Maa Durga

Who Maa Durga is

Durga is the supreme mother goddess: Shakti, the divine feminine power, invoked in her fierce, protective form when evil has grown too strong for the gods alone to handle. Her name means "the one who is hard to reach" or "the invincible", and she is also called Durgatinashini, "the one who removes hardship". For Shakta traditions she is the highest reality itself, and every other goddess, from gentle Gauri to fierce Kali, is one of her forms.

Where her story is told

Her central text is the Devi Mahatmya, 700 verses from the Markandeya Purana also known as the Durga Saptashati or Chandi Path, which is recited in full during Navratri. It tells three great victories of the Goddess:

• Madhu and Kaitabha: two demons born from Vishnu's ears as he slept, killed once the Goddess released Vishnu from his sleep.
• Mahishasura: the buffalo demon had a boon that no man or god could kill him. The gods combined their energy (tejas) to create Durga, each giving her a weapon: Shiva his trident, Vishnu his discus, Indra his thunderbolt. She fought him and killed him on the tenth day, which gives Vijayadashami its name, "the victory of the tenth".
• Shumbha and Nishumbha: in this war she took fierce forms. As Chamunda she killed the generals Chanda and Munda, and as Kali she drank the blood of Raktabija, every drop of whose spilled blood would otherwise have grown into a new demon.

Iconography

She is shown with ten (sometimes eight) arms, each holding a weapon given by a different god, riding a lion or a tiger, and calm-faced even in battle. The calm is part of the message: she destroys evil without hatred, the way a mother protects her child. The many weapons suggest that real protection often means drawing on many strengths at once.

Navadurga: her nine forms

During Navratri a different form is worshipped each day: Shailaputri, Brahmacharini, Chandraghanta, Kushmanda, Skandamata, Katyayani, Kalaratri, Mahagauri and Siddhidatri. The journey runs from the daughter of the mountain, through austerity, courage and fierce protection, to the giver of all spiritual accomplishment. The nine days are also often divided into three for Durga, three for Lakshmi and three for Saraswati.

How she is worshipped

Offerings to the Goddess include a red chunri (scarf), red flowers, especially hibiscus, sindoor, bangles and a coconut. During Navratri many households set up a kalash (sacred pot) with sown barley (jau/jawara), keep a fast, recite the Durga Saptashati or the Durga Kavach, and on Ashtami or Navami honour young girls as forms of the Goddess (kanya pujan). The Durga Chalisa is recited throughout the year, and many devotees worship her on Tuesdays and Fridays.

Festivals and temples

There are two major Navratris: Chaitra Navratri in spring and Shardiya Navratri in autumn, the bigger of the two (see Shardiya Navratri 2026 dates). In Bengal and eastern India the autumn festival is Durga Puja, with huge pandals, the arrival of the Goddess and her tearful immersion (bisarjan) on Dashami. Her great shrines include Vaishno Devi in Jammu, Kamakhya in Assam, Kalighat in Kolkata, Ambaji in Gujarat, Chamundeshwari in Mysuru, and Jwala Ji and Naina Devi in Himachal Pradesh. Many of these are counted among the Shakti Peethas, the places where, in the Puranic story, parts of the goddess Sati's body fell to earth.