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Durgā

  • Living reference work entry
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Hinduism and Tribal Religions

Part of the book series: Encyclopedia of Indian Religions ((EIR))

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Synonyms

Ambikā; Mahiṣāsuramardinī; Śerāvālī

Definition

A warrior-queen goddess from the Hindu tradition.

The Warrior Queen

Durgā or the “inaccessible one” is one of the most ubiquitous and well-known goddesses in the Hindu pantheon. She is a warrior and a queen. Her exploits are told in a vast array of narratives from the Sanskrit and regional traditions, particularly in the collections of myths called Purāṇas. She is worshipped in a variety of temples and festivals throughout India, especially during the ritual of Navarātri or Durgā Pūjā (Bhattacharya 1996; Erndl 1993; Foulston and Abbott 2009). Her imagery as the slayer of the buffalo demon, riding upon her lion vehicle and killing Mahiṣāsura, is one of the most popular images in all of Hinduism and has become synonymous with the imagery of the Great Goddess, Mahādevī (Simmons 2011).

The imagery of Durgā has a long genealogy that can be traced as far back as the first and second centuries of the Common Era and predates her textual...

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References

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Religious Studies, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, USA

    Caleb Simmons

Authors
  1. Caleb Simmons
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Caleb Simmons .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Dept of Anthropology, The University of North Texas Dept of Anthropology, Denton, Texas, USA

    Pankaj Jain

  2. The Graduate Theological Union , Berkeley, California, USA

    Rita Sherma

  3. Jamia Millia Islamia, Centre for the Study of Comparative Reli Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi, India

    Madhu Khanna

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Simmons, C. (2018). Durgā. In: Jain, P., Sherma, R., Khanna, M. (eds) Hinduism and Tribal Religions. Encyclopedia of Indian Religions. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-024-1036-5_156-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-024-1036-5_156-1

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht

  • Print ISBN: 978-94-024-1036-5

  • Online ISBN: 978-94-024-1036-5

  • eBook Packages: Springer Reference Religion and PhilosophyReference Module Humanities and Social SciencesReference Module Humanities

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