Goddess Durga: The Hindu God with 8 arms!
Goddess Durga is one of the major Gods of Hindu pantheon. In this article, I will tell you about the Hindu God with 8 Arms.
Who is the Hindu Goddess with 8 arms? Durga is revered as the goddess of bravery, power and courage. Durga is considered as an incarnation of Mata Parvati who is the consort of Lord Shiva.
Durga is a Hindu God who has 8 arms. Often she is depicted with 8 hands along with his mount lion, holding different weapons and slaying demons.
But many people ask that Why she has 8 hands? What does it means that Durga has 8 hands and is there a reason behind this?
Today's blog post is based on this question. In this blog post I will tell you about Goddess Durga and why does she has 8 Hands. She is the only Hindu God with 8 arms.
According to the legends, She was created by Brahma, Vishnu and Mahesh(Shiva) for slaying a powerful demon named Mahishasura. Often she is shown as the consort of Shiva by replacing Parvati as both goddesses are one.
Who is Durga?
Goddess Durga is a major deity in Hinduism and a single aspect of the great feminine goddess Devi. She is regarded as the deity of destruction, power, courage, fighting, bravery, valor and etc.
She is said to be the creator of the Trimurti and the feminine power of Sadashiva Brahman. Along with Sadashiva, she is the creator of this whole Universe.
The Shaktism sect worships her as the central figure, considering her to be the supreme Goddess in this Universe along with being the mother of all.
Goddess Durga was created by Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva for killing a demon named Mahishasura who was very powerful and he was torturing the people, Sages, Saints and Devatas.
Now a question arises that why can't Brahma, Vishnu or Shiva killed him and what was the need to create Durga? As these three formed the trinity of Hinduism and are the most powerful Gods.
So actually Mahishasura always thought that women are not powerful and they are very weak. One day when he was doing penance, God appeared in front of him and asked him for a boon. The demon asked that he couldn't be killed by any Male God or man as he thought that women are not powerful to kill him.
He ignored the power of Women. So that's why the holy trinity created Durga who could slay that demon and end the rule of demons from this world. Thus Durga is also called as "Mahishasuramardini" or the one who killed Mahishasura.
The significance festival of Navratri or 9 days
In the honor of Goddess Durga killing Mahishasura, Hindus celebrate the festival of Navratri. As the name suggests, the festival is celebrated for 9 days.
During this festival, people keep fasts for 9 days. Certain Mandapas are installed in every street or corners of cities.
During the nine days, nine forms of Durga or nine Goddesses are worshiped on each day. These 9 forms are Shailputri, Brahmacharini, Chandraghanta, Kushmanda, Skandamata, Katyayani, Kaalratri, Mahagauri and Siddhidatri.
Read our post on Navratri: 6 Facts about Navratri.
Why Hindu Goddess Durga has 8 arms?
Now coming to the main topic, Why Durga has 8 arms and what is the meaning behind this. So the depiction of many arms shows the supremacy of the Goddess over all beings.
Multiple hands symbolize that Durga has immense powers and is above all other beings whether be it humans, devatas, sages or saints and even animals and microorganisms.
Each hand holds some weapons or sometimes has some Mudras. Mudras are unique gestures of fingers and palm which show the nature of the God.
Each arm of Durga holds some weapons or other objects. The weapons of Durga signifies that she is brave and powerful and slays the evil forces from her devotee's life.
The lower hand of Durga giving blessings symbolizes that she is protective towards her devotees and always blesses those who worship her.
Some pictures also show rosary beads or flowers which represents the purity and spirituality of Durga Mata.