Durga

Durga appears in Vedic and post-Vedic strata and is elaborated in later Shakta texts and Puranic layers. In Shakta theology she is identified as the Mahadevi whose shakti (divine energy) unifies powers of the gods; later narrative traditions describe her as formed from the energies of multiple gods in order to fight cosmic threats (one recorded retelling describes energies coalescing into a young woman with attributes drawn from Shiva, Vishnu and Brahma). These composite origin motifs function to synthesize her authority across sectarian traditions.

Durga is typically depicted as a warrior goddess mounted on a lion or tiger and shown with multiple arms, each bearing weapons or attributes lent by the gods; older and secondary summaries commonly describe her with ten arms, though arm-count and iconographic detail vary by text and region. Regional epithets and forms (including the Navadurga) reflect diverse local iconographies rather than a single canonical image.

Theological sources identify Durga with shakti and attribute to her the roles of creation, preservation and destruction in the framework of Mahadevi doctrine; she is chiefly celebrated for martial action—combating and slaying demons (most famously Mahishasura) to restore dharma. Texts and summaries emphasize that she possesses the distinctive attributes or weapons of many gods, can manifest fierce aspects (for example Kali) and is associated with attendant warrior goddesses (the Matrikas).