The Goddess Durga (meaning difficult to reach) has many names.
Amba, Paarvati, Kaali, Gauri are some of the more well known
names. She is the incarnation of Paarvati, the consort of Lord
Shiva. She incarnated in this form to kill the demon Mahishasura.
Hence She is also called Mahishasura Mardini. The city of Mysore
is named after Her. The legend is narrated in the famous Deevi
Mahatmyam.
Sri Durga has several arms. She is depicted as having eight arms
holding a different type of weapon in each arm but She is also
known to have eighteen arms. She is also depicted in the
terrible Kaali form in which She is shown standing on a corpse
with out-stretched tongue and unfurled hair. She is the
personified Energy of the Lord Naaraayana Himself. Hence She is
called Shakti and Her worshippers are called Shaakteeyas.
Durga is worshipped by women for long and happy marital life.
She is worshipped during the festival of Navaraatri associated
with Dasera. The festival occurs on the eigth day (Ashtami) of
the fortnight. Hence the day is called Durgaashtami. She is
especially popular in Bengal, perhaps due to the influence of
Raama Krishna Parama Hamsa who worshipped Kaali as Mother.
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