KARIMNAGAR, OCTOBER 08, 2024: As part of the ongoing Sri Devi Navarathri celebrations at Sri Maha Shakthi temple in Chaitanyapuri in Karimnagar town, Goddess Katyayani, one of the most ferocious and menacing avatars of Goddess Durga is invoked on the sixth day of Navaratri celebrations on Tuesday.
Also known as Mahishasurmardini, (the Goddess who slayed Mahishasura or the Buffalo Demon), Katyayani Devi is considered the warrior form of Mahadevi or Adi Shakti.
On this occasion, the temple authorities decorated Goddesses Durga, Maha Lakshmi, and Saraswati with Lotus flowers and coins and offered special prayers.
Believed to be the sixth among the Navadurgas (the nine forms of the Hindu deity Goddess Durga worshipped during the festival of Navratri), she is often depicted with four, ten, or eighteen hands.
According to the ‘Skanda Purana’, various Devas (Gods) created the Goddess from their energy, for the sole purpose of defeating Mahishasura. The demon king had a boon that no man could kill him and this led him to become a tyrant and kill off the devas.
Her exploits are described in the ‘Devi-Bhagavata Purana’ and the ‘Devi Mahatmyam’ portion of the ‘Markandeya Purana’.
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