Mahishasura Mardini

Once upon a time, there was a demon whose name was Mahishasura. “Mahisha” means buffalo and as his name goes, his face looked like a buffalo and his body was like a human being. He did a long penance to seek a boon from Lord Brahma. Pleased with Mahishasura’s penance, Lord Brahma appeared before him. Mahishasura asked Lord Brahma for a boon that he should not be killed by any God or man. Brahma granted him the boon.

This boon from Lord Brahma gave Mahishasura the confidence that nobody could harm or kill him. So, he went around disturbing the Rishis and the Devas who out of desperation ran to Lord Maha Vishnu for help. They pleaded with Maha Vishnu to kill Mahishasura. Lord Vishnu knew about the boon that Mahishasura had received from Lord Brahma. He called Lord Brahma and Lord Shiva and together with their combined Divine powers and energies created a powerful form of a woman which was Goddess Durga.

Lord Shiva gave the Goddess His Trident, Lord Vishnu gave Her His Sudarshana Chakra and Lord Indra gave the Goddess His weapon, Vajra. Equipped with all these powerful weapons, the resplendent Goddess Durga, with utmost ferocity and courage, fought with Mahishasura for 9 days. On the 9th day, Goddess Durga killed Mahishasura by cutting off his head. To celebrate this victory of good over evil, the festival of Navrathri is celebrated and the 10th day is celebrated as Vijaya Dashami.