Durga: the Invincible Goddess

Durga is the warrior goddess of Hinduism, the fierce and protective form of the Divine Mother. Riding a lion and holding weapons in her many arms, she destroys the demons that threaten the world, and is worshipped as the protector of the good and the destroyer of evil, fear and ignorance. She is one of the most important deities of Shaktism, the tradition that worships the Goddess as the supreme power.

The name Durga means “the inaccessible” or “the invincible”: like a fortress (durga), she cannot be conquered. It is also popularly explained as “she who removes difficulties”.

The slaying of Mahishasura

Durga's great story is told in the Devi Mahatmya (“Glory of the Goddess”), a Sanskrit text of about 700 verses, generally dated to around the 5th or 6th century CE and preserved within the Markandeya Purana. It is also known as the Durga Saptashati or Chandi Path.

The buffalo demon Mahishasura had won a boon that he could not be killed by any man or god. He defeated the gods and took over heaven. In their anger, the gods released their combined energies, which merged into the form of a radiant goddess. Each god gave her his weapon: the trident of Shiva, the discus of Vishnu, the thunderbolt of Indra and many more. The Himalaya gave her a lion to ride.

Durga fought Mahishasura and his armies, while he changed shape from buffalo to lion to man to elephant. Finally, as he emerged from the body of a buffalo, she cut off his head. In this form she is called Mahishasuramardini, “slayer of the buffalo demon”.

Other battles

The Devi Mahatmya tells of further battles. When the demon brothers Shumbha and Nishumbha threatened the world, the Goddess fought them and their generals. From her brow sprang the terrifying goddess Kali, who killed the demons Chanda and Munda and was afterwards called Chamunda. To defeat Raktabija, a demon who multiplied whenever a drop of his blood touched the ground, Kali drank his blood before it could fall.

Durga's form and symbols

Many arms, often eight or ten: her power to act in every direction at once.
Weapons: the trident, discus, sword, bow and arrows, conch and others, showing that all the gods' powers are united in her.
Lion or tiger: power and courage under perfect control.
Calm face: even in battle she is often shown serene, fighting out of compassion rather than anger.
A lotus or the gesture of fearlessness (abhaya mudra): reassurance to her devotees.

Durga and Parvati

Durga is widely understood as a fierce form of Parvati, the wife of Shiva. In Bengal she is pictured as a daughter returning to her parents' home each autumn with her children, Lakshmi, Saraswati, Ganesha and Kartikeya, a homely image very different from the warrior of the battlefield. Shakta tradition, however, understands her as the supreme Goddess herself, the source of all the gods.

Worship of Durga

Durga's great festival is Navaratri, nine nights in her honour in the autumn month of Ashvin, ending with Vijayadashami, the day of victory. In West Bengal, Assam and Odisha the last days of Navaratri are celebrated as Durga Puja, with huge clay images in decorated pavilions, and are the biggest event of the year.

Many devotees recite the Devi Mahatmya during Navaratri. Important pilgrimage places include the Vaishno Devi shrine in Jammu, visited by millions each year, and the network of Shakti Peethas, sacred sites across South Asia associated with the Goddess.

Sources and further reading

Thomas B. Coburn, Encountering the Goddess: A Translation of the Devi-Mahatmya and a Study of Its Interpretation (SUNY Press, 1991).
David Kinsley, Hindu Goddesses (University of California Press, 1986), chapter 6.
Hillary Rodrigues, Ritual Worship of the Great Goddess: The Liturgy of the Durga Puja (SUNY Press, 2003).