Orissa Review * September-October - 2007 Mother Goddess : Durga Bharati Pal One of the most popular goddess of the Hindu, among the Indus Pantheon was the Mother Durga Mahishamardini is worshipped annually in Goddess. A teracotta figurine from Harappa the month of Asviana. She is the great Mother represents a nude female figure with a plant issuing Goddess who appears at times on earth to out of her womb. She is represented as Mother destroy the evil forces, being endowed with Sakambhari. Kautilya mentioned 'Devi' in his numerous hands and weapons. She is Mahayogini Arthasastra as a spirit of vegetables in connection who maintains the links of creation, preservation with the sowing of seeds. From the Earth Goddess and destruction. She is worshipped as Aday she was later conceived as the war-Goddess for because she is the beginning of all. The evolution the protection of her devotees. To the Vedic of the Durga images was mainly due to the wide Aryan, the Mother Goddess appears in the form prevalence of Saktism 'that is the worship of of Prithivi and later on it is called Aditi; Prakriti Shakti under various names of which, Devi, Durga Durga, Gouri and Kali Ambika is described as and Kali are best known. Durga becomes the the sister of Rudra and later on comes to be supreme object of adoration in the Sakti cult and regarded as the great Mother Uma and Parvati had a number of names given to her in the occurs as name of Siva's consort in the Taittiriya subsequent literature. She is also named as Aranyaka. She is now Durga who grants victory Brahmani (Creative Force), Vaishnavi (Preserving and Mahishamardini who killed the buffalo demon Force) and Rudrani (Destructive Force). Mahishasura. It is said in the Ramayana that Sri According to Ansumabhedagama, Ramachandra also worshipped Mother Goddess Goddess Durga is stated to have four arms, three with one hundred and eight lotuses to seek her eyes and dark complexion. The head is adorned blessing to kill Ravana. with a Karanda Makuta and body decked with In the Mahabharata, many names of Durga all ornaments. are mentioned in a hymn of Arjuna. They are Kali, The Goddess Durga as Mahishasura- Kapila, Krishnapingala, Siddha-Senani, Mahakali, mardini should have ten hands according to Chandi, Chanda, Katyani, Vijaya, Jaya, Uma, Silparatna which described her further as having Sakambari and so on. three eyes, high breast and thin waist. Her eyes In the form of the Mother Goddess she was resembling the nilotpala or blue lotus and stand the popular deity in the ancient period, scholar in the tribhanga pose. In her right hand She carries like Sir John Marshall feels that the foremost the Trisula, Khadga, Saktayudha, Chakra and 11 Orissa Review * September-October - 2007 bow, and in the left hands the Pasa, Ankusa, Himavan a lion and other various arms and Khetaka Parasu and a bell. The Asura ornaments. Being thus armed and adorned by all Mahishusura carries a sword and a shield. The the gods Katayani proceeded to the Vindhya devi plunged her trisula into his neck and he is mountain. She gave an exceedingly frightful bleeding profusely. scream, again and again engaged the enemies of The Vishnudharamattara is quoted as the gods and their leader in a terrific battle Mahishamardini under the name of Chandika. The vanquished the demons, and their leader Mahisha devi has the complexion of gold and is a very by pierced his body with trident. handsome youthful lady in an angry mood, sitting The story of Durga Mahishasura combat on the back of a lion. She has twenty hands. is found also Devi-Mahatmaya. The battle The various texts differ mainly with regard between Durga and the bufallo demon, in which to the number of arms the goddess should have. the latter was defeated by the hands of Goddess The Matsya Purana, the Silparatna and the Durga. Rupamandan assign her only ten arms. The Durga is often worshipped in the form of Varahapurana, the Chandi Purana and the Visva nine figures; one of them being set-up in the middle Karma Silpa Sastra give her as many as twenty and the remaining eight in position corresponding arms. The Vamana Purana, however endows her to the eight points of the composes. They are all only eighteen arms. She is called thousand armed seated figures having a lotus as their seat. The in the Devi Mahatmya. Bana's Chandisataka image in the middle has eighteen hands, and is refers to her Bhuja Vanam (forest of arms). adorned with various ornaments and other eight The story of Durga's Mahishasura combat figures of Durga have only sixteen hands. The is formed in Various Purunas. According to the central figure is named Ugra-Chandika. The text of Vamana Purana; that the gods having been names of these eight goddess are Rudra-Chanda, defeated by Mahishasura forsook their abodes Prachanda, Chandogra, Chandanayika, Chanda, and hastened with Brahma as their head to implore Chandavati, Chandarupa and Atichandika. Such the protection by Vishnu. Sankara was also is the description of Navadurga as given in the present there; and when the gods finished their Skandayamala. grievances, Vishnu, Brahma Sankar and all the Once goddess Durga was installed as a gods so emitted flames of anger from their eyes supreme deity after her various exploits against and countenances that a mountain of effulgence the demon Mahishasura. She gradually outgrew was formed. From this mountain came forth the terrific character through her feminine nature Katavani resplendent as thousands Suns, with and Mahishasuramardini from being the three eyes with hair black as night and with commonest type of her terrific aspect is more eighteen arms. frequently represented in Indian art. Sculptural To her Siva gave a trident, Vishnu a disc, representation of Mahishamardini Durga found in Varuna a conch, Agni a spear, Yama an iron rod, the 1st century A.D of Kushana period in the Vayu a bow, Surya a quiver and arrows, Indra a Mathura Art. The image is two, four or six armed thunder bolt, Kubera a mace, Brahma a rosary is seen subduing the demon. and water pot, Kala a sword and shield, One of the remarkably relief belonging to Visvakarma a battle axe and other weapons, the Gupta period, unearthed at Bhita depicts the 12 Orissa Review * September-October - 2007 Goddess subduing the buffalo-demon. A the headless trunk of the buffalo, from whose neck fragmentary relief at Sarnath also represents the the human form is made to emerge with a sword goddess piercing the demon with her trident. Here in his hand. The whole composition is animated the goddess is two armed and without her usual with life. The goddess is flanked by miniature mount. The four armed image at Bhumara, female attendants on her either side. In the Amber (Madhya Pradesh) seen Goddess standing in the Museum the four-armed goddess represents the Pratyalidha pose and pressing demon's head with act of killing the demon. She bears a sword, a her right leg, piercing the back with her trident. In trident, and a bell and the remaining left hand is the coin of the Kumara Gupta-I, the Goddess is placed on the head of the demon who has just depicted as Durgasimhavahana. In all the early emerged in human form as a result of the representation, the goddess is two, four or six decapitation of his animal head. Similar sculptures armed, but in the Udayagiri cave the goddess has have also been preserved in the Museum at been endowed with as many as twelve arms. Jhalawar. The depiction of the demon, both in human and animal form as early as the 8th, 9th There is a very interesting stone sculpture century A.D, in very interesting from iconographic of Mahishasuramardini from Dulmi in the Indian point. Museum at Calcutta. It represents the ten armed goddess fighting vigorously with the demon who There is yet another impressive eight armed emerges out of the decapitated trunk of buffalo, image of Mahishamardini in the Ambikamata she has in her right hands the trident, Khetaka, temple in Rajastan which is assigned to the 10th Tanka, Sara, Khadga and Dhanu, Parsu, Ankusa, century A.D. Executed between two pilasters, the Shild in her left hand. The demon carrying a sword goddess who holds a thunder bolt, a sword a and shield in his hand to fight with the goddess is shield and a bows, is thrusting a trident held in represented near her right leg. her front right hand into the left thigh of the demon in the human form emerging out of the decapitated Another ten armed splendid image of the trunk of the buffalo. goddess in black basalt in the Dacca Museum is much akin in composition to the above relief. It In the Vital Deula at Bhubaneswar, the however differs in certain point that the goddess goddess shown in the act of slaying the buffalo has thrust a Javelin instead of a trident in to the demon who has the body of a man and the head demons bosom. Secondly she is subduing the of a buffalo having two horns and who is seen demon by catching hold of his tuffus of hair. It kneeling before the goddess at her feet trying to bears a short inscription on its pedestal describing fight her with a sword in his hand. the goddess as Sri Mashika Chandi. It The eight armed goddess carries sword, corresponds to the Agni Purana, according to trident, thunder bolt, javelin and shield, bow in which the Devi seizes the hairs of the demon by the left hand and pressing the buffalo-demon by one her hands.