Durga

Goddess Durga , lit. the one who is difficult to approach, is a form of the Hindu goddess Parvati. She is one of the major deities in Hinduism worshipped as the supreme goddess and is known by different names such as Shakti or Adi Parashakti. She is often depicted with 10 arms killing evil asuras like Mahisasura  granting peace and restore Dharma. She is widely considered the consort of lord Shiva. She is the eternal power and mother of the whole universe. She has importance in other religions such as Buddhism, Sikhism, and Jainism. 

Goddess Durga;
Mother goddess; 

Goddess of power, strength, protection, war, devotion, Illusion, victory, destruction, harmony, fertility and motherhood.

Parabrahman, the supreme goddess in Shaktism. 

Member of Tridevi (as Parvati) and member of the panchayatana puja.

(One of the highest forms of the goddess Mahadevi)
Goddess Durga :-       
 Affiliation-  Devi , Shakti, kali, Parvati, Mahadevi , Chamunda ,  Bhuvaneshvari, Mahavidyas, Navadurgas, Tara , Tripura Sundari, Shaktism,  Vindhyavasini, Bhavani, Bhairavi, Shaivism, Vaishnavism, Kamakhya, Kaushiki, Mahishasura Mardini, Mariamman 
 other names- Mahishasura Mardini, Kaushiki, Katyayani, Durgati Nashini, Bhavani, Mahamaya , Meenakshi, Jagadamba, Vaishno Devi, Bhagawati, Ambika, Chandika, Nilasaraswati, Narayani, Shivani,  Rudrani
 Abode- Mount Kailash, Vindhyachal , Manidvipa
 Mantra- Om shri Durgayai Namah, Om aim him klim Chamundayai vicce, Mahishasuramardini stotra , Bhavani Ashtaka
 Weapon- Sudarshana Chakra, Trishula, Gada , Bow and arrow, Scimitar, Ankusha, Spear, Shield, Shankha, Sword 
 Day -  Tuesday, Friday, Saturday
 Mount- Lion ,  Tiger
 Texts- Devi Bhagavata Purana, Kalika Purana, Tantras, Devisukta, Devi mahatmaya, Devisukta (Chandipatha), Shakta Upanishads
 Festivals- Durga Puja, Durga Ashtami, Navratri, Vijayadashami, Diwali, Bathukamma, Jagadhatri puja
 Consort- Shiva 
 Equivalents - Panthoibi (Manipuri)
 Children- Ganesha, Kartikeya
 Symbols- Lion, Tiger, Scimitar
 Siblings- Vishnu, Ganga and Mainaka (as Parvati) 
 Sanskrit - दुर्गा 
 Gender - female
Goddess Durga is one of the most powerful forms of the supreme goddess Mahadevi. Goddess Durga is often considered undefeatable and the destroyer of evil . She is a beautiful Goddess who protects her devotees and she is also considered the energy (Shakti) of lord Vishnu, Shiva and Brahma. She is known by different names such as Kali, Adi Shakti  and Chamunda. It is believed that Her energy is in each and every woman. She is also known as Narayani (sister of Vishnu) and Shivani  (consort of Shiva). She is primarily worshipped in West Bengal and Gujarat. She is often identified with Goddesses like Parvati, Kali, Shakti etc. She is one of the five equivalent deities in the Panchayatana puja of the Smarta tradition. Durga is a warrior goddess and is often depicted as a woman with eighteen hands fighting and killing demons like Mahishasura and his army of demons. She is generally depicted riding a lion or tiger. In Southern India, She is generally worshipped as Mariamman, the south indian goddess of Weather. And in North India, she is worshipped as a powerful goddess riding a tiger or lion with eight hands each carrying a number of Weapons which can be used for creation and destruction. This form of her is generally known as Sherawali.  

Durga has a significant following all over Nepal, India, Bangladesh and many other countries. She is mostly worshipped after spring and Autumn harvests, especially during the major festivals of Durga Puja, Durga ashtami, Vijayadashami, Deepavali, and Navratri. According to many Hindu traditions, She is one of the 5 main forms of prakriti (Nature). She is also one of the most worshipped deities in the Hindu pantheon.  
Origins :-

Durga is believed to have originated from the Indian subcontinent as an ancient goddess worshipped by indigenous mountain dwellers before being established in the main hindu pantheon by the 4th century CE .she is associated with strength, wars and battles, motherhood creation, preservation and destruction. In important texts of Shaktism, Devi Mahatmaya and Devi Bhagavata Purana, where Devi (often Durga) is considered the primordial creator of the universe, the Bramhan (ultimate reality) and consider her the embodiment of prakriti and Maya( Illusion) . She is best known for slaying the bovine demon Mahishasura and she is also known for taking forms like Kali , uma and Bhavani to slay harmful asuras. She is also known for manifesting as Kaushiki to slay the asura brothers Shumbha and Nishumbha. In Vaishnavism , she is considered the sister of  Vishnu and she is often identified as Yogamaya. In traditions of West Bengal, she is considered the mother of goddess Lakshmi, goddess Sarasvati,lord  kartikeya and lord  Ganesha. She is one of the most important deities in Hinduism. She took forms like Kali,Tara, Tripura Sundari,Bhuvaneshvari, Bhairavi, Chhinnamasta,Dhumavati,Bagalamukhi,Matangi & Kamala for specific reasons. She is a prominent deity in Hinduism.  
Traditional Beliefs :-

According to many traditions, Durga got her name after defeating the demon Durgamasura, a demon who stole the Vedas but was ultimately defeated by goddess Shakambari (durga). She is worshipped mainly during Durga Puja and Navratri. Hindus believe that Durga's essence flows in all forms of life. She is mainly depicted with 10 arms but sometimes she is also shown with 8 arms . According to many traditions, Goddess Durga lives on mount Kailash in her  Parvati form with her family.  
Legends:-  

Once, goddess Durga (Mahadevi) gave a boon to the great sage Katyayana that she will be born as his daughter. Sometimes later, a bovine demon name Mahishasura defeated the gods and became the ruler of the three worlds.then, the gods  requested the goddess Mahadevi to defeat the demon Mahishasura and also gave her a number of weapons . Later, goddess Mahadevi was born as the sage katyayana's daughter and he named her katyayani . and when she grew up , the gods came to her and requested her to come in her real form and defeat the demon Mahishasura. And then she came in her real form and promised the gods that she will surely defeat the demon. And after defeating the bovine demon Mahishasura in her  Durga form, she returned back to the Vindhya ranges . Some legends also say that she was created by the mixed energies of gods. It is also believed that, she defeated the two demon brothers Shumbha and Nishumbha in her form  kaushiki. She also defeated demons like dhumralochana, Raktabija, Chanda and Munda in her  Kalika form. Durgamasura and his army was slain by her as well.    
Manifestations:-     

 Kalika.
 Parvati.
 Bhuvaneshvari.
 Tripura Sundari.
 Shakti.
 Bhairavi.
 Navadurgas.
 Mahavidyas.
 Chamunda.
 Devi.
 Adi Shakti.
 The 64 Yoginis.
 Katyayani
 Kaushiki
 Mariamman
 Bagalamukhi
 Chhinnamasta
 Dhumavati
 Kamalatmika
 Bramhacharini
 Prakriti
 Mahishasura Mardini
 Bhavani
 Tara

Worship:-

Durga is primarily worshipped in West Bengal and Gujarat. She is worshipped during the festivals named Navratri, Durga Puja, and Dusshera.  her 9 incarnations are worshipped for 9 days during Navratri. Gujaratis perform a very special dance called Garba every night during Navratri. Goddess Durga is worshipped in a number of temples including the famous Vindhyachal Temple, Renwal Dham and Maa Vaishno Devi temple. During durga puja, Bengalis worship her for 5 days. Durga puja is West Bengal's biggest festival. Just like gujaratis, Bengalis perform a very special dance called dhunuchi nritya during Durga Puja. Goddess Durga is worshipped all over India and has importance in Other religions like Buddhism. She is also worshipped in other places like Bali and Nepal. In Nepal, she is worshipped as Taleju Bhavani, a tantric goddess. Durga is worshipped in Hindu Temples across India and Nepal by Shakta hindus. 
History and texts:- 

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. The single mention describes Kalika as "terrible yet Swift as thought", very red and smoky coloured manifestation of the divine with a fire- like flickering tongue, before the text begins presenting it's thesis that one must seek self- knowledge and the knowledge of the eternal Bramhan. 

Durga, in her various forms, appears as an independent deity in the Epic periods of Ancient India, that is the centuries around the start of the common Era. Both Yudhishthira and Arjuna characters of the Mahabharata invoke hymns to Durga. Various Puranas from the early to late millennium CE dedicate chapters of inconsistent legends associated with Durga. Of these, the  Markandeya purana and the Devi Bhagavata Purana are the most significant texts on Durga. The Devi Upanishad and other Shakta Upanishads , mostly dated to have been  composed in or after the 9th century, present the philosophical and mystical speculations related to Durga as Devi and other epithets ,  identifying her to be the same as the Bramhan and Atman (self,soul). The Skanda purana and Shiva Purana and many other Puranas identifies Durga as the warrior form of goddess Parvati. The  Mahishasuramardini stotra  by Adi Shankara was written in her Praise.in Yajurveda and Atharvaveda she has been invoked as the goddess who grants protection and bliss. In the Puranas, Durga  has been described as the Vana Durga, Jaya Durga, Mahishasur - mardini Durga, Vindhyavasini Durga, Maha Durga and Anala Durga.  
In other religions :-   

In Sikhism:-  

Durga is exalted as a creation of the divine in Dasam Granth , a sacred text of Sikhism that is traditionally attributed to Guru Gobind Singh.According to Eleanor Nesbitt , this view has been challenged by the Sikhs who consider Sikhism to be monotheistic, who hold that a feminine form of the supreme and a reverence for the Goddess is unmistakably of Hindu character.
In Buddhism:-  

The Tantric Buddhist Vajrayana traditions adopted several Hindu deities into its fold, including Durga. Numerous depictions of Durga slaying the buffalo demon have been found at Buddhist temple sites (c. 8th- 11th century) in Afghanistan,  Indonesia, and Northeastern India. Durga Statues have also been found in major Buddhist sites like Nalanda and Vikramashila.In Bengal, late indian Mahayana Buddhists during 17th century worshipped Durga during traditional Yogini Puja celebrations, and some traces of these Mahayana Durga rites survive today, even though the Bengalis who perform them are no longer Buddhist.Images of Buddhist Durga have also been found in Bali (surrounded with images of Buddhas and Bodhisattvas) and date from the 10th and 11th centuries. Durga also appears in the Tantra called  Sarvadurgatiparisodhana tantra, though in this text, she appears not in her demon slaying form, but mounted on a Lion.Several aspects of the popular Vajrayana Buddhist goddess Tara are believed to have originated as a form of goddess Durga. She is a prominent deity in the Vajrayana sect of Buddhism.  
In Jainism:-  

The Sacciya mata found in major medieval era Jain temple mirrors Durga, and she has been identified by Jainism scholars to be the same or sharing a more ancient common lineage. In the Ellora Caves, the jain temples feature Durga with her Lion mount. However, she is not shown as killing the buffalo demon in the jain cave, but she is presented as a peaceful deity.                
Influence:- 

Durga as the mother goddess is the inspiration behind the song Vande Mataram, written by Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay, during the the Indian independence movement, later the official national song of India. Durga is present in  Indian Nationalism where Bharat mata i.e. Mother India is viewed as a form of Durga. This is completely secular and keeping in line with the ancient ideology of Durga as mother and protector to Indians. She is present in pop culture and blockbuster Bollywood movies like Jai Santoshi maa. The indian army uses Hindustani phrases like "Durga Mata ki jai" and  "Kali mata ki jai". Any woman who takes up cause to fight is said to have the spirit of Durga in her. 

Category:Hinduism
Category:Hindu goddesses
Category:Mahavidyas
Category:Hindu gods and goddesses
Category:Durga