Description
Durga, meaning "the invincible" is the principal form of the Goddess, also known as Devi and Shakti in Hinduism. Durga the mahashakti, the form and formless, is the root cause of creation, preservation and annihilation. According to legend, Durga was created for the slaying of the buffalo demon Mahisasura by Brahma, Vishnu, Shiva, and the lesser gods, who were otherwise powerless to overcome him. Embodying their collective energy (shakti), she is both derivative from the male divinities and the manifested representation of their power.
The word "Durga" in Sanskrit means a fort, or a place which is difficult to overrun. Another meaning of "Durga" is "Durgatinashini," which literally translates into "the one who eliminates sufferings."
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She is the mother of bounty and wealth, as also of beauty and knowledge, for her daughters are Lakshmi and Saraswati (Hindu goddesses of wealth and knowledge, respectively).
Iconography
• Durga is depicted as having eight or ten hands. These represent eight quadrants or ten directions in Hinduism. This suggests that she protects the devotees from all directions.
• Like Shiva, Mother Durga is also referred to as "Triyambake" meaning the three eyed Goddess. The left eye represents desire (the moon), the right eye represents action (the sun), and the central eye knowledge (fire).
• The lion represents power, will and determination. Mother Durga riding the lion symbolises her mastery over all these qualities. This suggests to the devotee that one has to possess all these qualities to get over the demon of ego.
• The conch shell in Durga's hand symbolizes the 'Pranava' or the mystic word 'Om', which indicates her holding on to God in the form of sound.
• The bow and arrows represent energy. By holding both the bow and arrows in one hand "Mother Durga" is indicating her control over both aspects of energy - potential and
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Kaal Ratri
Kaal Ratri is the seventh form of Mother Durga. She has a dark complexion, disheveled hair and a fearless posture. She is black like Goddess Kali and holds a sparkling sword in her right hand battle all evil. Her gesture of protection assures us of freedom from fear and troubles.
viii. Maha Gauri
Maha Gauri is intelligent, peaceful and calm. She wears white clothes, has four arms, and rides on a bull.
ix. Siddhidatri
Siddhidatri is the ninth form of Goddess and has supernatural healing powers. She blesses all Gods, saints, yogis, tantrics and all devotees as a manifestation of the Mother Goddess.
Hindu religious texts also talk about the existence of the Ten Great Feminine Cosmic Powers (Dasha Mahavidyas) which basically can be thought to be the ten fundamental aspects of the Supreme Cosmic Mother's personality. Nevertheless, each Goddess has a specific cosmic function in the universal harmony. The traditional sequence of the ten Goddesses is:
The Ten Maha Vidyas
Kali: The Power of Time and The Night of Eternity
Tara: The Power of Void and The Night of Anger
Tripura Sundari: The Power of Absolute Splendor
Bhuvaneshwari: The Power of Space and The Night of Perfect Realization
Tripura Bhairavi: The Power of Death and The Night of
Selvadurai uses an allusion to demonstrate his grandmother’s role as a negative mentor in Shivan’s life. His dream of seeing his grandmother “incarnated as the demoness Kali” running after him (in the body of his mother) is very telling of what Shivan subconsciously thinks of his grandmother. (Selvadurai 371) The demoness Kali is the Hindu goddess of destruction. Though she is seen as a god, her physical appearance is quite appalling. Her dark skin, red eyes, fangs and necklace made of human heads are all quite terrifying. When portrayed, she is often seen standing on top of the Hindu god Shiva as well. Kali’s frightful appearance, paired with her relationship with the god Shiva is very telling of Shivan’s relationship with his aachi. He fears her with every fibre of his being. In said dream, he imagines himself as his mother, carrying a child, running from his grandmother, but proving to be unfruitful when Kali, “snatches the infant from [his] arms and opens her mouth wide to consume him”. (Selvadurai 371) This baby is Shivan, and Kali eating the baby shows how as a mentor, she has taken away all the innocence from Shivan and taken him away from his mother. Shivan’s ammi shows how even negative mentors can push their mentees into
A goddess in ancient Mesopotamia is considered a woman who is of the highest ranking and deserves the highest respect to be considered by men (Thompson). Ishtar, the goddess of love and war, has a small, destructive role in the epic. She essentially lets all fire and brimstone loose, which leads to a battle with Enkidu and Gilgamesh, which in turn leads to Enkidu getting the death penalty from the gods, which sends Gilgamesh off to his failed quest for immortality (shmoop). One more
...s burning herself” (Wecker). The symbol is also associated with the Islamic word “Khasma” which means five- a number identified with fighting off the evil eye. As one can see the stories and opinions of these three important women may be disputed and theories challenged. However, regardless of the circumstances, some similarities still remain.
have originated as a great naturemother goddess that was later reduced to a horse goddess. Only one
When people hear the words “Greek gods” they immediately think of Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades. While those three play a big role in Greek mythology, there are many other gods and goddesses who are also very important and highly worshipped (C. Hemingway, S. Hemingway). Another highly worshipped goddess is the goddess of wisdom, Athena. Born from the head of Zeus, Athena is his favorite daughter and is highly respected by the other gods. She is one of three virgin goddesses and has many temples dedicated to her worship (“The Goddess Athena”). As the goddess of wisdom, Athena was not only the goddess of logic, but also the goddess of arts, crafts, and battle strategy; her cool logic helped her to aid heroes such as Odysseus and Hercules, as well as invent many items including the flute and the plow.
She is stil worshiped to this day by the Indian people. Her story is quite different from Athena’s, she was not the goddess of war and had nothing to do with violence. Instead she was also the goddess of knowledge helping people learn things such as the Alphabet. The Indian people hold a festival every year in her honor on the fifth day of spring in which the Hindu children are given their first lesson in reading and writing (Das).
Athena is the Greek goddess of warfare, wisdom, and the arts and crafts. She is well known for being the daughter of Zeus, the ruler of all Greek gods, and Metis (Speechley, p. 853). In the same way,
The goddesses Played a vital role in Greek society for they were responsible for many aspects of Greek. life, i.e., a life of a child. birth, harvest, etc. Accompanying the 6 major goddesses (Hera, Athena, Aphrodite, Hestia, Demeter and Artemis) we have the lesser divinities such as the Muses, the Graces, the Fates, etc. The second level of women used in Greek mythology is that of the human.
She is also similar to Hecate/Trivia as she is a goddesses of sorcery and magic.
The Kumari means "virgin". It is the tradition of worshiping young pre-pubescent girl, as manifestations of the divine female energy or Devi in Hindu religious traditions.The girl's selection process is rigorous. She is worshipped by Hindus as well as the Buddhists. Kumari lives in the Kumari Ghar, the temple like house.
Hestia was the virgin goddess of the hearth and the home. As the goddess of the family hearth she also presided over the cooking of bread and the preparation of the family meal. She was also the goddess of the sacrificial flame and received a share of every sacrifice to the gods. Hestia is one of the three goddesses of the first Olympian generation, along with Demeter and Hera, she was described as the oldest and the youngest of the three daughters of Rhea and Cronus, sister to the three brothers Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades. Of all the gods, Hestia was the mildest, the most tender and loving, and the most forgiving
Chakra Symbol: It is represented by a red triangle that is pointing downwards that signifies the attributes of fire. It has ten dark blue literally black petals representing the rain clouds.
Sariah was a wife and mother of prophets to the Lord. She displays obedience, surrenders to fear, and fortifies her testimony.
The feminine name means "strengthless, feeble and small"in Sanskrit. The name has a German origin too meaning 'grace, favor'.
Durga is a warrior queen who slays demons in the battle to keep the cosmos at balance. Durga is universally beautiful. She rides on a lion into battle and holds many weapons with her many hands attached to her many arms. David Kinsley, author of Hindu Goddesses, describes Durga as "The great battle queen with many arms, each which wields a weapon. She rides a fierce lion and is described as irresistible in battle." This is very different from the description of Kali, as said by the above author, "The goddess Kali is almost always described as having a terrible, frightening appearance. She is always black or dark, is usually naked, and has long disheveled hair." Kali likes to accent her naturally scary beauty by wearing severed heads, arms and dead children as jewelry. Blood seems to be her favorite cosmetic.