There are many forms of the Goddess - 'Vyapini Vidhyakaran Vidyavidya-Swarupini...' (Lalita Sahasranama) Our scriptures have described the many forms and natures of the Goddesses. And geography, society, culture, customs and traditions have added more diversity to them.

Therefore, even if we are followers of the same religion, the same sect, the primary image of the goddess may be different in our minds. If you start looking, you will find stories about the creation and production of these images.

Most Nepali villages are under the umbrella of some Gramadevi. Here, it is difficult to find not only villages without 'own Devithan', but also villages. Almost all the districts of Nepal have temples or shaktipeeths of goddesses that are famous far and wide.

We are surrounded, covered, nurtured, nourished and protected by the Goddesses. By wearing vermilion and hanging dhaja on the stone, reciting or by someone working, someone seeing in a dream, someone seeing a story, connecting with a story-occasion, knocking a plate or a bowl, offering milk or offering a sacrifice, there are deities that are grown, added or built in Nepali society from cow to coat. Devithans are the most common bowing places and social shields in our society.

Our love and faith towards the Goddess is indescribable. The slightly higher thumkas are the favorite abode of Nepalese goddesses. But they live equally happily in Pahara, Dobhan, Deurali, strange stones, big or crooked trees, wells, seeds, land, forests, rivers.

Our goddesses believe in faith rather than in scriptures, so they do not wait for the Pranapratistha method to be realized, the devotees themselves can make them 'chyatchchyat'. Our goddesses speak to Dhamijankri, unknown to Hindu scriptures, and sometimes even speak to us through her own mouth. Their language to talk to people is also unique, strange.

The folk goddess 'Maharani', who is not recognized by the scriptures, has a different form and nature. For example, none of the traditional shrines in Elam (except those recently added) have idols and the goddess does not like roofs that pour rain from the sky. Satyavati of Palpa does not listen well and makes the devotees cry out for boons. In the past few decades, the 'Chhathi Mai' of Mithila-Madhesh has climbed very high in the mountains.

'Kumari' is no longer just the goddess of the valley, it seems that respect for her has increased throughout the country. People from the east are reaching Baitadi to see Tripurasundari and climbing Bajura lake to see Badimalika and people from the west are climbing Pathibhara. Due to communication and transportation, even several local Ishta Devis are becoming everyone's without question.

When I was a child, our forest goddess 'Vanskhandi' might have been displeased, and she used to shout messages from the barking tree night after night. It's been a long time since I heard that sound that my grandparents deeply believed in, but the mere memory of it brings me back to my childhood with the fear of angry mothers. While our folk goddesses are their own, Santoshi Mata, who is known from the 2033 Bombay film 'Jai Santoshi Mata', is still feeding some Nepalis good chickpeas every Friday-Friday. Creation of

image

It seems that the most diverse image of the image created by a single word in our mind is that of 'Goddess'. We are used to meeting and seeing different forms of the Goddess in our mothers, wives and daughters. A good guruma or an intelligent and graceful female creator seems to us like Saraswati.

In the angry woman we see Ranchandi. We don't have to think of Annapurna as a woman who runs a home or a kitchen well with little resources. It is also seen that during Dasain or other occasions when the Goddess is worshiped, the daughters of the entire village who are worshiped are called 'Devi' until that context is old.

As the poet Bhupi Sherchan said, 'In my square there are both people made by God and gods made by man.' The temples and their glitter and bustle that have been renovated, decorated and added to in various parts of the country over the past decades are interesting. It is now when the poet writes, 'It is in my square that the gods are confused with humans and humans are confused with gods.' The image of Gods and Goddesses in our mind is not only drawn from meditation postures, stotra mantras and whole stories - Puranas, folklores, symbols, icons, but also from pictures, idols and mass media made for commercial purposes.

Those images are also not tacked on, like photographs, but engraved on semi-abstract images. Reading with the images and symbols identified in childhood as Deuta or Devi does not erase the memories from people's minds.

From the compulsion of Sita, who was imprisoned in the Ashoka garden by the voice of her grandmother, to the compulsion of Sita, who was placed in the place of Balakrishna by Vasudev, and who tried to kill her by reaching to the sky and prophesying, Yogamaya reached the sky. After the

, due to books and media, Mahasaraswati as wisdom, Mahalakshmi as the color of opulence and Mahadurga as aggressiveness reside in my mind but they too have limited tangibility. In my mind they sit in semi-abstract shapes with preferences of white, gold and red respectively, which may sit in very different forms in your mind.

Goddess of Dasain

Dasain is the festival of worship of Mahadurga Bhagwati. Bhagwati is the goddess of Dasain described in Durga Saptashati, which is considered part of the Markandeya Purana. Durga Saptashati is probably the most kept and read religious book in Nepali society after Bhagavad Gita and Swasthani.

In Durga Saptashati, it is described that first Madhu and Kaitva were killed by the goddess, then Mahishasura and finally Raktabija along with the Daitya kings Shumbha and Nishumbha. Durga Saptashati is basically a story of worship and Aridman for Shakti and its heroine, Mahadurga-Mahakali Bhagwati in various forms.

Many forms of Devi are described in Saptashati. As in the first chapter, Bhagwati Yoganidra is described as follows,

Soumya Soumyatrashesha – Soumyebhyastvatisundari.

Paraparanan Parma Twameva Parameshwari..

(first chapter)

What is that? In the book 'Durga Saptashati' translated by Madhav Ghimire in the year 2002 and published in the year 2058, the translation of the above letters is like this:

Beautiful and more beautiful than beautiful.

God beyond both.

But is Bhagwati just beautiful? In the second and third chapters, the description of Simhavahini, Mahishasurmardini Bhagwati is as follows:

स दादर्स तातो देविण विटालोक्त्रीय तविशा.

Padakrantya Natabhuvam Kiritollikhitambaram. .

Disho Bhujsahasren Samantadvyapya Sanshitham.

That's the same thing in the poet's engrossed Nepali:

He saw that there the goddess was shining in the world

She touched the earth with her feet and touched the heaven with Sripech.

Jhankari's bow's red blaze stirs the abyss

Spreading thousands of hands, the horizon is lit up.

And,

Tatah Kruddha Jaganmata Chandika Panmuttamam.

Papou re-revival Jahasarunlochana..

sa cha tan prahitansten choornayanti sharotkarai:.

The same verse, in the words of Madhav Ghimire:

Ranchandi got angry and reddened his eyes.

She was laughing while drinking Bhirmauri's wine.

Arrows pulverize all rocks.

She spoke with drunkenness and sputtering.

In the seventh chapter of Saptashati, the form of Bhagwati Ambika who is ready to kill Shumbha Nishumbha is like this  :

bhrukutikutilattsya lalatfalkad drutam.

kali karalavadana vinishkrantasipashini..

Vichitrakhatwangdhara Narmalavibhushana.

story break

in Nepali:

The eyes are wide and wide.

Kali Karalavdana came out with a trap.

Lindi Vichitra Khatwang Dhardi Rage Bagambar. 

Laundi Mundko Mala, Masusukti is terrible..

Hamgrade mouth left by using tongue lamlam. 

The eyes are red, the eyes are dark, the sound is loud.

But many of us read these letters in Sanskrit or Nepali many times but do not keep the Goddess in mind in this terrible way. The image of Durga Bhagwati, i.e. the goddess of Dasain, in our mind, be it in calendars and pamphlets printed from Shivkashi or in Radio Nepal dramas or similar descriptions in Hindi cinema has been created and artists have filled it with a lot of elegance and grace. 

But the goddess is not only real, not only tangible. In the twenty-eight verses of "Ya Devi Sarvabhuteshu..." (Chapter 5) in Durga Saptashati's slokamala, there is worship of abstract forms from 'Vishnumaya' to mind or consciousness, while reciting or listening attentively, different abstract images of the goddess come to mind. The gist of it is – I repeatedly bow down to the presiding goddess of the senses, who empowers our senses of seeing, hearing, understanding, speaking, tasting, smelling and being satisfied by being always present within us.

Soumya from Calcutta

India is like Nepal. There are hundreds of such names, forms and temples of the goddess in different places which are completely new to Indians from other places. Calcutta is the most different and unique in terms of the appearance of Calcutta Devi who adds more novelty to that newness every year.

Calcutta has two famous temples of Kali. The Kali temple in Kalighat is the famous Shaktipeeth which is believed to have fallen on the right foot of Sati Devi, while the Dakshineshwar Kali temple is related to the sadhana and education of Ramakrishna Paramahamsa. Both these temples are famous for having traditional idols of Kali.

Every year during Dasain, Calcutta becomes a city of Goddess temples. It can be seen that many things like spirituality, religion, culture, artistry, experimentation, and the use of artistic freedom are being integrated without meaning of boundaries.

Today's immense variety, artistic freedom and use of ideas seen in Durga Puja pandals is the result of a gradual evolution spanning over a century. When digging into history, there are instances of Durga Puja being organized during Navratri in Calcutta from around 1600 AD.

Initially, Durga Puja was confined to the homes of the royal family and the wealthy and had no place for public participation or diversity. But the collective Durga Puja of the Barovari (initiated by twelve friends) that began in the late eighteenth century (around 1780) broke that monopoly of the elite. The worship was brought from the palace to the pandals where the streets and squares were prepared.

Calcutta, as the administrative capital of the East India Company, was also diverse, and as a result, the decoration and worship of places of worship gradually began to be filled with competing colors of collectivism. Then temporary temples started being prepared in Toltol. Called Pandal in Hindi and 'Pandal' in Bengali, their variety and artistry became the main attraction of Calcutta's Dussehra.

The search for competitive decorations and themes began in Calcutta, India's most dynamic commercial city for a few decades from the end of the nineteenth century. And local art, myths and stories of society started entering the pandal. From the 1970s-80s, it took a new turn - topics ranging from poverty, health, justice, literature to revolution started to be accepted by the pandal and the doors of free use like in 'contemporary art' started opening.

After the 1990s, this practical stream broadened – pandals became not just places of worship, but platforms for independent art exhibitions, political commentary, cosmopolitanism and environmental awareness. Therefore, the pandals we see today are not just places where Durga idols are installed and worshiped, but rather a huge 'installation' art of social dialogue, artistic experimentation and cultural identity, where the socio-political consciousness of Bengal can be seen being reflected.

Last year we went to Calcutta to see the Durga Puja and Pandals and came back with more than we bargained for. An unarmed Durga made by an unknown artist there has ruled my mind since last year. Among the hundreds of images of the goddess in my mind, this is the one whom I worship 'no mantra no yantra'.

Unarmed Durga, whose hands are empty. The only weapon she has is the trident which she uses as a hairpin. She is not mounted on a lion, nor is she fighting any demon. (Photo-1)

His feet are not even on the ground, let's say, he has nowhere to stand.

We were amazed to see the unarmed Durga of Calcutta on Dasain, witnessing the wrath of the enemy and the frenzy of victory in the image of the goddess. We were mesmerized by the sight of that 'Vinarameshwari', who used to hear verses like 'Tatha Kruddha Jaganmata Chandika Panmuttamam' in Chandi's text and the plays of Radio Nepal were always praising the Goddess.

We did not get satisfied after seeing it once, we went there again the next day. That dignity of Durga has disturbed some people, a 'classical' image of Durga has been added on the floor. (Photo – 2)

Whatever was added, his eyes were filled with the same compassion and his hands were just as empty. There was no Mahishasura and not even a drop of blood. After the

came back, my friend Prakash Kumar Subedi wrote on Facebook, '...Neither the clothes and ornaments of the goddess were stately nor did the goddess look destructive. There were no weapons or other symbolic objects in the hands of the goddess, her hands were spread out. The trishul, the only weapon with the goddess, was also used as a thorn to hold her hair. But Durga looks quintessentially Bengali.

The costumes and overalls used in the pandal are not only local, but the goddess's eyes are also seen as 'Potol Chera Chokh', a Bengali epithet of beauty, which means 'eyes like the slits of a coral'. In front of me, a local youth was also taking pictures of the statue. That's when his friend came from behind and started saying with a mixture of surprise and humor, 'Osur Missing' means 'The monster is missing ∕' I felt that he had given this unusual image of the goddess an easy and accurate name.'