शरण्ये त्र्यम्बके गौरि नारायणि नमोऽस्तु ते ॥
Wish you and your family a very happy durga ashtami!! ✨
This time, here I am with some beautiful and unique shots of Durga maa from 'The City of Joy - Kolkata'! 😍 As it was not possible for me to go out physically and shoot, therefore I have curated various pics which I found gorgeous and unique at the same time with some lesser known facts about maa. Hope you like it! Shubho Durga Ashtami 🙏🏼🌺✨
Goddess Durga is nothing but the forms of Shakti like Kali, Bagavati, Gauri, Rajeshwari; Lalita. Across India Durga is referred to by several names and worshipped with great fear and reverence. The mighty durga devi is the protector of the universe, by killing evil forces. Durga or “Durgatinashini” literally translates to durgati – woes and miseries and nashini- eradicator.
In all her divine forms, Mother Durga symbolizes the true meaning of women's empowerment. She symbolizes the victory of good over evil, which makes hundreds of people worship the divine Boss Lady.
The fearsome side of Mother Durga makes her known as the warrior goddess who can stride along tough paths to destroy evil and shower the universe with love and prosperity. Knowing the powers and strength of Goddess Durga will make you respect her even more:
The Mother Goddess is the epitome of feminine grace and supreme power. Her Shakti or fearless strength is known by different names, each depicting a particular quality of the goddess.
There are multiple manifestations of Goddess Durga worshipped in the form of other deities. The various forms of Durga in nine different avatars are known as Navadurga.
Reflecting the calm feminine side of the goddess- Shailaputri, Brahmacharini, Chandraghanta, and Kushmanda are the first four forms, Skandamata is the fifth form of Goddess Durga, worshiped on the fifth day of Navratri.
Durga is known as 'Triyambake' or the three-eyed goddess. The left eye symbolizes desire, the right eye represents action and the third middle eye depicts knowledge.
Goddess Durga received features from each and every god. Her face from Shiva, her ten arms from lord Vishnu, her feet from Lord Brahma and so on. They also gave her the weapons such as trident, conch, thunderbolt, sword, and spear and decked her up in warrior amour and jewels. The god of the mighty mountains gave her the lion to ride with a thunderous roar.
Thunderbolt represents firm conviction while the partially-bloomed lotus signifies the uncertainty of success.
A revolving disc or Sudarshan chakra denotes the continuity of the universe under the blessing of Goddess Durga. The sword represents undoubted knowledge of the Devi.
While the conch shell symbolizes her connection with God through sound, the bow and arrow represent potential and kinetic energy to be used in times of need.
The three sharp ends of the trident or Trishul is symbolic of the state of activeness, Satva (inactivity), Rajas (activity), and Tamas (no activity).
The famous chant 'Shakti Rupenu Samasthita' means that Durga is omnipotent and exists in each one of us in the form of divine energy.
Agmas were the Epics which shiva tells to parvati- It mainly follows Tantra tradition, Devi stotram etc. Rudryamal , Durga saptashati Tantra chudamani, Shakti sangam etc. These were of 3 types Shaiv, vaishnav and shakt agams.
Nigams were stories which Devi tells to shiva. It mainly consist of vedic systems even Vedas come under Nigamas. It comprises of Karma kaand.
I hope this Navratri blog gave you the fortune to have darshan of maa Durga from the comforts of your home as well as increased your knowledge about her! ✨
Curated by - Kamya 🌺
Image source - Facebook
Information source - various websites and quora
