Maa Durga, the Goddess Who Does It All
In scripture, she defeats demons. In Bengali homes, she’s also family. This is how one deity came to embody more than one story.
On Mahalaya, at dusk, the clouds part in Bengal, the radios boom with music, and people rush to their balconies. After a long and strenuous year, Maa Durga is finally coming home. The next nine days are about celebration: dancing, singing, eating delicious food, and pandal-hopping. On the last day, Dashami, which we celebrate today, people flood to the banks of rivers. But everyone’s reluctant to let her go.
For Bengalis around the world, Durga Puja doesn’t just commemorate Maa Durga’s killing of the demon Mahishasura. It’s also the homecoming of a daughter whose marriage is far from perfect.
Her husband, Shiva, is a wandering ascetic who spends more time away than at home. So every autumn, Maa Durga returns to her parents’ house with four children in tow: Ganesh, Lakshmi, Saraswati, and Kartikeya. Over centuries, Bengalis have transformed a fearsome warrior goddess into a daughter, wife, and mother. But in making her more like an ordinary woman, they haven’t made her any less powerful.