Bhavānī

In the narratives summarized by the cited sources, devas and humans appealed to supreme divine power to defeat malign asuras. Bhavānī, as a manifestation of Śakti/Devī, is described as arising with martial force empowered by attendant goddesses (the Saptamātṛka) to slay demons named in the tradition (including Matang, Mahishasura and Kukur in the accounts cited). According to the sources, different furious forms were assumed in the course of these combats (see below); locally her principal cult image is said to reside on Yamunachala hill (Tuljapur, Sahayadri range) where the Tulja Bhavani temple stands, a site regarded in the source material as a major Shakta pīṭha and an historical center of devotion.

The principal cult image at Tuljapur is described in the sources as a black stone (granite) murti approximately 3 feet high and 2 feet wide, portrayed as an asta-bhuja (eight-armed) Durga with a beautiful, smiling face, long hair rising from the crown, weapons in multiple hands, a quiver on her back, and one hand in abhaya mūdra (the gesture of reassurance/protection). The sources additionally record that mythic narratives depict Bhavānī assuming other multi-armed, fearsome forms — e.g., Katyayani (10-armed), Mahalakshmi / Devī Çaṇḍikā (18‑ or 1000‑armed in Durgā Saptaśatī citation), Ugrachanda (18-armed) and Bhadrakali (16-armed) — when enacting her warrior aspect.

The cited material characterizes Bhavānī as both the giver of existence (the power that confers bhava) and an agent who destroys evil: she is said to grant life, protection and mercy (karuṇā), to be invoked for liberation (mukti) per Lalita Sahasranamam, and to take fierce martial forms to vanquish asuras (the tradition recounts slaying Mahishasura and other demons). A devotional tradition attributed to Adi Śaṅkara in the sources states that reciting her name with true devotion thrice daily averts sorrow, sin, illness and unexpected death; locally she functions as a kuladevata and a legitimating patron of warriors in some regional histories (per the cited encyclopedia entry).