Who is Durga?
Durga is the Goddess as protector: the Mother who fights for the world. Her best-known story is told in the Devi Mahatmyam, part of the Markandeya Purana. When the buffalo-demon Mahishasura drove the gods from heaven, the powers of all the gods joined into one blazing light that became the Goddess; armed with their weapons and riding a lion, she defeated him. She is worshipped above all in the nine nights of Navratri and in Bengal's Durga Puja. For Shakta traditions she is the supreme power behind the world; for others she is one of the great forms of the one God.
Written for Pujadeep and checked against the sources listed.
Reading with a child? A story for children: Durga and the Buffalo King (ages 7-10).
What the schools say
Shakta (the Devi Mahatmyam)
The Devi Mahatmyam tells how the anger of the gods poured out as energy: in Pargiter's translation, “The gods beheld the mass of intense energy there like a burning mountain”, and that energy, “gathering into one became a female”. Near the end of the poem the Goddess promises: “Thus whenever trouble shall arise caused by the Dánavas, at each such time I shall become incarnate and accomplish the foes’ destruction.” For Shaktas she is the one supreme power.
Sources for this reading
- The Markandeya Purana, translated with notes by F. Eden Pargiter (Bibliotheca Indica; Calcutta: Asiatic Society, 1904) (canto LXXXII, verses 11–12 (p. 474, leaf n519), and canto XCI, verse 49, the last verse of that canto (p. 518, leaf n563); both quoted verbatim and checked on the page images. Canto LXXXI, verses 43–44 (p. 469, leaf n514): she creates the universe and is “the queen over all lords”)
- Sir John Woodroffe, Shakti and Shâkta: Essays and Addresses on the Shâkta Tantrashâstra (London: Luzac, 1918; title page, leaf n0). Woodroffe died 1936. Summarised in our words: every form of power is “ultimately reducible to the Primordial Shakti”, which is known in worship as Devi, the Mother. (p. 115 (leaf n121))
Bengali Durga Puja
In Bengal, Odisha and Assam, and among Bengali families abroad, Durga Puja is the year's great festival. Durga is welcomed as a daughter coming home to her parents with her children, and sent back to her husband Shiva on the last day, when the images are immersed. The Bengali Ramayanas, read under the poet Krittibas's name, also tell that Rama worshipped Durga before his last battle with Ravana, an episode that is not in Valmiki's epic.
Sources for this reading
- Festival guide “Durga Puja” in this library, which records the homecoming songs, the last-day farewell and Krittibas's telling as tradition, summarised.
- Dinesh Chandra Sen, History of Bengali Language and Literature (Calcutta: University of Calcutta, 1911). Sen died 1939. Summarised in our words: in Ashvina the Agamani songs describe Uma's meeting with her mother, and in the village pictures Uma comes home “with her sons and daughters”. (pp. 241–244 (leaves n276–n279))
- Dinesh Chandra Sen, The Bengali Ramayanas (Calcutta: University of Calcutta, 1920; title page, leaf n1). Summarised in our words: the Chandi Puja by Rama “forms no part of the original epic”; it first appeared in the Sanskrit Kalika Purana and grew in the Bengali Ramayanas. (pp. 115–118 (leaves n130–n133))
Navratri across India
In much of India, the Goddess is worshipped through the nine nights of Navratri, in spring and in autumn, often as nine forms, one each night. Many families fast, and on the eighth or ninth day they honour young girls as the Goddess. The tenth day, Dussehra or Vijayadashami, marks her victory and, for many, Rama's. Customs differ by region and family.
Sources for this reading
- Festival guides “Navratri”, “Chaitra Navratri” and “Dussehra” in this library, with the Pujadeep calendar rules navratri-sharad, navratri-chaitra and vijayadashami.
Smarta
Smarta families worship the Goddess as one of the five forms of the panchayatana puja, beside Shiva, Vishnu, Surya and Ganesha. Some place her at the centre as their chosen deity. In the Advaita teaching that many Smartas follow, she is one way of approaching the one Brahman.
Sources for this reading
- J. N. Farquhar, An Outline of the Religious Literature of India (London: Humphrey Milford, Oxford University Press, 1920; title page, leaf n8). Farquhar died 1929. Summarised in our words: Smartas worship the five gods, Vishnu, Siva, Durga, Surya and Ganesa, in Panchayatana Puja; the god the worshipper prefers is placed in the centre; in South India and Gujarat “Smarta” also means allegiance to Sankara's Vedanta, which recognises “the Absolute behind all the gods”, while in North India the Smarta is free in philosophy. (§§ 207–208, pp. 179–180 (leaves n210–n211); § 352, p. 293 (leaf n324))
- Learn page “Do Hindus believe in one God or many gods?”, Smarta reading, with its sources.
Sources
- The Markandeya Purana, translated with notes by F. Eden Pargiter (Bibliotheca Indica; Calcutta: Asiatic Society, 1904) (cantos LXXXII–LXXXIV (pp. 473–488))
- Children's story “Durga and the Buffalo King” in this library.
More questions
Source and licence
- Our explanation
- Written for this site from the sources listed here, and checked against them. Free to quote with credit.
- Checked
- Checked against the sources listed, October 13, 2026.
- Updated
- October 15, 2026