The Young Chronicle: For Grade 3 October 22nd, 2015 | Page 5

The Story Behind Durga Puja
Durga Puja or Sharadotsav is an annual Hindu festival in South Asia that celebrates the worship of
the Hindu goddess Durga. It starts on the 6th day of the Navratri, and ends with Dussehra on the 10th day.
Durga Puja festival marks the victory of Goddess Durga over the evil buffalo demon Mahishasura (মহিষাসুর).
Thus, Durga Puja festival epitomises the victory of Good over Evil.
Long ago the King of Asuras or daemons, named Rambha, saw a beautiful she-buffalo, and was immediately
smitten with desire for her. The son born of this union was Mahishasura. After Rambha, Mahisha became
the King of the Asuras. Mahishasura prayed to Lord Brahma and asked for the boon of immortality. Since
this was an unreasonable request, lord Brahma asked Mahishasura to ask for something else. Mahishasura
toned down a bit and asked lord brahma to give him a boon that only a woman could kill him. Since Mahishasura thought that women were weak, he felt he was as good as immortal.
Mahishasura then decided that since even the gods couldn’t kill him, he should wage a war against them. He
gathered a huge and capable army of Asuras and decided to march into Amravati. All the gods tried their
best but they couldn’t kill Mahishasura. That’s when the gods decided to create a woman from their best
parts. A dazzling pillar of light emerged from the face of Brahma and shone in the sky. It was red and was
bright like the sun. Next, from the body of Lord Sankara, a silver colored flame emerged and joined that
from Brahma. Vishnu also contributed his power to this group, and so did the other Devas.
Born of the best parts of all the Gods, the goddess formed came to be known as Mahalakshmi. She was
made eternal. She became the protector of the Gods. Though she appears in many forms, her true form is
in the form of Shakti or Energy. She doesn’t have a human form. Parvati and Durga are her avatars. The
Devi mounted her lion and marched towards Amravathi, to fight the Asuras. She let out a terrible roar that
far surpassed that of her beast as she approached the city.
When Mahisha heard this this noise, he was struck with wonder. He turned to his advisors and asked them,
"What is the reason for this uproar? Who dares to disturb the peace of my city?"
Soldiers were dispatched to discover the source of the deafening noise. They were ordered to capture the
perpetrator and bring him before their King in chains. When the soldiers saw the Goddess, fearlessly advancing towards them on her lion-mount, they were struck with fear and ran back to their king.
They said, "O King, There is a beautiful woman outside your gates. She is traveling on a huge lion. Her beauty is divine, she is decked in expensive jewels and clothes. She is not human nor an Asura maiden. She might
be an Apsara. She has eighteen arms, and she is carrying terrible weapons on all of them. She is has made
the terrible noise that you heard a while ago. We do not know who she is. We are not sure why this lady has
come to your realm."
Mahisha turned to his prime-minister and said, "Hearing about this woman has filled my mind with desire for
her. Go with a small division of our army and woo her on my behalf. I shall make her my queen. If she resists, imprison her, but do not hurt her, for she is to be mine."
Mahishasura sent all his representatives to the goddess. However, the goddess scared them back. They all
went back and reported, "O King, we spoke to the lady outside your gates. She refuses to accept your proposal. She is desirous of meeting you in battle. She says that she has been created by the Gods for your destruction. I did not want to battle her for I did not see any way to capture her without harming her. You
alone can suggest a way out of this."
After all his generals died confronting the Devi, Mahishasura came out in person to ask the Goddess her
hand. But the goddess was keen on a battle, hence a battle was fought.
After a long battle, the goddess decided to end the battle then and there, the Goddess then summoned her
discuss (given to her by Vishnu), that was an clone of the Sudarsana-Chakra. She launched it
at Mahishasura and beheaded him. Thus, the terrible buffalo-demon, who had terrorized the Gods with
boons obtained from Lord Brahma, met his end at the hands of Durga.