page_title: Katyayani
section_title: Origin Story
hierarchical_section_title: Katyayani / Origin Story
caption_attribution_description: English: Picture taken in 2005 at Maddox Square, Kolkata.
context_page_description: Katyayani is one of the main forms of The Hindu Mother Goddess, Devi. She is seen as the slayer of the tyrannical demon Mahishasura. She is also the sixth form amongst Navadurga or the nine forms of Hindu goddess Durga, worshipped during the Navratri celebrations. She may be depicted with four, ten, or eighteen hands. This is the second name given for Goddess Adi Parashakti in Amarakosha, the Sanskrit lexicon. Goddess Katyayani was worshipped by Sita, Radha and Rukmini for a good husband.
  In Shaktism she is associated with the fierce forms of Shakti or Durga, a Warrior goddess, which also includes Bhadrakali and Chandika, and traditionally she is associated with the colour red, as with Goddess Parvati, the primordial form of Shakti, a fact also mentioned in Patanjali's Mahabhashya on Pāṇini, written in 2nd century BCE.
  She is first mentioned in the Taittiriya Aranyaka part of the Yajurveda. Skanda Purana mentions her being created out of the spontaneous anger of Gods, which eventually led to slaying the demon, Mahishasura, mounted on the lion. This occasion is celebrated during the annual Durga Puja festival in most parts of India.
context_section_description: According to the Vamana Purana she was created from the combined energies of the gods when their anger at the demon Mahishasura manifested itself in the form of energy rays. The rays crystallized in the hermitage of Kātyāyana Rishi, who gave it proper form therefore she is also called Katyayani or "daughter of Katyayana". Elsewhere in texts like Kalika Purana, it is mentioned that it was Rishi Kaytyayana who first worshipped her, hence she came to known as Katyayani. In either case, she is a demonstration or apparition of the Durga and is worshipped on the sixth day of Navratri festival.
  The Vamana Purana mentions the legend of her creation in great detail: "When the gods had sought Vishnu in their distress, he and at his command Shiva, Brahma and the other gods, emitted such flames from their eyes and countenances that a mountain of effulgence was formed, from which became manifest Katyayini, refulgent as a thousand suns, having three eyes, black hair and eighteen arms. Shiva gave her his trident, Vishnu a Sudarshan Chakra or discus, Varuna a shankha, a conch-shell, Agni a dart, Vayu a bow, Surya a quiver full of arrows, Indra a thunderbolt, Kuvera a mace, Brahma a rosary and water-pot, Kala a shield and sword, Visvakarma a battle-axe and other weapons. Thus armed and adored by the gods, Katyayani proceeded to the Mysore hills. There, the asuras saw her and captivated by her beauty they so described her to Mahishasura, their king, that he was anxious to obtain her. On asking for her hand, she told him she must be won in fight. He took on the form of Mahisha, the bull and fought; at length Durga dismounted from her lion, and sprang upon the back of Mahisha, who was in the form of a bull and with her tender feet smote him on the head with such a terrible force that he fell to the ground senseless. Then she cut off his head with her sword and henceforth was called Mahishasuramardini, the Slayer of Mahishasura., The legend also finds mention in Varaha Purana and the classical text of Shaktism, the Devi-Bhagavata Purana
caption: Born out of anger of Gods, Katyayani killed demon, Mahishasura
exif: {"Image Make": "Canon", "Image Model": "Canon PowerShot A95", "Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image XResolution": "180", "Image YResolution": "180", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image DateTime": "2005:10:09 16:28:22", "Image YCbCrPositioning": "Centered", "Image ExifOffset": "184", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "180", "Thumbnail YResolution": "180", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "1736", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "11096", "EXIF ExposureTime": "1/25", "EXIF FNumber": "9/2", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0220", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2005:10:09 16:28:22", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2005:10:09 16:28:22", "EXIF ComponentsConfiguration": "YCbCr", "EXIF CompressedBitsPerPixel": "5", "EXIF ShutterSpeedValue": "149/32", "EXIF ApertureValue": "139/32", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "0", "EXIF MaxApertureValue": "139/32", "EXIF MeteringMode": "Pattern", "EXIF Flash": "Flash did not fire, compulsory flash mode", "EXIF FocalLength": "77/4", "EXIF FlashPixVersion": "0100", "EXIF ColorSpace": "sRGB", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "1944", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "2592", "EXIF FocalPlaneXResolution": "486000/53", "EXIF FocalPlaneYResolution": "2592000/283", "EXIF FocalPlaneResolutionUnit": "2", "EXIF SensingMethod": "One-chip color area", "EXIF FileSource": "Digital Camera", "EXIF CustomRendered": "Normal", "EXIF ExposureMode": "Auto Exposure", "EXIF WhiteBalance": "Auto", "EXIF DigitalZoomRatio": "1", "EXIF SceneCaptureType": "Standard", "Interoperability InteroperabilityIndex": "R98", "Interoperability InteroperabilityVersion": "[48, 49, 48, 48]", "Interoperability RelatedImageWidth": "1944", "Interoperability RelatedImageLength": "2592", "EXIF InteroperabilityOffset": "1588"}