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Durga: the invincible goddess, her stories and her temples
दुर्गा
Durga is the warrior goddess of Hinduism, the one the gods could not do without: when the buffalo demon Mahishasura conquered heaven, they poured their power into her, armed her and sent her out on a lion. Her name means "the inaccessible" or "the invincible". For Shaktas she is the supreme Goddess herself; for many others she is Parvati in her fighting form. Each autumn India gives her nine nights of Navratri, and Bengal its biggest festival of the year.
Story
The gods could not defeat the buffalo demon, so each gave her a weapon and she rode out on a lion. Nine nights of Navratri retell the battle; on the tenth day, Dussehra, the demon falls.
Family and companions
Festivals
Who Durga is
The word durga means a fortress, something that cannot be passed or taken. As a goddess she was established in the main Hindu pantheon by about the 4th century CE, and her central text, the Devi Mahatmya (also called Durga Saptashati, "the seven hundred verses", composed around 400–600 CE), presents her as the power behind creation itself.
Each tradition places her a little differently. In Shaktism she is the main face of Mahadevi, the Great Goddess. Shaiva tradition, especially in Bengal, makes her the wife of Shiva and identifies her with [Parvati](/en/deities/parvati/), and Bengal sees Ganesha, Kartikeya, Lakshmi and Saraswati as her children. Vaishnava tradition counts her among the forms of Yogamaya, Vishnu's power of illusion, born as Yashoda's infant daughter on the night of Krishna's birth so that the two babies could be swapped. And in her battles, fiercer goddesses come out of her: [Kali](/en/deities/kali/) springs from her forehead.
✅ Symbols and iconography
Almost every image catches her at the moment of victory.
- Lion or tiger — Her mount, a gift from Himavan, the god of the Himalayas, in the Mahishasura story. North India usually shows a lion; some regions a tiger.
- Eight to eighteen arms — Each hand holds a weapon lent by a god: Shiva's trident, Vishnu's discus, the conch, bow and arrow, sword, mace, noose, and often a lotus.
- A calm face — Even mid-battle her face stays serene: she fights out of necessity and love for the good, not out of anger.
- Mahishasuramardini — "Slayer of the buffalo demon": her trident in the demon's chest as he climbs out of the buffalo's body.
- Navadurga — Nine forms, one for each night of Navratri: Shailaputri, Brahmacharini, Chandraghanta, Kushmanda, Skandamata, Katyayani, Kalaratri, Mahagauri and Siddhidatri.
The key stories
The best-known story is told in the Devi Mahatmya and retold in the Puranas. Mahishasura, half man and half buffalo, wins a boon from Brahma that no man can kill him, sure that no woman ever could. He drives the gods out of heaven. Their anger and power gather into a single blaze of light, and out of it steps a goddess with many arms; each god hands her his weapon, and Himavan gives her the lion. Mahishasura attacks in one shape after another, and she counters each; at last, as he struggles out of the buffalo's body, she pierces him with the trident. By popular tradition Mysuru takes its name from him, and its hill is held to be the place of the battle.
Later in the same text she faces the brothers Shumbha and Nishumbha. When their generals Chanda and Munda attack, Kali bursts from her forehead and kills them, which is why one of her names is Chamunda; seven mother goddesses, the Matrikas, join the fight. The whole text, 700 verses in 13 chapters, is recited as a single prayer during Navratri.
How Durga is worshipped
Most of her worship gathers around two seasons, after the spring and autumn harvests, with the autumn Navratri the larger. Over nine nights the nine forms of Navadurga are honoured one by one; people fast, recite the Devi Mahatmya, and in Gujarat dance garba until late. The tenth day, Vijayadashami, marks her victory.
In Bengal the same days become Durga Puja: from Mahalaya to Vijayadashami, clay images of Durga with her four children stand in thousands of pandals (temporary, often elaborate halls) built in streets and squares, and on the last day women smear the images and each other with sindoor (vermilion) before the images are carried to the river and immersed. Durga Puja in Kolkata has been on UNESCO's list of intangible heritage since 2021.
The short mantra is Om dum Durgayai namah.
Durga temples you can visit
Many of her great shrines stand on hilltops, which is where the stories put her battles.
Mysuru
[Chamundeshwari Devi temple](/en/mysore/chamundeshwari-devi-temple/) on Chamundi Hill, about 300 m above the city, reached by road or a stairway of about a thousand steps from 1659; tradition places the slaying of Mahishasura on this hill. All of them: [Durga temples in Mysore](/en/mysore/temples/durga/).
Delhi
[Yogmaya temple](/en/delhi/yogmaya-temple/) in Mehrauli, to the goddess revered as Krishna's sister and possibly Delhi's oldest temple still in worship; and the Chhatarpur temple of Katyayani, one of the Navadurga, whose inner shrine opens only in Navratri. The list: [Durga temples in Delhi](/en/delhi/temples/durga/).
Goa
[Shantadurga temple at Kavlem](/en/goa/shantadurga-temple-kavlem/), Ponda: the goddess who by tradition stood between Vishnu and Shiva and made peace, with a six-storey lamp tower lit on festival nights.
Varanasi, Haridwar, Chandigarh
In Varanasi, the red Durga Kund temple, built in the 18th century by Rani Bhabani of Natore beside its tank. In Haridwar, Chandi Devi and Mansa Devi on two hills, both reached by ropeway. Chandigarh is named after Chandi Mandir, 15 km out on the Kalka road.
Across India
Vaishno Devi above Katra in Jammu, one of India's busiest pilgrimages, with millions of pilgrims a year; Kamakhya in Guwahati, among the oldest Shakti Peethas, where the goddess is worshipped in a natural stone without an image; and Kolkata's pandals at Durga Puja.
Festivals
[Navratri](/en/festivals/navratri/) is hers: nine nights twice a year, with the autumn one in September or October the great one. It ends in [Dussehra](/en/festivals/dussehra/), Vijayadashami, the day of her victory over Mahishasura (in the north it is also the day Rama defeats Ravana, and effigies burn). Bengal, Odisha and Assam keep the same days as Durga Puja.
❓ FAQ
Are Durga and Kali the same?
They are aspects of one Goddess but not the same figure. In the Devi Mahatmya, Kali springs from Durga's forehead to fight for her; Durga is the composed warrior on a lion, Kali the dark, wild force of time and destruction.
Who is Durga married to?
In Shaiva tradition, especially in Bengal, to Shiva, and there she is identified with Parvati. In other texts she is a celibate, independent warrior goddess.
What is Durga the goddess of?
Of protection and strength, and of the victory of good over evil. Shaktas see her as the primal energy, shakti, from which everything is born.
What does Om dum Durgayai namah mean?
"Om, dum, homage to Durga." Dum is a bija, a one-syllable seed sound, which is chanted rather than translated.
Why does Durga ride a lion?
In the Mahishasura story, Himavan, the god of the Himalayas, gives her the lion as her mount. It stands for the strength she rides and controls.