40 Facts About Durga

Durga is a major Hindu goddess, worshipped as a principal aspect of the mother goddess Mahadevi.

Durga is associated with protection, strength, motherhood, destruction, and wars.

Durga is believed to unleash her divine wrath against the wicked for the liberation of the oppressed, and entails destruction to empower creation.

Durga is seen as a motherly figure and often depicted as a beautiful woman, riding a lion or tiger, with many arms each carrying a weapon and often defeating demons.

Durga is widely worshipped by the followers of the goddess-centric sect, Shaktism, and has importance in other denominations like Shaivism and Vaishnavism.

Durga is one of the five equivalent deities in Panchayatana puja of the Smarta tradition of Hinduism.

Durga has a significant following all over India, Bangladesh, Nepal, and many other countries.

The word Durga and related terms appear in the Vedic literature, such as in the Rigveda hymns 4.28,5.34,8.27,8.47,8.93 and 10.127, and in sections 10.1 and 12.4 of the Atharvaveda.

Durga who is renowned by the name "Durga" is the being superior to whom, no one exists.

Hence, Durga alone is concluded to be the supreme deity of the Vedas in Shaktism.

For example, Durg is the name of an Asura who had become invincible to gods, and Durga is the goddess who intervenes and slays him.

Devi's epithets synonymous with Durga appear in Upanishadic literature, such as Kali in verse 1.2.4 of the Mundaka Upanishad dated to about the 5th century BCE.

Durga appears in Harivamsa in the form of Vishnu's eulogy, and in Pradyumna prayer.

The historian Ramaprasad Chanda stated in 1916 that Durga evolved over time in the Indian subcontinent.

Durga then transformed into Kali as the personification of the all-destroying time, while aspects of her emerged as the primordial energy integrated into the samsara concept and this idea was built on the foundation of the Vedic religion, mythology and philosophy.

Epigraphical evidence indicates that regardless of her origins, Durga is an ancient goddess.

Durga captured Svarga and was not in any kind of fear, as he thought women to be powerless and weak.

Vishnu offers Durga the task of transferring the seventh child of Devaki into the womb of Rohini, as well as being born on earth as the infant daughter of Yashoda and Nanda, so that she could be swapped with Krishna.

Durga is often conceptualised in this role as a sister of Vishnu.

Durga is a warrior goddess, and she is depicted to express her martial skills.

Durga is often shown in the midst of her war with Mahishasura, the buffalo demon, at the time she victoriously kills the demonic force.

In Hindu arts, this tranquil attribute of Durga's face is traditionally derived from the belief that she is protective and violent not because of her hatred, egotism or getting pleasure in violence, but because she acts out of necessity, for the love of the good, for liberation of those who depend on her, and a mark of the beginning of soul's journey to creative freedom.

Durga traditionally holds the weapons of various male gods of Hindu mythology, which they give her to fight the evil forces because they feel that she is shakti.

Durga herself is viewed as the "Self" within and the divine mother of all creation.

Durga has been revered by warriors, blessing their new weapons.

Durga iconography has been flexible in the Hindu traditions, where for example some intellectuals place a pen or other writing implements in her hand since they consider their stylus as their weapon.

Durga appears in Hindu mythology in numerous forms and names, but ultimately all these are different aspects and manifestations of one goddess.

Durga is imagined to be terrifying and destructive when she has to be, but benevolent and nurturing when she needs to be.

Durga is worshipped in Hindu temples across India and Nepal by Shakta Hindus.

The four-day-long Durga Puja is a major annual festival in Bengal, Odisha, Assam, Jharkhand and Bihar.

The Durga puja is an occasion of major private and public festivities in the eastern and northeastern states of India.

The prominence of Durga puja increased during the British Raj in Bengal.

In Nepal, the festival dedicated to Durga is called Dashain, which literally means "the ten".

In Bangladesh, the four-day-long Sharadiya Durga Puja is the most important religious festival for the Hindus and celebrated across the country with Vijayadashami being a national holiday.

The Tantric traditions of Buddhism included Durga and developed the idea further.

Several aspects of Tara are believed to have originated as a form of the goddess Durga, including her fierce guardian form.

Durga is exalted as the divine in Dasam Granth, a sacred text of Sikhism that is traditionally attributed to Guru Gobind Singh.

In Cambodia, during its era of Hindu kings, Durga was popular and numerous sculptures of her have been found.

Durga statues have been discovered at stone temples and archaeological sites in Vietnam, likely related to Champa or Cham dynasty era.

Durga is present in pop culture and blockbuster Bollywood movies like Jai Santoshi Maa.