very happy and expressed their gratitude.
The demon Durgasur had acquired all four books of total knowledge (The Vedas - Rig, Yajur, Atharva, Sam) from Lord Brahma through penance and the three worlds. He also received a boon from Lord Brahma that caused all the worships, rituals, prayers, venerations, offerings and oblations that were offered to the Gods to reach him instead, making him invincible. Durgasur became very arrogant and started tormenting the whole world. As a consequence, it did not rain for one hundred years and the whole world was hit by a very severe drought. Durgasur took away all the foods and the world became barren. The Gods, saints, sages, celestial beings, Yakshs, Yakshinis, men, women and children took refuge in the caves of the Himavan, and meditated upon the Supreme Goddess, Parvati. She appeared in front of them bearing such a wonderful and unbelievable form. She had countless eyes that gave her the name Satakshi, and was carrying grains, cereals, vegetables, greens, fruits, herbs etc and because of this, she was being called by a second name Shakambhari. The Goddess was so moved by their plight that tears rolled down from her eyes for nine continuous days and nights. The tears became a river, which ended the drought, she presented grains, cereals, vegetables, greens, fruits and herbs that grew in seconds. The Gods, saints, sages, celestial beings, Yakshs, Yakshinis, men, women and children then requested her to recover the Vedas, which were in possession of Durgasur. Durgasur discovered through his messengers that people were living happily and immediately sent in a very large army. The Goddess protected the Gods, saints, sages, celestial beings, Yakshs, Yakshinis, men, women and children by putting up a huge wall of fire around them, and then let her discus hover around it. There ensued a tremendous battle between the Goddess and Durgasur. Goddess Satakshi/Shakambhari took the form of Goddess Durga, the nine Matrikas appeared from her, namely Brahmani, Maheshwari, Kaumari, Vaishnavi, Varahi, Narasinghi, Indrani, Shivadooti and Chamunda, for extra help, the Nava Durgas also appeared from her namely Shailputri, Brahmacharini, Chandraghanta, Kushmanda, Skand Mata, Katyayani, Kaal Ratri, Maha Gauri and Siddhidatri, Goddess Lakshmi knew about this and created eight Goddesses of her own namely Adi Lakshmi, Dhan Lakshmi, Dhanya Lakshmi, Gaj Lakshmi, Santan Lakshmi, Veer Lakshmi, Vidya Lakshmi and Vijay Lakshmi. Again, the ten wisdoms appeared from Durga again namely Kali (Mahavidya), Tara (Devi), Shodashi (Lalita-Tripur Sundari), Bhuvaneshwari, Bhairavi, Chinnamasta, Dhumavati, Bagla Mukhi, Matangi and Kamala. There were four groups of each form groups like the Mahavidyas co-operating with the Nava Durga, so that's two, the Matrikas co-operating with the Ashta Lakshmis so that's another two, the 36 Goddesses in mixed-up two co-operating groups fought the huge army of Durgasur, Goddess Saraswati came to know about this and appeared in her warrior form as Maha Saraswati to help which makes a total of 37 war Goddesses. The Gods, saints, sages, celestial beings, Yakshs, Yakshinis, men, women and children watched ashtonished during the furious war between the army of Durgasur and the spiritual groups of Goddess armies, Matrikas, Nava Durgas, Ashta Lakshmi and Mahavidyas together destroyed the huge armies of Durgasur. The Matrikas, Mahavidyas and Nava Durgas went back into Durga's body and the Ashta Lakshmi went back into Lakshmi and she vanished away with Saraswati. Goddess Durga fought with Durgasur and killed him with her trident and recovered the Vedas from his possession. At that very moment all the chants and japas that the Gods, saints, sages, celestial beings, Yakshs, Yakshinis, men, women and children had performed earlier but had been absorbed by the demon. Durgasur transformed into the bright light of a 10,000 suns and entered the Devi. She then handed over the Vedas to the deities. Ishwari is also known as Durga because she killed the demon Durgasur. The story of Satakshi/Shakambhari is told in Chapter 28 of the Devi Bhagawati Puran, titled, "On the glory of Satakshi/Shakambhari Devi". Also, in the Devi Mahatmyam, her story is told in Chapter 11 and in the secret of the manifestations an addendum to the Devi Mahatmyam.
History
According to Devi Mahatmyam in Markandeya Puran, composed by the great poet-sage Ved-Vyasa, himself, there is the entire account of the physical expression of the "Formless Energy" or Adi Shakti from the combined powers of the Trinity and all other Gods and the annihilation of demonic forces disrupting natural functioning of the cosmos. The account starts with the cosmic man - Lord Vishnu, lying motionless on his Sheshnaag bed during apocalypse. Slowly the creator Brahma emerged from his navel but was immediately challenged by two demons Madhu and Kaitabh, who emerged from the earwax of Lord Vishnu's ears. Brahma, seeing the Supreme God sleeping, under the spell of his own energy 'Mahamaya', prayed to the Goddess to leave Narayan's body and awaken him. Hearing his prayers, the Goddess left the body of Lord Vishnu, who in turn, severed the heads of the demons and thus Brahma began the process of creation. The second phase begins with Mahishasur, a wicked Demon King, receiving boons of Form-shifting from Brahma. With these magical powers he manages to defeat Indra's army and capture the heavens. Defeated Indra, along with all other deities of Fire, Sun, Waters and Earth approached Brahma-Vishnu-Mahesh, the Supreme Trinity, who are manifestations of the Supreme God, engaged in creating, preserving, destroying and recreating the cosmos. The Trinity, were also discussing the reign of terror of the tyrant Mahishasur, seated in Vaikunth, the Supreme Abode, when the helpless deities approached them. The Trinity, got enraged thus and emitted all their energy. Similarly solar deities, deities of Fire and Water, deities of Earth and Death and all other Gods emitted fierce beams of energy. All the emitted Energies pervaded the entire universe like a mountain of light and coalesced to give form to the Primodial source of energy, Maha Shakti or Durga. The Almighty Goddess thus evolved received gifts of weapons from the Gods and roared in laughter. The earth shook, clouds struck lightning that caused storms and forest fires. Mahishasur understood that his time of death had come and gathered all his army to fight the Goddess. The Almighty Goddess appeared in a fierce beam of light and breathed an army of divine warriors, who gave the army of Mahishasur tough fight. The Goddess hurled her weapons on the demonic forces, and then rode fiercely on her vehicle Lion, killing demons in all directions. She hurled mountains and stones on the generals Chiksur, Chamar, Baskal etc and mutilated them with her trident. Mahishasur changed forms and attacked the Goddess, in forms of buffalo, elephant, wicked man and lion and each time Durga defeated him. However, Mahishasur's arrogance angered her and she roared "Roar, Oh ignorant demon, till I drink my potion, once I'm done, I'll bring your end and the Gods then would roar similarly." While saying this, she pounced on buffalo demon, subdued his neck with her feet and hurled her trident at him. Stunned by the terrible energy of the almighty, the demon unable to bear her feet on his neck, started emerging from the mouth of the buffalo. The Goddess immediately chopped his head off with a scimitar and he fell dead. Thus, Durga freed Mahishasur and his accomplices from the sin of tyranny and cleansed them with her weapons. The third phase narrates, how King of Gods, Indra being defeated by demons Shumbh and Nishumbh approached Shiva and Parvati, the parents of the universe and Goddess Parvati, an incarnation of the Supreme Goddess herself, gave birth to Goddess Ambika or Kaushiki from her body cell. The Goddess Durga thus took form as Ambika, the beautiful divine energy. Lured by her celestial beauty, demons Shumbh and Nishumbh, send a marriage proposal to her, to which she replied, "Only a man who can defeat me in war will be accepted by me as my Husband." The demons, enraged sent General Dhumralochan, who could emit chocking fumes, to capture and bring the Goddess. The Goddess breathed fire and charred the general and her vehicle, the giant Lion killed and devoured the demonic army. The demon Kings now sent, wicked demons Chand-Mund, to capture the Goddess, who in turn, transformed into dark energy, Kali and started devouring the demons, with their vehicles, and beheaded Chand-Mund. Raktabeej, a magical giant, was sent to capture the Goddess. The Goddess transformed herself into multiple forms, Brahmani, Maheshwari, Kaumari, Vaishnavi, Varahi, Indrani, Narasinghi, Shivadooti and Chamunda. They all started devouring the demonic armies. Raktabeej challenged the Goddesses and a terrible fight started. The magical demon had the capacity to regenerate from his own blood. So Goddess Ambika requested Goddess Chamunda to devour the demon's blood along with the regenerated demons. Thus all were killed and Shumbh-Nishumbh were alone left to fight the Goddesses. Goddesses combined again into one Ambika and she fought and killed the demon kings with her trident. The deities thanked the Goddess and she promised that she will re-incarnate whenever there is a disturbance due to demonic forces in the cosmos.
Worship
The four-day-long (Saptami to Dashami) Durga Puja is the biggest annual festival in Bengal, Assam, Odisha, Bihar, Jharkhand and Nepal, where it is known as Dashain. It is celebrated likewise with much fervour in various parts of India, especially the Himalayan region, but is celebrated in various forms throughout the Hindu universe.
The day of Durga's victory is celebrated as Vijayadashami (Bihar, Bengali), Dashain (Nepali) or Dussehra (Hindi) – these words literally mean "the Victory Tenth" (day).[2]
In Kashmir she is worshipped as shaarika (the main temple is in Hari Parbat in Srinagar).
The actual period of the worship however may be on the preceding nine days (Navaratri) followed by the last day called Vijayadashami in North India or five days in Bengal (from the sixth to tenth day of the waxing-moon fortnight). Nine aspects of Durga known as Navadurga are meditated upon, one by one during the nine-day festival by devout Shakti worshippers. In South India especially Andhra Pradesh Dussera Navaratri is also celebrated and the goddess is dressed each day as a different devi like Saraswati, Parvati, Laksmi etc. for the nine days.
In North India, the tenth day, is celebrated as Dussehra, the day Rama emerged victorious in his battle against the demon, Ravana – gigantic straw effigies of Ravana are burnt in designated open spaces (e.g. Delhi's Ram Lila grounds), watched by thousands of families and little children.
In Mysore (which originated from Mahishasooru) in Karnataka, she is worshiped as Chamundeshwari, the patron goddess of the city during Dussehra (Dasara).
In Gujarat it is celebrated as the last day of Navaratri, during which the Garba dance is performed to celebrate the victory of Mahishasura-mardini, Durga.
The Goddess Durga is worshipped in her peaceful form as Maha Gauri, The Fair Lady, Shree Shantadurga also known as Santeri, is the patron Goddess of Goa. She is worshipped by all Goan Hindus.
In Maharashtra, Tulja Bhavani and Ambabai are worshipped as Mahishasur Mardini, who is the patron goddess of the land. Bhavani is known as Tulaja, Amba, Renuka, Yamai Saptshrungi and Jogai in different places of Maharashtra. She is the inspirational goddess of Raja Shivaji. As per legends, Bhavani appeared after Shivaji prayed to her and blessed him to be able to make Hindustan or the then India (ruled by the Mughals) independent – the kingdom he established eventually became the Hindu Pad Padshahi (sometimes also called the Maratha Empire), which comprised all the land ruled by the Mughals and brought India back under Hindu sovereignty.
In Bangladesh also, the four-day long Sharadiya Durga Puja (Bengali: শারদীয়া দুর্গা পুজো, ‘autumnal Durga worship’) is the biggest religious festivals for the Hindus and celebrated across the country with Vijayadashami being a national holiday.
Western references
Some early Western 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.[3][4] The temple was two paces wide in each of the four sides and three paces high, with a wooden door covered with gods carved in relief. At the centre of the temple, there was a metal idol of Deumus placed in a seat, which was also made of metal.
Western accounts also describe the ruler of Calicut worshiping an ultimate god called Tamerani ("Tamburan"). The accounts also describes a misunderstood form of the "hook-swinging" ritual once commonly performed as part of some popular Hindu religious festivals.
Notable temples of Durga
In India
- Kanaka Durga Temple, Vijayawada, Andhra Pradesh
- Bhairabi Devalaya, in Tezpur, Assam
- Kamakhya Temple, Guwahati, Assam
- Shitla Mata temple at Patna Bihar
- Vindhyachal temple near Varanasi
- Kalka Mandir, near Nehru Place, New Delhi.
- Shanta Durga temple in Goa
- Shitla Mata temple at Gurgaon Haryana
- Bala Sundari Temple Trilokpur in District Sirmaur Himachal Pradesh
- Shoolini devi temple at Solan Himachal Pradesh
- Bahu Fort Temple in Jammu
- Bala Sundri Temple in Billawar Jammu
- ChiChi Mata Temple in Jammu
- Kol Kandoli Temple in Jammu
- Mahamaya Temple in Jammu
- Sukrala Mata Temple in Jammu
- Vaishno Devi Temple in Katra Jammu
- Chamundeshwari Temple, Mysore Karnataka
- Kateel Durgaparameshwari Temple, near Mangalore, Karnataka
- Kollur Sri mookambika Temple, near Udupi, Karnataka
- Adichikkavu Sree Durga Devi Kshetram, Pandanad, Kerala
- Ammathiruvadi Temple, Thrissur, Kerala, India
- Vengoor Sree Durga Devi Temple, near Perumbavoor- Kerala[5]
- Tulja Bhavani Temple, in Tuljapur, Maharashtra
- Biraja Temple, Jajpur, Odisha
- Durga Temple, Baideshwar, Odisha
- Katak Chandi Temple, Cuttack, Odisha
- Kichakeshwari Temple, Odisha
- Manikeshwari Temple, Bhawanipatna, Odisha.
- Ambika Mata Temple in the village of Jagat near Mount Abu in Rajasthan
- Shila Devi temple at Amber, Jaipur, Rajasthan
- Matrimandir, Auroville, Tamil Nadu
- Kanak Durga Temple, Chikligarh, Medinipur, West Bengal
- Nava Durga Temple, Kolkata, West Bengal[6]
- Tarakeswar, Hooghly District, West Bengal
- Tarapith, Birbhum, West Bengal
Outside India
- Dhakeshwari Temple in Dhaka, Bangladesh
- Prambanan Temple, Indonesia
- Sri Santha Durga Devi Army Camp in Sungai Petani, Malaysia
- Sri Thurgha Parameswary Amman Alayam, Kampung Tumbuk Pantai, Tanjong Sepat,in Selangor, Malaysia
In her aspect of Kali
- Belur Math, Kolkata, West Bengal
- Dakshineswar Kali Temple, Kolkata, West Bengal
- Kalighat, Kolkata, West Bengal
See also
References
- ^ "Durga,". Encyclopædia Britannica Online. Retrieved 7 October 2009.
- ^ Esposito, John L. (2007). Religion & globalization: world religions in historical perspective. Oxford University Press. p. 341. ISBN 0-19-517695-2.
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suggested) (help) - ^ Jörg Breu d. Ä. zugeschrieben, Idol von Calicut, in: Ludovico de Varthema, 'Die Ritterlich und lobwürdig Reisz', Strassburg 1516. (Bild: Völkerkundemuseum der Universität Zürich
- ^ A briefe collection and compendious extract of straunge and memorable thinges, gathered out of the Cosmographye of Sebastian Munster, wherein is made a plaine description of diuers and straunge lawes, rites, maners and properties of sondrye nations, and a short report of straunge histories of diuers men, and of the nature and properties of certaine fovvles, fishes, beastes, monsters, and sondry countryes and places, published in London in 1574 by Tomas Marshe
- ^ http://www.durgadevitemplevengoor.com/contact_us.php
- ^ http://wikimapia.org/811725/NAVA-DURGA-MANDIR
- ^ "Stone sculpture of Durga Mahishasuramardini". British Museum. Retrieved 5 August 2013.
Further reading
- Amazzone, Laura (2010). Goddess Durga and Sacred Female Power. University Press of America, Lanham. ISBN 0761853146.
- Bandyopadhyay, Pranab (1993). Mother Goddess Durga. United Writers, Calcutta. ISBN 81-85328-13-7.
- Kinsley, David (1986). Hindu Goddesses: Vision of the Divine Feminine in the Hindu Religious Traditions. Motilal Banarsidass Publ., Delhi. ISBN 81-208-0379-5.
- Sen Ramprasad (1720–1781). Grace and Mercy in Her Wild Hair: Selected Poems to the Mother Goddess. Hohm Press. ISBN 0-934252-94-7.