Story Of Goddess Durga's Creation

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Navratri is the festival that we celebrate in honour of Goddess Durga. She is known by many different names such as Kali, Parvati, Gowri, Sati, Mahamaya and Mahishasura Mardini. Goddess Durga is the consort of Lord Shiva and the supreme female being; so She is referred to as Shakti as well. The story of Goddess Durga's creation is very interesting and the roots of celebrating Navratri lie in it.

Once upon a time, Mahishasura who was buffalo demon amassed a large army and drove the Gods out of heaven. The Gods beseeched the Holy Trinity of Bramha, Vishnu and Shiva to save Them. So the Holy Trinity let out the energy from Their bodies to create a new entity. All the gods chipped in with Their power and finally, Goddess Durga was formed.

The creation of Goddess Durga was possible due to the combined power of all the gods. As a result, She is the most powerful deity in the world. After Goddess Durga emerged a beautiful woman with 10 hands, the Gods gave Her many gifts. Lord Shiva gave Her His trident, Lord Vishnu gave Her His discus and Lord Varun (wind) gave Her a noose, Lord Indra gave Her His thunderbolt and Lord Vayu gifted Her arrows. Her clothes and Her carrier - the lion - was a gift from Lord of the mountains, Himavant. And thus, Goddess Durga was battle ready.

She attacked the demon armies that had taken over heaven and started killing them like ants. After a pitched battle that lasted for nine days, the demon king Mahishasura took the form of a buffalo and attacked the Goddess.

But the Goddess Durga was created for killing Mahishasura and thus She slayed him with the help of Her lion and weapons. The gods could reign on heaven again and henceforth, They called upon the assistance of Devi Durga several times when They were troubled by other demons. The celebration of Navratri is symbolic of Goddess Durga's legendary victory over Mahishasura.