THE worship of Goddess Durga, according to mythologies, started from the very beginning, and the ritual is as old as the mythologies are. Originally Durga Puja used to be celebrated in spring season (Basanta) which is now called Basanti Puja. Durga Puja was first performed in Autumn by Ram Chandra in an emergency to secure power from the goddess in his battle against Ravana.

Hindus worship Durga as per instructions in the Devi Purana considering Her as the goddess of relief from sorrows and miseries. She is the symbol of power (Shakti), to prevail over evil, and the devotees seek everything from her for happiness and prosperity in the material world. The prayer to the eternal goddess is for'reputation and prosperity, for faculty and intelligence, for ushering in of beauty and annihilation of ugliness as described in the Cnandi. the scripture.

The mythology describes : Alter conquering the heaven

I he demon king Mahishasura. being powerful by the boon of Brahma, ruled the three worlds and expelled the gods from heaven. Then all the gods went • to Shiva accompanied by Brahma and Vishnu to discuss Ilie outrageous situation. After lieing informed of the evil activities of Mahishasura. Brahma.

Vishnu and Shiva became agitated and took decision to create a composed power from their energies. All other gods present agreed to contribute there energies too to create the power (Shakti). Thus rays of energies from all gods got composed and menifested in the form of the Goddess.

Her countenance was formed with the radiance from Shiva, radiance from Yama gave her the long dark hairs, from Vishnu's her hands, from Moon's her bosom, from radiance of Indra her torso, her legs formed from the radiance of Varuna, from Prithivi's her back, her feet were formed with the radiance from Brahma, toes from the radiance of Sun. from radiance of Vasus her. fingers were made. Her nose formed with the radiance from Kuber, her three eyes from the radiance of Agni. Marut gave her ears and the rest of her person was composed by Vishwakarma. And she appeared with 10 hands. The hands represent the multiplicity of strength during the time of war and peace. The ten main gods gave hef their most powerful weapons in ten of her hands.

Shiva gave her the Trident. Vishnu gave her the Sudarshan Chakra (cutting wheel). Varuna

gave her the Conch. Marut gave her the Bow and Arrows. Indra gave her the Bajra. (bolt). Yama gave her the Scepter. Brahma gave her the Kamandalu (water carrier), Sun gave radiance to pores of her person. Time gave her the Sword. Vishwakarma gave her his Ax and Armour. Himalaya gave her the Lion to ride in the battle with the demon king Mahishasura.

Then she appeared in the battle against the evil. The fury and roar trembled the three worlds. And at the end of the great battle Mahishasura was killed along with his associates by Durga, the composed power of gods.

Thus the composed power appeared and carried through the radiance of divinity. The composed force only manifests when evil forces threaten the very existence of the divine forces. Durga is the primordial and power par excellence.

Durga is manifested as supreme Goddess — Brah-marupini. and exists as unmanifested absolute Divinity. She is Vishwarupa. Jaganmayee. the goddess of the wdrld. Durga symbolizes the noti-dualistic existence of energized consciousness. Being the divine mother she destroys the

disharmony that is creating imbalance in the phenomenal world. She is well-wisher of all even of those she destroys because she is their mother too. After killing of Mahishusura in a battle the gods asked Durga, why she enacted the drama of war instead of killing the demon king and his associates instantly with her supreme power of radiance. The divine mother replied. "If I had burnt them like that, they would have gone to hell and it would have

een difficult for them to evolve. But by fighting with me and getting killed by me. they attain hecen. where they will charge • ein^s ■"hus

Durga .... -'inply to destroy evil, but iu transform it into divine energy. Demon king Mahishusura also achieved heaven as per the boon of Durga and is being worshipped along with her.

Durga, the Goddess of power (Shakti) is worshipped across the world by the followers, however, in variation of form. In Bangladesh and West Bengal the deity is with ten hands (Dashabhuja). in other places of India and abroad including Indonesia. Nepal1 and also iri-some Buddhist temples in Japan and China, in different names.,she Is with 2,4.6.8.10 or 12 haiids. But philosophy of the worship is the same: May the divine mother bless us all.