Durga | |
---|---|
Devanagari | दुर्गा |
Sanskrit transliteration | Durgā |
Affiliation | Renuka, Adi Parashakti, Shakti, Devi, Gauri, Bhagwati, Kali, Parvati, Tara, Tripura Sundari, Bhavani |
Region | India |
Festivals | Durga Puja, Navratri |
Durga is the form of mother goddess in Shaktism. She is also called Renu or Renuga, which means "wife of lord Shiva (or) mother of universe". There are many incarnations of Durga in Shaktism and nine appellations: Skandamata, Kushmanda, Shailaputri, Kaalratri, Brahmacharini, Katyayani, Chandraghanta and Siddhidatri.[2] A list of 108 names that are used to describe her is very popularly in use by eastern Hindus and is called "Ashtottara Shatanamavali of Goddess Durga".[3]
Etymology and nomenclature
History and texts
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 worshiped by the dwellers of the Himalaya and the Vindhyas", a deity of the Abhiras conceptualized 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.[4]
European traders and colonial era references
Some early European accounts refer to a deity known as Deumus, Demus or Deumo. Western (Portuguese) sailors first came face to face with the murti of Deumus at Calicut on the Malabar Coast and they concluded it to be the deity of Calicut. Deumus is sometimes interpreted as an aspect of Durga in Hindu mythology and sometimes as deva. It is described that the ruler of Calicut (Zamorin) had a murti of Deumus in his temple inside his royal palace.[5][6]
Attributes and iconography
- Chakra
- Conch
- Bow and arrow
- Sword
- Spear
- Club
- Trident
- Thunderbolt
- Lotus
Worship and festivals
The ten-day-long Durga Puja is the biggest annual festival in Bengal, Odisha, Assam, Jharkhand and Nepal, where it is known as Dashain. Dashain is the longest national holiday of Nepal. In Dashain, Durga is worshipped in ten forms (Kushmanda, Chandraghanta, Brahmacharini, Shailaputri, Skandamata, Katyayani, Kalaratri, Mahagauri, Mahakali and Durga) with one form for each day in Nepal. It is celebrated likewise with much fervour in various parts of India, especially the Himalayan region, but is celebrated in various forms throughout India and the world.
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)".[7]
The actual period of the worship however may be on the preceding nine days Navaratri followed by the last day called Vijayadashami in or five days in Bengal (from the sixth to tenth day of the waxing-moon fortnight).[8] Nine aspects of Durga known as Navadurga are meditated upon, one by one during the nine-day festival by devout Shakti worshippers. Durga Puja also includes the worship of Shiva, who is Durga's consort, in addition to Lakshmi, Saraswati, Ganesha and Kartikeya, who are considered to be Durga's children.[9] Worship of Mother Nature is done, through nine types of plant (called Kala Bou), including plantain(banana) tree, which represent nine divine forms of Durga.[10] In South India, especially Andhra Pradesh, Dussera Navaratri is also celebrated and the goddess is dressed each day as a different devi – Shailputri, Bramhacharini, Chandraghanta – for the nine days.
In Maharashtra, Tulja Bhavani, Hedavde Mahalaxmi and Ambabai are worshipped as Mahishasura Mardini and considered the patron goddess of the land. Bhavani is known as Tulaja, Amba,[11] Renuka, Yamai, Saptshrungi and Jogai in different places of Maharashtra. She is the inspirational goddess of Raja Shivaji. As per legends, Bhavani appeared after Shivaji prayed to her and blessed him to be able to make Hindustan or the then India(ruled by the Mughals) independent – the kingdom he established eventually became the Hindu Pad Padshahi(sometimes also called the Maratha Empire), which comprised all the land ruled by the Mughals and brought India back under Hindu sovereignty.
In Bangladesh also, the four-day-long Sharadiya Durga Puja is the biggest religious festival for the Hindus and celebrated across the country with Vijayadashami being a national holiday.
The prominence of Durga Puja increased gradually during the British Raj in Bengal.[12] After the Hindu reformists identified Durga with India, she became an icon for the Indian independence movement.
Significance
See also
- Devi-Bhagavata Purana
- Devi Mahatmya
- Durga Puja
- Lehara Durga Mandir
- Shaktism
- Churrio Jabal
- Jwaladevi Temple
References
- ^ Tracy Pintchman (2014). Seeking Mahadevi: Constructing the Identities of the Hindu Great Goddess. State University of New York Press. p. 86. ISBN 978-0-7914-9049-5.
- ^ "What are the 108 Names of Goddess Durga?". About.com Religion & Spirituality. Retrieved 18 June 2016.
- ^ LLP, Adarsh Mobile Applications. "108 Names of Goddess Durga | Ashtottara Shatanamavali of Goddess Durga. Durga, meaning "the inaccessible" or "the invincible". Mostly Goddess Durga called as "Renu" which means "Mother/Goddess of Universe"". www.drikpanchang.com. Retrieved 18 June 2016.
- ^ McDaniel, June (2004). Offering Flowers, Feeding Skulls: Popular Goddess Worship in West Bengal. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-516791-0. p. 214.
- ^ Jörg Breu d. Ä. zugeschrieben, Idol von Calicut, in: Ludovico de Varthema, 'Die Ritterlich und lobwürdig Reisz', Strassburg 1516. (Bild: Völkerkundemuseum der Universität Zürich
- ^ A briefe collection and compendious extract of straunge and memorable thinges, gathered out of the Cosmographye of Sebastian Munster, wherein is made a plaine description of diuers and straunge lawes, rites, maners and properties of sondrye nations, and a short report of straunge histories of diuers men, and of the nature and properties of certaine fovvles, fishes, beastes, monsters, and sondry countryes and places, published in London in 1574 by Tomas Marshe
- ^ Esposito, John L.; Darrell J. Fasching; Todd Vernon Lewis (2007). Religion & globalization: world religions in historical perspective. Oxford University Press. p. 341. ISBN 0-19-517695-2.
- ^ Parmita Borah (2 October 2011). "Durga Puja – a Celebration of Female Supremacy". EF News International. Retrieved 26 October 2011.
- ^ Kinsley, David (1988) Hindu Goddesses: Vision of the Divine Feminine in the Hindu Religious Traditions. University of California Press. ISBN 0-520-06339-2 p. 95
- ^ "Kolabou". Bangalinet.com. Retrieved 25 June 2013.
- ^ Gopal, Madan (1990). K.S. Gautam (ed.). India through the ages. Publication Division, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Government of India. p. 64.
- ^ "Article on Durga Puja".
Bibliography
- Amazzone, Laura (2012). "Goddess Durga and Sacred Female Power". University Press of America. Retrieved 5 February 2017.
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(help) - Chitrita Banerji (2006). The Hour of the Goddess: Memories of Women, Food, and Ritual in Bengal. Penguin Books India. ISBN 978-0-14-400142-2.
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(help) - Denise Cush; Catherine Robinson; Michael York (2012). Encyclopedia of Hinduism. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-135-18979-2.
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(help) - Alain Daniélou (1991). The Myths and Gods of India: The Classic Work on Hindu Polytheism from the Princeton Bollingen Series. Inner Traditions / Bear & Co. ISBN 978-0-89281-354-4.
{{cite book}}
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(help) - Wendy Doniger; Merriam-Webster, Inc (1999). Merriam-Webster's Encyclopedia of World Religions. Merriam-Webster. ISBN 978-0-87779-044-0.
{{cite book}}
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(help) - Robert S. Ellwood; Gregory D. Alles (2007). The Encyclopedia of World Religions. Infobase Publishing. ISBN 978-1-4381-1038-7.
{{cite book}}
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(help) - Lynn Foulston; Stuart Abbott (2009). Hindu Goddesses: Beliefs and Practices. Sussex Academic Press. ISBN 978-1-902210-43-8.
{{cite book}}
: Invalid|ref=harv
(help) - Constance Jones; James D. Ryan (2006). Encyclopedia of Hinduism. Infobase Publishing. ISBN 978-0-8160-7564-5.
{{cite book}}
: Invalid|ref=harv
(help) - David R. Kinsley (1989). The Goddesses' Mirror: Visions of the Divine from East and West. State University of New York Press. ISBN 978-0-88706-835-5.
{{cite book}}
: Invalid|ref=harv
(help) - Kinsley, David (1986). Hindu Goddesses: Vision of the Divine Feminine in the Hindu Religious Traditions. Motilal Banarsidass Publ., Delhi. ISBN 81-208-0379-5.
- Donald J. LaRocca; Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York, N.Y.) (1996). The Gods of War: Sacred Imagery and the Decoration of Arms and Armor. Metropolitan Museum of Art. ISBN 978-0-87099-779-2.
{{cite book}}
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(help) - James G. Lochtefeld (2002). The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Hinduism: A-M. The Rosen Publishing Group. ISBN 978-0-8239-3179-8.
{{cite book}}
: Invalid|ref=harv
(help) - June McDaniel (2004). Offering Flowers, Feeding Skulls: Popular Goddess Worship in West Bengal. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-534713-5.
{{cite book}}
: Invalid|ref=harv
(help) - Rachel Fell McDermott (2001). Mother of My Heart, Daughter of My Dreams: Kali and Uma in the Devotional Poetry of Bengal. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-803071-3.
{{cite book}}
: Invalid|ref=harv
(help) - Malcolm McLean (1998). Devoted to the Goddess: The Life and Work of Ramprasad. State University of New York Press. ISBN 978-0-7914-3689-9.
{{cite book}}
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(help) - Patricia Monaghan (2011). Goddesses in World Culture. ABC-CLIO. ISBN 978-0-313-35465-6.
{{cite book}}
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(help) - Sree Padma (2014). Inventing and Reinventing the Goddess: Contemporary Iterations of Hindu Deities on the Move. Lexington Books. ISBN 978-0-7391-9002-9.
{{cite book}}
: Invalid|ref=harv
(help) - Charles Phillips; Michael Kerrigan; David Gould (2011). Ancient India's Myths and Beliefs. The Rosen Publishing Group. ISBN 978-1-4488-5990-0.
{{cite book}}
: Invalid|ref=harv
(help) - Sen Ramprasad (1720–1781). Grace and Mercy in Her Wild Hair: Selected Poems to the Mother Goddess. Hohm Press. ISBN 0-934252-94-7.
- Hillary Rodrigues (2003). Ritual Worship of the Great Goddess: The Liturgy of the Durga Puja with Interpretations. SUNY Press. ISBN 978-0-7914-8844-7.
{{cite book}}
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(help) - "Durga - Hindu mythology". Encyclopedia Britannica. 19 February 2015. Retrieved 15 February 2017.
External links
- Durga at Encyclopædia Britannica
- Overview Of World Religions - Devotion to Durga