Durga

{{Saktism}}

The word Durga (दुर्गा) literally means "impassable",{{sfn|Encyclopedia Britannica|2015}}{{sfn|James G Lochtefeld|2002|p=208}} "invincible, unassailable".{{sfn|Laura Amazzone|2012|p=xxii}} It is related to the word Durg (दुर्ग) which means "fortress, something difficult to defeat or pass". According to Monier Monier-Williams, Durga is derived from the roots dur (difficult) and gam (pass, go through).Monier Monier Williams (1899), Sanskrit English Dictionary with Etymology, Oxford University Press, page 487 According to Indologist Alain Daniélou, Durga means "beyond defeat".{{sfn|Alain Daniélou|1991|p=21}}

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.Maurice Bloomfield (1906), [https://archive.org/stream/vedicconcordance00bloouoft#page/486/mode/1up A Vedic concordance], Series editor: Charles Lanman, Harvard University Press, page 486;
Example Sanskrit original: "अहन्निन्द्रो अदहदग्निरिन्दो पुरा दस्यून्मध्यंदिनादभीके।

दुर्गे दुरोणे क्रत्वा न यातां पुरू सहस्रा शर्वा नि बर्हीत्॥३॥ – Rigveda 4.28.8, [https://sa.wikisource.org/wiki/ऋग्वेद:_सूक्तं_४.२८ Wikisource] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181105214014/https://sa.wikisource.org/wiki/%E0%A4%8B%E0%A4%97%E0%A5%8D%E0%A4%B5%E0%A5%87%E0%A4%A6:_%E0%A4%B8%E0%A5%82%E0%A4%95%E0%A5%8D%E0%A4%A4%E0%A4%82_%E0%A5%AA.%E0%A5%A8%E0%A5%AE |date=5 November 2018 }}{{refn|group=note|It appears in Khila (appendix, supplementary) text to Rigveda 10.127, 4th Adhyaya, per J. Scheftelowitz.{{cite book|author=J Scheftelowitz|title=Indische Forschungen|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_jhIAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA112|year=1906|publisher=Verlag von M & H Marcus|pages=112 line 13a|access-date=15 February 2017|archive-date=17 February 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170217115252/https://books.google.com/books?id=_jhIAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA112|url-status=live}}}} A deity named Durge appears in section 10.1.7 of the Taittiriya Aranyaka. While the Vedic literature uses the word Durga, the description therein lacks the legendary details about her that is found in later Hindu literature.{{sfn|David Kinsley|1998|pp=95–96}}

The word is also found in ancient post-Vedic Sanskrit texts such as in section 2.451 of the Mahabharata and section 4.27.16 of the Ramayana. These usages are in different contexts. 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. Durga and its derivatives are found in sections 4.1.99 and 6.3.63 of the Ashtadhyayi by Pāṇini, the ancient Sanskrit grammarian, and in the commentary of Nirukta by Yaska.

Durga is commonly known as Mahishasura-mardini for slaying the half-buffalo demon Mahishasura.{{Sfn|David Kinsley|1998|p=95}} She is also known as Vindhyavasini (she who dwells in the Vindhya Mountains).{{Sfn|David Kinsley|1998|pp=99–100}} Her other epithets include Mahamoha (great delusion), Mahasuri (the great demoness), Tamasi (the great night, the night of delusion).{{Sfn|David Kinsley|1998|pp=99–100}}

There are many epithets for Durga in Shaktism and her nine appellations are (Navadurga): Shailaputri, Brahmacharini, Chandraghanta, Kushmanda, Skandamata, Katyayini, Kalaratri, Mahagauri and Siddhidatri. A list of 108 names of the goddess is recited in order to worship her and is popularly known as the "Ashtottarshat Namavali of Goddess Durga".{{Citation needed|date=July 2023}}

Other meanings may include: "the one who cannot be accessed easily", "the undefeatable goddess".{{sfn|Alain Daniélou|1991|p=21}}

Durga is also known as Durgati Nashini, meaning one who eliminates suffering.{{Cite web|date=9 August 2019|title=Chant these powerful Durga Mantras to turn your life around for good|url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/religion/hindu-mythology/chant-these-powerful-durga-mantras-to-turn-your-life-around-for-good/articleshow/70599147.cms|access-date=11 November 2021|website=The Times of India|language=en|archive-date=11 November 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211111035951/https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/religion/hindu-mythology/chant-these-powerful-durga-mantras-to-turn-your-life-around-for-good/articleshow/70599147.cms|url-status=live}}

Her other names include Chandika, Sharada, Ambika, Vaishnavi etc.{{cite web |url=https://vedabase.io/en/library/sb/10/2/11-12/ |title=ŚB 10.2.11-12 |website=Bhaktivedanta Vedabase}}

Evidence of Durga-like images can probably be traced back to the Indus Valley civilisation. According to Asko Parpola, a cylindrical seal from Kalibangan shows "a Durgā-like goddess of war, who is associated with the tiger".{{Cite book |last=Hiltebeitel |first=Alf |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wgbKqxx1j1EC&pg=PA386 |title=The Cult of Draupadi, Volume 2: On Hindu Ritual and the Goddess |year=1988 |publisher=University of Chicago Press |isbn=978-0-226-34048-7 |page=386 |language=en |access-date=1 October 2020 |archive-date=23 July 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210723055226/https://books.google.com/books?id=wgbKqxx1j1EC&pg=PA386 |url-status=live }}{{Cite book |last=Thapar |first=Valmik |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9Dvx6EoLwa4C&pg=PA15 |title=Land of the Tiger: A Natural History of the Indian Subcontinent |year=1997 |publisher=University of California Press |isbn=978-0-520-21470-5 |page=15 |language=en |access-date=1 October 2020 |archive-date=23 July 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210723055227/https://books.google.com/books?id=9Dvx6EoLwa4C&pg=PA15 |url-status=live }}

Reverence for Devi, the feminine nature of God, first appears in the 10th Maṇḍala of Rig Veda, one of the scriptures of Hinduism. This hymn is also called the Devi Suktam hymn (abridged):{{Sfn|June McDaniel|2004|p=90}}{{Sfn|Cheever Mackenzie Brown|1998|p=26}}

I am the Queen, the gatherer-up of treasures, most thoughtful, first of those who merit worship.

Thus gods have established me in many places with many homes to enter and abide in.

Through me alone all eat the food that feeds them, – each man who sees, breathes, hears the word outspoken.

They know it not, yet I reside in the essence of the Universe. Hear, one and all, the truth as I declare it.

I, verily, myself announce and utter the word that gods and men alike shall welcome.

I make the man I love exceedingly mighty, make him nourished, a sage, and one who knows Brahman.

I bend the bow for Rudra, that his arrow may strike, and slay the hater of devotion.

I rouse and order battle for the people, I created Earth and Heaven and reside as their Inner Controller.

On the world's summit I bring forth sky the Father: my home is in the waters, in the ocean as Mother.

Thence I pervade all existing creatures, as their Inner Supreme Self, and manifest them with my body.

I created all worlds at my will, without any higher being, and permeate and dwell within them.

The eternal and infinite consciousness is I, it is my greatness dwelling in everything.

– Devi Sukta, Rigveda 10.125.3 – 10.125.8,{{Sfn|June McDaniel|2004|p=90}}{{Sfn|Cheever Mackenzie Brown|1998|p=26}}[https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_Rig_Veda/Mandala_10/Hymn_125 The Rig Veda/Mandala 10/Hymn 125] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161011200839/https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_Rig_Veda/Mandala_10/Hymn_125 |date=11 October 2016 }} Ralph T.H. Griffith (Translator); for Sanskrit original see: [https://sa.wikisource.org/wiki/ऋग्वेद:_सूक्तं_१०.१२५ ऋग्वेद: सूक्तं १०.१२५] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161011200515/https://sa.wikisource.org/wiki/%E0%A4%8B%E0%A4%97%E0%A5%8D%E0%A4%B5%E0%A5%87%E0%A4%A6:_%E0%A4%B8%E0%A5%82%E0%A4%95%E0%A5%8D%E0%A4%A4%E0%A4%82_%E0%A5%A7%E0%A5%A6.%E0%A5%A7%E0%A5%A8%E0%A5%AB |date=11 October 2016 }}

File:Durga slaying buffalo composite, 2nd-century to 13th-century Devi Mahatmya.png, 13th-century Karnataka, 9th century Prambanan Indonesia, 2nd-century Uttar Pradesh.]]

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.{{sfn|Rachel Fell McDermott|2001|pp=162–163}} This single mention describes Kali 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 its thesis that one must seek self-knowledge and the knowledge of the eternal Brahman.[https://archive.org/stream/thirteenprincipa028442mbp#page/n389/mode/2up Mundaka Upanishad], Robert Hume, The Thirteen Principal Upanishads, Oxford University Press, pp. 368–377 with verse 1.2.4

Durga, in her various forms, appears as an independent deity in the Epics period of ancient India, that is the centuries around the start of the common era.{{sfn|Rachel Fell McDermott|2001|p=162}} Both Yudhisthira and Arjuna characters of the Mahabharata invoke hymns to Durga.{{sfn|Rachel Fell McDermott|2001|pp=162–163}} She appears in Harivamsa in the form of Vishnu's eulogy, and in Pradyumna prayer.{{sfn|Rachel Fell McDermott|2001|p=162}} Various Puranas from the early to late 1st millennium CE dedicate chapters of inconsistent legends associated with Durga.{{sfn|Rachel Fell McDermott|2001|pp=162–163}} Of these, the Markandeya Purana and the Devi-Bhagavata Purana are the most significant texts on Durga.{{sfn|Ludo Rocher|1986|pp=168–172, 191–193}}{{Sfn|C Mackenzie Brown|1990|pp=44–45, 129, 247–248 with notes 57–60}} 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 Brahman and Atman (self, soul).{{Sfn|Douglas Renfrew Brooks|1992|pp=76–80}}{{Sfn|June McDaniel|2004|pp=89–91}}

In the Narada Purana, Durga is associated as a form of Lakshmi.{{cite book|title=Lakshmi|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xpkRAQAAIAAJ|author1=Chitralekha Singh|author2=Prem Nath|publisher=Crest Publishing House|year=2001|page=20|isbn=9788124201732|access-date=16 November 2021|archive-date=16 August 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210816064538/https://books.google.com/books?id=xpkRAQAAIAAJ|url-status=live}} In the Garuda Purana and the Vishnu Purana, Lakshmi is considered Prakriti (Mahalakshmi) and is identified with three forms — Sri, Bhu and Durga.{{cite book|title=Seeking Mahadevi: Constructing the Identities of the Hindu Great Goddess|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-c_j8Xggl0gC|author=Tracy Pintchman|publisher=SUNY Press|page=82|date=21 June 2001|isbn=9780791450079|access-date=16 November 2021|archive-date=16 August 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210816064628/https://books.google.com/books?id=-c_j8Xggl0gC|url-status=live}} In Pancharatra texts such as the Lakshmi Tantra, Lakshmi has Durga as one of her forms and acquires the name Durga after killing the demon Durgamasura.{{cite book|title=Laksmi Tantra|url=https://archive.org/details/LakshmiTantraAPancharatraTextSanjuktaGupta|first=Sanjukta|last=Gupta|publisher=Motilal Banarsidass Publishers|year=2000|isbn=978-8120817357}}{{cite book|title=Philosophy of Pancaratras|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1o3XAAAAMAAJ|page=94|author=S. Rangachar|publisher=Sridevi Prakashana|year=1991|access-date=10 January 2022|archive-date=1 October 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221001134343/https://books.google.com/books?id=1o3XAAAAMAAJ|url-status=live}}{{cite book|title=Goddess Laksmi: Origin and Development|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pSQKAQAAIAAJ|page=195|author=Upendra Nath Dhal|publisher=Oriental Publishers & Distributors|year=1978|quote=Like the Devi Māhātmya , the Lakşmi Tantra describes the individual incarnations of Lakşmi thus : During the reign of Svāyambhuva (Manu) for the destruction of the demon Mahisa, Mahālakṣmi appeared Mahişāmardini.|access-date=18 January 2022|archive-date=30 September 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210930074922/https://books.google.com/books?id=pSQKAQAAIAAJ|url-status=live}} These texts identify Durga as Vishnu's māyā".{{Sfn|David Kinsley|1998|p=104}}

The Mahishasura Mardini Stotra by Adi Shankara was written in her praise.{{Cite book |last=Marlow |first=Chris |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZFvTDwAAQBAJ&dq=mahishasura+mardini+stotra+adi+shankara&pg=PA168 |title=Navaratri: Prayers, Praises and Hymns |date=2019-10-29 |publisher=Lulu.com |isbn=978-0-244-22986-3 |pages=168 |language=en}}

The historian Ramaprasad Chanda stated in 1916 that Durga evolved over time in the Indian subcontinent. A primitive form of Durga, according to Chanda, was the result of "syncretism of a mountain-goddess worshipped by the dwellers of the Himalaya and the Vindhyas", a deity of the Abhiras conceptualised as a war-goddess. Durga then transformed into Kali as the personification of the all-destroying time, while aspects of her emerged as the primordial energy (Adya Sakti) integrated into the samsara (cycle of rebirths) concept and this idea was built on the foundation of the Vedic religion, mythology and philosophy.{{sfn|June McDaniel|2004|p=214}} There are total of nine avatars of Goddess Durga in Hinduism.

Epigraphical evidence indicates that regardless of her origins, Durga is an ancient goddess. The 6th-century CE inscriptions in early Siddhamatrika script, such as at the Nagarjuni hill cave during the Maukhari era, already mention the legend of her victory over Mahishasura (buffalo-hybrid demon).{{cite book|author=Richard Salomon|title=Indian Epigraphy: A Guide to the Study of Inscriptions in Sanskrit, Prakrit, and the Other Indo-Aryan Languages|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=t-4RDAAAQBAJ|year=1998|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-509984-3|pages=200–201|access-date=16 April 2017|archive-date=17 April 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170417162346/https://books.google.com/books?id=t-4RDAAAQBAJ|url-status=live}}

Durga as a demon-slaying goddess was likely well established by the time the classic Hindu text called Devi Mahatmya was composed, which scholars variously estimate to between 400 and 600 CE.{{Sfn|Cheever Mackenzie Brown|1998|p=77 note 28}}{{Sfn|Thomas B. Coburn|1991|pp=13}}{{Sfn|Thomas B. Coburn|2002|pp=1–7}} The Devi Mahatmya and other mythologies describe the nature of demonic forces symbolised by Mahishasura as shape-shifting and adapting in nature, form and strategy to create difficulties and achieve their evil ends, while Durga calmly understands and counters the evil in order to achieve her solemn goals.{{sfn|Alain Daniélou|1991|p=288}}{{sfn|June McDaniel|2004|pp=215–219}}{{refn|group=note|In the Shakta tradition of Hinduism, many of the stories about obstacles and battles have been considered metaphors for the divine and demonic within each human being, with liberation being the state of self-understanding whereby a virtuous nature and society emerging victorious over the vicious.{{sfn|June McDaniel|2004|pp=20–21, 217–219}}}}

File:Unknown (Indian) - Durga in Combat with the Bull, Mahishasura - 69.428 - Detroit Institute of Arts.jpg

The most popular legend associated with the goddess is of her killing of Mahishasura. Mahishasura was a half-buffalo demon who did severe penance in order to please Brahma, the creator. After several years, Brahma, pleased with his devotion, appeared before him. The demon opened his eyes and asked the god for immortality. Brahma refused, stating that all must die one day. Mahishasura then thought for a while and asked a boon that only a woman could be able to kill him. Brahma granted the boon and disappeared. Mahishasura started to torture innocent people. He captured Svarga and was not in any kind of fear, as he thought women to be powerless and weak. The devas were worried and they went to Trimurti. The Trimurti combined their power, and gave a physical form to the sum of their divine energy, Adi Shakti, a warrior woman with many arms. Himavan, the personification of the Himalayas, gifted a lion as her mount. Durga, on her lion, appeared before Mahishasura where the demon took on different forms and attacked the goddess. Each time, Durga would destroy his forms. At last, Durga slew Mahishasura with her trident when he was transforming as a buffalo demon.{{Cite book|last=Roa|first=Subba|title=Tales of Durga|date=April 1971|publisher=Amar Chitra Katha Private Limited|isbn=81-89999-35-4|pages=25}}{{Cite book|last=Kumar|first=Anu|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=snUcQGk1dZUC&q=Mahishasura&pg=PT6|title=Mahishasura: The Buffalo Demon|date=30 November 2012|publisher=Hachette India|isbn=978-93-5009-538-6|language=en|access-date=1 October 2020|archive-date=16 August 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210816064146/https://books.google.com/books?id=snUcQGk1dZUC&q=Mahishasura&pg=PT6|url-status=live}}

According to Vaishnava tradition, Durga is among the various epithets and avatars of Yogamaya, the personification of the illusory power of Vishnu. 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. When Kamsa attempted to slay her, she manifested her true form of an eighteen-armed goddess, wearing a garland of lemons. The goddess announced that Kamsa's slayer had already been born, before vanishing.{{Cite book |last=Flueckiger |first=Joyce Burkhalter |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rFlE0PO0x1AC&dq=durga+yogamaya&pg=PA133 |title=When the World Becomes Female: Guises of a South Indian Goddess |date=23 July 2013 |publisher=Indiana University Press |isbn=978-0-253-00960-9 |pages=133 |language=en |access-date=13 September 2022 |archive-date=13 September 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220913055607/https://books.google.com/books?id=rFlE0PO0x1AC&newbks=0&printsec=frontcover&pg=PA133&dq=durga+yogamaya&hl=en |url-status=live }} Durga is often conceptualised in this role as a sister of Vishnu.{{Cite book |last=Verma |first=Archana |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iAArBwAAQBAJ&dq=durga+vishnu%27s+sister&pg=PA48 |title=Performance and Culture: Narrative, Image and Enactment in India |date=18 January 2011 |publisher=Cambridge Scholars Publishing |isbn=978-1-4438-2832-1 |pages=48 |language=en |access-date=1 October 2022 |archive-date=1 October 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221001134345/https://books.google.com/books?id=iAArBwAAQBAJ&newbks=0&printsec=frontcover&pg=PA48&dq=durga+vishnu%27s+sister&hl=en |url-status=live }}

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Durga is a warrior goddess, and she is depicted to express her martial skills. Her iconography typically resonates with these attributes, where she rides a lion or a tiger,{{sfn|Robert S Ellwood|Gregory D Alles|2007|p=126}} has between eight and eighteen hands, each holding a weapon to destroy and create.{{sfn|Laura Amazzone|2012|pp=4–5}}{{sfn|Chitrita Banerji|2006|pp=3–5}} She is often shown in the midst of her war with Mahishasura, the buffalo demon, at the time she victoriously kills the demonic force. Her icon shows her in action, yet her face is calm and serene.{{sfn|Donald J LaRocca|1996|pp=5–7}}{{cite book|author=Linda Johnsen|title=The Living Goddess: Reclaiming the Tradition of the Mother of the Universe|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UnLSNBBW5wcC&pg=PA83|year=2002|publisher=Yes International Publishers|isbn=978-0-936663-28-9|pages=83–84|access-date=15 February 2017|archive-date=17 February 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170217110208/https://books.google.com/books?id=UnLSNBBW5wcC&pg=PA83|url-status=live}} 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.{{sfn|Laura Amazzone|2012|pp=4–9, 14–17}}{{sfn|Malcolm McLean|1998|pp=60–65}}

File:Durga 2005.jpg

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 (energy, power).{{cite book|author1=Alf Hiltebeitel|author2=Kathleen M. Erndl|title=Is the Goddess a Feminist?: The Politics of South Asian Goddesses|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sQJzTr4c-g4C&pg=PA157|year=2000|publisher=New York University Press|isbn=978-0-8147-3619-7|pages=157–158|access-date=15 February 2017|archive-date=17 February 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170217110244/https://books.google.com/books?id=sQJzTr4c-g4C&pg=PA157|url-status=live}} These include the chakra (divine discus), conch, bow, arrow, sword, javelin, trishula trident, shield, mace, pink Lotus Flower and a noose.{{sfn|Charles Russell Coulter|Patricia Turner|2013|p=158}} These weapons are considered symbolic by Shakta Hindus, representing self-discipline, selfless service to others, self-examination, prayer, devotion, remembering her mantras, cheerfulness and meditation. Durga herself is viewed as the "Self" within and the divine mother of all creation.{{cite book|author=Linda Johnsen|title=The Living Goddess: Reclaiming the Tradition of the Mother of the Universe|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UnLSNBBW5wcC&pg=PA83|year=2002|publisher=Yes International Publishers|isbn=978-0-936663-28-9|pages=89–90|access-date=15 February 2017|archive-date=17 February 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170217110208/https://books.google.com/books?id=UnLSNBBW5wcC&pg=PA83|url-status=live}} She has been revered by warriors, blessing their new weapons.{{cite book|author1=Alf Hiltebeitel|author2=Kathleen M. Erndl|title=Is the Goddess a Feminist?: The Politics of South Asian Goddesses|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sQJzTr4c-g4C&pg=PA157|year=2000|publisher=New York University Press|isbn=978-0-8147-3619-7|pages=15–16|access-date=15 February 2017|archive-date=17 February 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170217110244/https://books.google.com/books?id=sQJzTr4c-g4C&pg=PA157|url-status=live}} 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.

Archeological discoveries suggest that these iconographic features of Durga became common throughout India by about the 4th century CE, states David Kinsley – a professor of religious studies specialising on Hindu goddesses.{{sfn|David Kinsley|1998|pp=95–105}} In the north wall of a granite cave in Mamallapuram, Tamil Nadu there is a large relief of Durga slaying Mahisasura, carved around 630–674 CE.{{Cite book |last1=Herman |first1=Phyllis K. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=97EYBwAAQBAJ&dq=devi+mahatmyam&pg=PA149 |title=The Constant and Changing Faces of the Goddess: Goddess Traditions of Asia |last2=Shimkhada |first2=Deepak |publisher=Cambridge Scholars Publishing |year=2009 |pages=149|isbn=9781443807029 }}

Durga iconography in some temples appears as part of Mahavidyas or Saptamatrkas (seven mothers considered forms of Durga). Her icons in major Hindu temples such as in Varanasi include relief artworks that show scenes from the Devi Mahatmya.{{sfn|David Kinsley|1997|pp=30–35, 60, 16–22, 149}}

In Vaishnavism, Durga and her mount of a lion, is considered one of the three aspects or forms of Goddess Lakshmi, the other two being Sri and Bhu, in place of Niladevi.{{Sfn|Isaeva|1993|p=252}} According to professor Tracy Pintchman, "When the Lord Vishnu created the gunas of prakriti, there arose Lakshmi in her three forms, Sri, Bhu and Durga. Sri consisted of sattva, Bhu as rajas and Durga as tamas".{{Sfn|Pintchman|2014|p=82}}

Durga appears in Hindu traditions in numerous forms and names, but ultimately all these are different aspects and manifestations of one goddess. She is imagined to be terrifying and destructive when she has to be, but benevolent and nurturing when she needs to be.{{sfn|Patricia Monaghan|2011|pp=73–74}} While anthropomorphic icons of her, such as those showing her riding a lion and holding weapons, are common, the Hindu traditions use aniconic forms and geometric designs (yantra) to remember and revere what she symbolises.{{sfn|Patricia Monaghan|2011|pp=73–78}}

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

The Vedic Texts concluded Durga alone to be the Supreme and the Absolute facet of Brahman,{{Citation needed|date=January 2023}} as stated in the Devi-Atharvashirsha{{Cite web |date=11 February 2020 |title=Devi Atharvashirsha Stotram in Sanskrit |url=https://stotranidhi.com/en/sri-devi-atharvashirsha-in-english/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220804070827/https://stotranidhi.com/en/sri-devi-atharvashirsha-in-english/ |archive-date=4 August 2022 |access-date=4 August 2022}}

यस्याः परतरं नास्ति सैषा दुर्गा प्रकीर्तिता॥२४॥

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

– [https://stotranidhi.com/en/sri-devi-atharvashirsha-in-english/ Devi Atharvashirhsa Upanishad], 24.

{{Main|Durga Puja}}

File:A Durga festival collage.jpg, Dancing on Vijaya Dashami, women smearing each other with colour, and family get together for Dashain in Nepal.]]

As per the Markandeya Purana, Durga Puja can be performed either for 9 days or 4 days (last four in sequence). The four-day-long Durga Puja is a major annual festival in Bengal, Odisha, Assam, Jharkhand and Bihar.{{sfn|Wendy Doniger|1999|p=306}}{{sfn|James G Lochtefeld|2002|p=208}} It is scheduled per the Hindu luni-solar calendar in the month of Ashvina,{{sfn|David Kinsley|1998|pp=106–108}} and typically falls in September or October. Since it is celebrated during Sharad (literally, season of weeds), it is called as Sharadiya Durga Puja or Akal-Bodhan to differentiate it from the one celebrated originally in spring. The festival is celebrated by communities by making special colourful images of Durga out of clay,{{sfn|David Kinsley|1997|pp=18–19}} recitations of Devi Mahatmya text,{{sfn|David Kinsley|1998|pp=106–108}} prayers and revelry for nine days, after which it is taken out in procession with singing and dancing, then immersed in water. The Durga puja is an occasion of major private and public festivities in the eastern and northeastern states of India.{{sfn|Wendy Doniger|1999|p=306}}{{sfn|Rachel Fell McDermott|2001|pp=172–174}}{{sfn|Lynn Foulston|Stuart Abbott|2009|pp=162–169}}

The day of Durga's victory is celebrated as Vijayadashami (Bijoya in Bengali), Dashain (Nepali) or Dussehra (in Hindi) – these words literally mean "the victory on the Tenth (day)".{{cite book |title= Religion & globalization: world religions in historical perspective |last= Esposito |first= John L. |author2=Darrell J Fasching |author3=Todd Vernon Lewis |year= 2007 |publisher= Oxford University Press |isbn= 978-0-19-517695-7 |page= 341 }}

This festival is an old tradition of Hinduism, though it is unclear how and in which century the festival began. Surviving manuscripts from the 14th century provide guidelines for Durga puja, while historical records suggest royalty and wealthy families were sponsoring major Durga puja public festivities since at least the 16th century.{{sfn|Rachel Fell McDermott|2001|pp=172–174}} The 11th or 12th century Jainism text Yasatilaka by Somadeva mentions a festival and annual dates dedicated to a warrior goddess, celebrated by the king and his armed forces, and the description mirrors attributes of a Durga puja.{{sfn|David Kinsley|1998|pp=106–108}}

The prominence of Durga puja increased during the British Raj in Bengal.{{cite web|title=Article on Durga Puja|url=http://online.assam.gov.in/web/durga-puja|access-date=11 October 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151228091628/http://online.assam.gov.in/web/durga-puja|archive-date=28 December 2015|url-status=dead}} After the Hindu reformists identified Durga with India, she became an icon for the Indian independence movement.{{citation needed|date=February 2017}} The city of Kolkata is famous for Durga puja.{{cite news |date=6 August 2022 |title=Durga puja:আগমনীর ডাকে সেজে উঠেছে তিলোত্তমা শহরে এবার 'রক্তমাংসের দুর্গা' ভাইরাল ভিডিয়ো |work=The Bengali Chronicle |url=https://thebengalichronicle.com/makeup-artist-saroshi-bhattacharya-has-create-durga-with-the-help-of-her-art-mst/ |access-date=9 August 2022 |language=bn |archive-date=9 August 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220809111316/https://thebengalichronicle.com/makeup-artist-saroshi-bhattacharya-has-create-durga-with-the-help-of-her-art-mst/ |url-status=live }}

In Nepal, the festival dedicated to Durga is called Dashain (sometimes spelled as Dasain), which literally means "the ten". Dashain is the longest national holiday of Nepal, and is a public holiday in Sikkim and Bhutan. During Dashain, Durga is worshipped in ten forms (Shailaputri, Brahmacharini, Chandraghanta, Kushmanda, Skandamata, Katyayani, Kalaratri, Mahagauri, Mahakali and Durga) with one form for each day in Nepal. The festival includes animal sacrifice in some communities, as well as the purchase of new clothes and gift giving. Traditionally, the festival is celebrated over 15 days, the first nine-day are spent by the faithful by remembering Durga and her ideas, the tenth day marks Durga's victory over Mahisura, and the last five days celebrate the victory of good over evil.

During the first nine days, nine aspects of Durga known as Navadurga are meditated upon, one by one during the nine-day festival by devout Hindus. Durga is usually worshipped as a celibate goddess, but the Shaktism traditions includes the worship of Shiva along with Durga, who is considered to be his consort, in addition to Lakshmi, Saraswati, Ganesha and Kartikeya, who are considered to be Durga's children by Shaktas.{{cite book|title=The A to Z of Hinduism|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xU4ZdatgRysC|page=72|author=Bruce M. Sullivan|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield|year=2001|isbn=9780810840706|quote=Durga is usually regarded as a celibate goddess whose asceticism empowers her, but she may also be regarded as the consort and Sakti of Siva, depending on tradition.|access-date=3 May 2021|archive-date=15 April 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210415064539/https://books.google.com/books?id=xU4ZdatgRysC|url-status=live}}{{sfn|David Kinsley|1998|p=95}} Some Shaktas worship Durga's symbolism and presence as Mother Nature. In South India, especially Andhra Pradesh, Dussera Navaratri is also celebrated and the goddess is dressed each day as a different Devi, all considered equivalent but another aspect of Durga.

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. In Sri Lanka, Durga in the form of Vaishnavi, bearing Vishnu's iconographic symbolism is celebrated. This tradition has been continued by Sri Lankan diaspora.{{cite book|author=Joanne Punzo Waghorne|title=Diaspora of the Gods: Modern Hindu Temples in an Urban Middle-Class World|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QBLFbfUrsDIC&pg=PA222|year=2004|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-803557-2|pages=222–224|access-date=15 February 2017|archive-date=17 February 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170217115304/https://books.google.com/books?id=QBLFbfUrsDIC&pg=PA222|url-status=live}}

file:MET DT238.jpg, in which Buddhism and Hinduism coexisted peacefully.{{Cite web |title=The Goddess Durga Slaying the Demon Buffalo Mahisha {{!}} Bangladesh or India (Bengal) {{!}} Pala-Sena period |url=https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/38583 |access-date=2023-12-28 |website=The Metropolitan Museum of Art |language=en}}]]

file:COLLECTIE TROPENMUSEUM Beeld van Durga als de godin Kwan Yin in een Chinese tempel te Soerabaja TMnr 10026825.jpg, in a Chinese temple in Surabaya, East Java, Indonesia. It resembles Chola art and likely pre-dates the Chinese community in East Java.]]

File:Sikh mural of Durga from a gurdwara.jpg]]

The Tantric Buddhist Vajrayana traditions adopted several Hindu deities into its fold, including Durga.Calo, Ambra (2020) [https://eprints.soas.ac.uk/32820/1/Pratu_v1_2020_a3_Calo.pdf 'Durgā Mahiṣāsuramardinī in Likely Tantric Buddhist Context from the Northern Indian Subcontinent to 11th-Century Bali] [Durga Mahiṣāsuramardinī dalam konteks agama Buddha Tantrayana dari Subkontinen India Utara dan Bali pada abad ke-11].' Pratu: Journal of Buddhist and Hindu Art, Architecture and Archaeology of Ancient to Premodern Southeast Asia, 1 (3). pp. 1-20.Wayman, Alex; The Buddhist Tantras light on Indo-Tibetan esotericism, Routledge, (2008), page 23.Williams, Tribe and Wynne; Buddhist Thought: A Complete Introduction to the Indian Tradition, chapter 7{{cite book|author=Hajime Nakamura|title=Indian Buddhism: A Survey with Bibliographical Notes|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=w0A7y4TCeVQC&pg=PA315|year=1980|publisher=Motilal Banarsidass|isbn=978-81-208-0272-8|page=315|access-date=15 February 2017|archive-date=17 February 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170217121415/https://books.google.com/books?id=w0A7y4TCeVQC&pg=PA315|url-status=live}}Shoko Watanabe (1955), On Durga and Tantric Buddhism, Chizan Gakuho, number 18, pp. 36–44 Numerous depictions of Durgā Mahiṣāsuramardinī (Durgā 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 the 17th century worshiped 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.{{Cite web |title=For centuries, Hooghly family worships Durga the Buddhist way |url=https://www.telegraphindia.com/west-bengal/for-centuries-hooghly-family-worships-durga-the-buddhist-way/cid/1890024 |access-date=2023-12-28 |website=www.telegraphindia.com |language=en}}

Images of the 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 Sarvadurgatipariśodhana 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 Tārā are believed to have originated as a form of the goddess Durga or to have been influenced by Hindu stories of Durga, including Tara's fierce forms.{{cite book |author=Mallar Ghosh |title=Development of Buddhist Iconography in Eastern India |publisher=Munshiram Manoharlal |year=1980 |isbn=81-215-0208-X |page=17}}Shaw, Miranda (2006). Buddhist Goddesses of India, p. 313. Princeton University Press. One form of Tara is even called Durgottāriṇī-tārā who specializes in saving devotees from evil and rides a lion mount, the traditional mount of Durga. Durgottāriṇī appears in the Sādhanamālā (237.10; 237.21; 238.4).{{Cite web |last=www.wisdomlib.org |date=2019-12-10 |title=Durgottarini, Durgottāriṇī: 2 definitions |url=https://www.wisdomlib.org/definition/durgottarini |access-date=2023-12-28 |website=www.wisdomlib.org |language=en}}

In Nepalese Buddhism, the Buddhist tantric goddess Vajrayogini is "often worshiped interchangeably with Durga" during Durga festivals.Amazzone, Laura (2010). Goddess Durga and Sacred Female Power, p. 156. University Press of America. Newar Buddhists also worship Durgottāriṇī-tārā during some of their Prajñāpāramitā rituals.Kim, Jinah (2013). Receptacle of the Sacred: Illustrated Manuscripts and the Buddhist Book Cult in South Asia, pp. 158-162. University of California Press.

In Japanese Buddhism, the deity Cundī, also known as Butsu-mo (仏母, sometimes called Koti-sri), shares many features with Durga, and some scholars have the two deities as related.{{cite book|author=Louis-Frédéric|title=Buddhism|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=35NQAAAAMAAJ|year=1995|publisher=Flammarion|isbn=978-2-08-013558-2|page=174|access-date=15 February 2017|archive-date=17 February 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170217121443/https://books.google.com/books?id=35NQAAAAMAAJ|url-status=live}}Puspa Niyogi (1977). [https://www.jstor.org/stable/29756386 Cundā - a Popular Buddhist Goddess.] East and West, 27(1-4), 299–308. doi:10.2307/29756386 However, as Gimello notes, they are not the same deity, though they are often confused.Gimello, Robert (2004). ″Icon and Incantation: The Goddess Zhunti and the Role of Images in the Occult Buddhism of China." In Images in Asian Religions: Texts and Contexts ed. Phyllis Granoff and Koichi Shinohara: pp. 71-85.

Likewise, in Tibetan Buddhism, the goddess Palden Lhamo also has similar features to the protective and fierce Durga.{{cite book|author=Miranda Eberle Shaw|title=Buddhist Goddesses of India|url=https://archive.org/details/buddhistgoddesse00shaw |url-access=registration|year=2006|publisher=Princeton University Press|isbn=0-691-12758-1|pages=[https://archive.org/details/buddhistgoddesse00shaw/page/240 240]–241}}{{cite book|author=Bernard Faure|title=The Power of Denial: Buddhism, Purity, and Gender|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HidpRwrmx4AC|year=2009|publisher=Princeton University Press|isbn=978-1400825615|page=127|access-date=15 February 2017|archive-date=7 December 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161207063604/https://books.google.com/books?id=HidpRwrmx4AC|url-status=live}}

The Sacciya mata found in major medieval era Jain temples mirrors Durga, and she has been identified by Jainism scholars to be the same or sharing a more ancient common lineage.{{cite book|author=Lawrence A. Babb|title=Ascetics and kings in a Jain ritual culture|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Q5MRAQAAIAAJ|year=1998|publisher=Motilal Banarsidass|isbn=978-81-208-1538-4|pages=146–147, 157|access-date=15 February 2017|archive-date=17 February 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170217121444/https://books.google.com/books?id=Q5MRAQAAIAAJ|url-status=live}} 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.{{cite book|author=Lisa Owen|title=Carving Devotion in the Jain Caves at Ellora|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MUszAQAAQBAJ|year=2012|publisher=BRILL Academic|isbn=978-90-04-20630-4|pages=111–112|access-date=15 February 2017|archive-date=17 February 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170217123151/https://books.google.com/books?id=MUszAQAAQBAJ|url-status=live}}

{{see also|Chandi di Var}}

Durga is exalted as the divine in Dasam Granth, a sacred text of Sikhism that is traditionally attributed to Guru Gobind Singh.{{cite book|author=Eleanor Nesbitt|title=Sikhism: A Very Short Introduction|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zD8SDAAAQBAJ&q=durga|year=2016|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-106277-3|pages=108–109|access-date=11 October 2020|archive-date=26 January 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210126192114/https://books.google.com/books?id=zD8SDAAAQBAJ&q=durga|url-status=live}}

According to Eleanor Nesbitt, this view has been challenged by 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".

File:3 Hindu goddess Durga in Southeast Asia.jpg, 10/11th century Vietnam, 8th/9th century Indonesia.]]

Archeological site excavations in Indonesia, particularly on the island of Java, have yielded numerous statues of Durga. These have been dated to be from the 6th century onwards.{{cite book|author1-link=John N. Miksic|author=John N. Miksic|title=Icons of Art: The Collections of the National Museum of Indonesia|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZZnpAAAAMAAJ|year=2007|publisher=BAB Pub. Indonesia|isbn=978-979-8926-25-9|pages=106, 224–238|access-date=15 February 2017|archive-date=17 February 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170217121319/https://books.google.com/books?id=ZZnpAAAAMAAJ|url-status=live}} Of the numerous early to mid medieval era Hindu deity stone statues uncovered on Indonesian islands, at least 135 statues are of Durga.{{cite book|author1=Ann R Kinney|author2=Marijke J Klokke|author3=Lydia Kieven|title=Worshiping Siva and Buddha: The Temple Art of East Java|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sfa2FiIERLYC|year=2003|publisher=University of Hawaii Press|isbn=978-0-8248-2779-3|pages=131–145|access-date=15 February 2017|archive-date=25 November 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201125232720/https://books.google.com/books?id=sfa2FiIERLYC|url-status=live}} In parts of Java, she is known as Loro Jonggrang (literally, "slender maiden").{{cite book|author1=Roy E Jordaan|author2=Koninklijk Instituut voor Taal-, Land- en Volkenkunde (Netherlands)|title=In praise of Prambanan: Dutch essays on the Loro Jonggrang temple complex|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SrkYAAAAYAAJ|year=1996|publisher=KITLV Press|isbn=978-90-6718-105-1|pages=147–149|access-date=16 February 2017|archive-date=17 February 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170217131047/https://books.google.com/books?id=SrkYAAAAYAAJ|url-status=live}}

In Cambodia, during its era of Hindu kings, Durga was popular and numerous sculptures of her have been found. However, most differ from the Indian representation in one detail. The Cambodian Durga iconography shows her standing on top of the cut buffalo demon head.{{cite book|author=Trudy Jacobsen|title=Lost Goddesses: The Denial of Female Power in Cambodian History|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-9unZvFaiREC&pg=PA20|year=2008|publisher=Copenhagen: Nordic Institute of Asian Studies Press|isbn=978-87-7694-001-0|pages=20–21 with figure 2.2|access-date=15 February 2017|archive-date=17 February 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170217121531/https://books.google.com/books?id=-9unZvFaiREC&pg=PA20|url-status=live}}

Durga statues have been discovered at stone temples and archaeological sites in Vietnam, likely related to Champa or Cham dynasty era.{{cite book|author=Heidi Tan|title=Vietnam: from myth to modernity|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=x4QOAQAAMAAJ|year=2008|publisher=Singapore: Asian Civilisations Museum|isbn=978-981-07-0012-6|pages=56, 62–63|access-date=16 February 2017|archive-date=17 February 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170217125448/https://books.google.com/books?id=x4QOAQAAMAAJ|url-status=live}}{{cite book|author1=Catherine Noppe|author2=Jean-François Hubert|title=Art of Vietnam|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=efLpAAAAMAAJ|year=2003|publisher=Parkstone|isbn=978-1-85995-860-5|page=104|access-date=16 February 2017|archive-date=17 February 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170217135450/https://books.google.com/books?id=efLpAAAAMAAJ|url-status=live}}

Durga as the mother goddess is the inspiration behind the song Vande Mataram, written by Bankim Chandra Chatterjee, during 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 "Kaali Mata ki Jai!".

Any woman who takes up a cause to fight for goodness and justice is said to have the spirit of Durga in her.{{cite book|author=Sabyasachi Bhattacharya|title=Vande Mataram, the Biography of a Song|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cJqfAAAAMAAJ|year=2003|publisher=Penguin|isbn=978-0-14-303055-3|pages=5, 90–99|access-date=18 February 2017|archive-date=19 February 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170219013610/https://books.google.com/books?id=cJqfAAAAMAAJ|url-status=live}}{{cite book|author=Sumathi Ramaswamy|title=The Goddess and the Nation: Mapping Mother India|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OWfcoMnHU8gC&pg=PA107|year=2009|publisher=Duke University Press|isbn=978-0-8223-9153-1|pages=106–108}}

{{Portal|Hinduism|Religion}}

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{{notelist|30em}}

{{reflist|group=note}}

{{Reflist|30em}}

{{Refbegin|30em}}

• {{cite book |author=Laura Amazzone |title=Goddess Durga and Sacred Female Power |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PM_TNDu8NHUC |year=2012 |publisher=University Press of America |isbn=978-0-7618-5314-5 |access-date=26 November 2015 |archive-date=17 March 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200317121233/https://books.google.com/books?id=PM_TNDu8NHUC |url-status=live }}
• {{cite book |author=Laura Amazzone |editor=Patricia Monaghan |title=Goddesses in World Culture |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qotjet-Hb0MC |year=2011 |publisher=ABC-CLIO |isbn=978-0-313-35465-6 |access-date=15 February 2017 |archive-date=17 February 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170217102257/https://books.google.com/books?id=qotjet-Hb0MC |url-status=live }}
• {{cite book |author=Chitrita Banerji |title=The Hour of the Goddess: Memories of Women, Food, and Ritual in Bengal |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NPYvGv7ER4sC |year=2006 |publisher=Penguin Books India |isbn=978-0-14-400142-2 |access-date=15 February 2017 |archive-date=17 February 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170217102118/https://books.google.com/books?id=NPYvGv7ER4sC |url-status=live }}
• {{cite book |author=Douglas Renfrew Brooks |title=Auspicious Wisdom |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=salQJBpUkGkC |year=1992 |publisher=State University of New York Press |isbn=978-0-7914-1145-2 |access-date=15 February 2017 |archive-date=27 June 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140627013858/http://books.google.com/books?id=salQJBpUkGkC |url-status=live }}
• {{cite book |author=C Mackenzie Brown |title=The Triumph of the Goddess: The Canonical Models and Theological Visions of the Devi-Bhagavata Purana |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=p6KumJp_wNgC |year=1990 |publisher=State University of New York Press |isbn=978-0-7914-0364-8 |access-date=15 February 2017 |archive-date=26 December 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191226130045/https://books.google.com/books?id=p6KumJp_wNgC |url-status=live }}
• {{cite book |author=Cheever Mackenzie Brown |title=The Devi Gita: The Song of the Goddess: A Translation, Annotation, and Commentary |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=28CIEnZCcqMC |year=1998 |publisher=State University of New York Press |isbn=978-0-7914-3939-5 |access-date=15 February 2017 |archive-date=24 December 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191224013207/https://books.google.com/books?id=28CIEnZCcqMC |url-status=live }}
• {{cite book |author=Thomas B. Coburn |author-link=Thomas B. Coburn |title=Encountering the Goddess: A translation of the Devi-Mahatmya and a Study of Its Interpretation |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=c7vIzNrC-coC |year=1991 |publisher=State University of New York Press |isbn=978-0-7914-0446-1 |access-date=15 February 2017 |archive-date=5 February 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170205081952/https://books.google.com/books?id=c7vIzNrC-coC |url-status=live }}
• {{cite book |author=Thomas B. Coburn |author-link=Thomas B. Coburn |title=Devī Māhātmya, The Crystallization of the Goddess Tradition |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hy9kf7_TOHgC |year=2002 |publisher=South Asia Books |isbn=81-208-0557-7 |access-date=15 February 2017 |archive-date=9 December 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211209205927/https://books.google.com/books?id=hy9kf7_TOHgC |url-status=live }}
• {{cite book|title=Devi: Goddesses in Indian Art and Literature|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EyAoAQAAIAAJ|first=V. R.|last=Parthasarathy|publisher=Bharatiya Kala Prakashan|year=2009|isbn=978-8-1809-0203-1|access-date=18 November 2020|archive-date=1 October 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221001134348/https://books.google.com/books?id=EyAoAQAAIAAJ|url-status=live}}
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• {{cite book |author=David R Kinsley |title=The Goddesses' Mirror: Visions of the Divine from East and West |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=b0jmXOPBXkwC |year=1989 |publisher=State University of New York Press |isbn=978-0-88706-835-5 |access-date=15 February 2017 |archive-date=17 February 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170217102120/https://books.google.com/books?id=b0jmXOPBXkwC |url-status=live }}
• {{cite book |author=David Kinsley |year=1998 |orig-year=First published 1986 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hgTOZEyrVtIC |title=Hindu Goddesses: Visions of the Divine Feminine in the Hindu Religious Tradition |publisher=Motilal Banarsidass Publications |isbn=978-81-208-0394-7 |access-date=26 November 2015 |archive-date=28 October 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201028095902/https://books.google.com/books?id=hgTOZEyrVtIC |url-status=live }}
• {{cite book |author=David Kinsley |title=Tantric Visions of the Divine Feminine: The Ten Mahavidyas |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iob2JIzY9fIC |year=1997 |publisher=University of California Press |isbn=978-0-520-91772-9 }}
• {{cite book |author=Donald J LaRocca |title=The Gods of War: Sacred Imagery and the Decoration of Arms and Armor |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8B5B4B5IcQkC |year=1996 |publisher=Metropolitan Museum of Art |isbn=978-0-87099-779-2 }}
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• {{cite book |author=June McDaniel |title=Offering Flowers, Feeding Skulls: Popular Goddess Worship in West Bengal |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=caeJpIj9SdkC |year=2004 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-534713-5 |access-date=26 November 2015 |archive-date=4 January 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170104022224/https://books.google.com/books?id=caeJpIj9SdkC |url-status=live }}
• {{cite book |author=Rachel Fell McDermott |title=Mother of My Heart, Daughter of My Dreams: Kali and Uma in the Devotional Poetry of Bengal |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2PrChFaXgf0C |year=2001 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-803071-3 |access-date=15 February 2017 |archive-date=17 February 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170217101734/https://books.google.com/books?id=2PrChFaXgf0C |url-status=live }}
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• {{cite book |author=Malcolm McLean |title=Devoted to the Goddess: The Life and Work of Ramprasad |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kXY4uQ9TwI8C |year=1998 |publisher=State University of New York Press |isbn=978-0-7914-3689-9 |access-date=15 February 2017 |archive-date=17 February 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170217101831/https://books.google.com/books?id=kXY4uQ9TwI8C |url-status=live }}
• {{cite book |author=Patricia Monaghan |title=Goddesses in World Culture |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qotjet-Hb0MC |year=2011 |publisher=ABC-CLIO |isbn=978-0-313-35465-6 |access-date=15 February 2017 |archive-date=17 February 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170217102257/https://books.google.com/books?id=qotjet-Hb0MC |url-status=live }}
• {{cite book |author=Sree Padma |title=Inventing and Reinventing the Goddess: Contemporary Iterations of Hindu Deities on the Move |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9Jn_AwAAQBAJ |year=2014 |publisher=Lexington Books |isbn=978-0-7391-9002-9 |access-date=15 February 2017 |archive-date=16 August 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210816064150/https://books.google.com/books?id=9Jn_AwAAQBAJ |url-status=live }}
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• {{cite web | title=Durga - Hindu mythology | website=Encyclopedia Britannica | date=19 February 2015 | url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Durga | ref={{sfnref | Encyclopedia Britannica | 2015}} | access-date=15 February 2017 | archive-date=7 May 2017 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170507035548/https://www.britannica.com/topic/Durga | url-status=live }}
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• {{Citation|title=Seeking Mahadevi: Constructing the Identities of the Hindu Great Goddess|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JfXdGInecRIC|first=Tracy|last=Pintchman|publisher=SUNY Press|year=2014|isbn=978-0791490495|access-date=18 October 2020|archive-date=19 August 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200819130701/https://books.google.com/books?id=JfXdGInecRIC|url-status=live}}
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{{refend}}

• {{commons category-inline}}
• {{wikiquote-inline}}

• [http://carlos.emory.edu/htdocs/ODYSSEY/SOUTHASIA/durga.html Durga Battling the Buffalo Demon: Iconography], Carlos Museum, Emory University
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20160728235056/https://www.asia.si.edu/devi/durga.htm Devi Durga], Arthur M. Sackler Gallery and Freer Gallery of Art, Smithsonian Institution
• [http://www.philtar.ac.uk/encyclopedia/hindu/devot/durga.html Overview Of World Religions – Devotion to Durga]

{{Shaktism}}

{{Hindudharma}}

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Category:Destroyer goddesses

Category:Durga Puja

Category:Hindu goddesses

Category:Justice goddesses

Category:Mythological swordfighters

Category:Shaktism

Category:War goddesses

Forms of Lakshmi

Category:Forms of Parvati

Category:Mother goddesses