GROUP NO-4

TOPIC-HEROES

QUEEN MARY SCHOOL, MUMBAI

GODDESS DURGA

Durga ; meaning "the inaccessible" or "the invincible"; durga) is a popular fierce form of the Hindu Goddess or Devi. She is depicted with multiple (variously, up to eighteen) arms, carrying various weapons and riding a ferocious lion or tiger. She is often pictured as battling or slaying demons, particularly Mahishasura, the buffalo demon.

The word Shakti means divine energy/force/power, and Durga is the warrior aspect of the Divine Mother/Brahman (Supreme Absolute Godhead).

Durga's feminine power contains the combined energies of all the gods. Each of her weapons was given to her by a different god: Rudra's trishula (trident), Vishnu's Sudarshana Chakra (whirling, sharp edged discuss), Indra's thunderbolt, Brahma'skamandalu (water pot), Kubera's gadā (mace), etc.

According to a narrative in the Devi Mahatmya story of the Markandeya Purana text, Durga was created as a warrior goddess to fight an asura (an inhuman force/demon) named Mahishasura. Brahma had given Mahishāsura the power not to be defeated by a male. Mahishasura had unleashed a reign of terror on earth, heaven and the nether worlds and he could not be defeated by any man or god, anywhere. The gods were helpless. Shiva, realizing that no man or god (male) can defeat Mahishasura, made a request to his wife Parvati to take the role of a female goddess warrior in order to slay the demon. Parvati took his request and went to the Ashram of priest disciple named Kātyāyan to assume the role of a warrior.

Meanwhile, the gods went to Brahma for help and, with Brahma, then made their way to Vaikuntha—the place where Vishnu lay on Ananta Naag. They found Vishnu, Shiva and Brahma discussing the reign of terror Mahishāsur had unleashed on the three worlds. To save the 3 worlds, Vishnu, Shiva and all of the gods emitted beams of fierce light from their bodies. The blinding sea of light reached Parvati at the Ashram of the priest Kātyāyan and Durga emerged from this pool of light. The goddess Durga took the name Kaatyaayani from the priest. She introduced herself in the language of the Rig-Veda, saying she was the form of the supreme female aspect of Brahman (Prakriti) who had created all the gods. Now she had come to fight the demon to save the gods. They did not create her; it was her lila that she emerged from their combined energy. The gods were blessed with her compassion

To combat the evil Mahishasura, she had appeared in a great blinding light, to combat this demon and end it for all to be in peace. Mahishasura had gravely underestimated her, thinking: "How can a woman kill me, Mahishasur—the one who has defeated the trinity of gods?". However, Durga roared with laughter, which caused an earthquake which made Mahishasur aware of her powers.

Despite that, the terrible Mahishasura rampaged against her, changing forms many times. At first, he was a buffalo demon, and she defeated him with her sword. Then he changed forms and became an elephant that tied up the goddess's lion and began to pull it towards him. The goddess cut off his trunk with her sword. The demon Mahishasur continued his terrorizing, taking the form of a lion, and then the form of a man, but both of them were gracefully slain by Durga

Then Mahishasur began attacking once more, starting to take the form of a buffalo again. The patient goddess became very angry, and proclaimed to Mahishasur in a colorful tone—"Roar with delight while you still can, O illiterate demon, because when I will kill you, the gods themselves will roar with delight." When Mahishasur had half emerged into his buffalo form, he was paralyzed by the extreme light emitted from the goddess's body. The goddess then resounded with laughter before cutting Mahishasur's head down with her sword.

Thus Durga slew Mahishasur - that is the power of Godess Durga. Hence, Mata Durga is also known as Mahishasurmardhini—the slayer of Mahishasur

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).

A traditional Durga idol at a pandal in Kolkata .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.

Durga is a goddess who appears in The Legend of Heroes, depicting woman power in the society. She is said to be the spirit of the earth which breathed life into the world, creating humans. She is the mother of life. She is also known for bringing both life and death to humans. For this reason, she is also called "The Gatekeeper of Hades".

Video sectionhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MpV4Rpod7bk (An animated video showing the killing of

Mahishasura by the hands of Durga)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tJRydonbsyc(Sarva Mangal Mangalye-The Durga mantra)

We hope that you enjoyed this presentation and got to know something new from it , something new about one of the greatest heroes, the symbol of woman power, Maa Durga.

Thank you for watching!