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Monday 9 February 2015

Tooting

Navaratri Dolls

Jyoti

All the gods, headed by Lord Brahma, came over to Kailasha (a peak in the Himalayas), where Lord Vishnu and Lord Shiva were busy in divine conversations. They narrated the whole story of how the demon-king Mahishasura dethroned Indra from the heaven. They added that, the demon is severely putting an end to the devotees of Vishnu and Shiva, by killing them cruelly. The Asura (demon) wants all in the universe to worship him as god, and not anyone else. First, There's no yajna (worship through divine fire in the altar) for long, and the gods of heaven are leading a life in disguise in the mountain caves, away from the clasp of Mahishasura. Hearing the story, the faces of Vishnu and Shiva turned red in wrath. Their faces glowed up. A sudden effulgent, fiery glow came out of their faces, and at a single point, the energy, the 'jyoti' (divine glow and aura), of all the gods coalesced and formed a gigantic mountain of fire. Soon, this 'jyotipunjah' (heap of 'jyoti') took the form of a young woman. She had the complexion of molten gold, and her 'jyoti' touched the heavens high above.

  1. Her face was from the light of Shiva. 
  2. Her ten arms were from Lord Vishnu. 
  3. Her feet were from Lord Brahma. 
  4. The tresses were formed from the light of Yama (god of death) and 
  5. the two breasts were formed from the light of Somanath (Moon God), 
  6. the waist from the light of Indra (the king of gods), 
  7. the legs and thighs from the light of Varun (god of oceans), and 
  8. hips from the light of Bhoodev (Earth), 
  9. the toes from the light of Surya (Sun God), 
  10. fingers of the hand from the light of the Vasus (the children of Goddess river Ganga) and 
  11. nose from the light of Kuber (the keeper of wealth for the Gods). 
  12. The teeth were formed from the light of Prajapati (the lord of creatures), 
  13. the Triad of her eyes was born from the light of Agni (Fire God), 
  14. the eyebrows from the two Sandhyas (sunrise and sunset), 
  15. the ears from the light of Vayu (god of Wind).

The dispossessed gods were drawn to Durga. They praised her and gave to her their divine gifts: 

  1. Pinakadhrik (Shiva) gave her a trident - "Trishula". 
  2. Lord Vishnu gave her a disc - "Chakra". 
  3. Varuna, the god of water, gave her a conch - "Shankha", and 
  4. the god of fire gave her a missile. 
  5. From the wind, Vayu, she received arrows. 
  6. The king of gods, Indra, gave her a thunder-bolt, and 
  7. the gift of Indra's white-skinned elephant Airavata was a bell, or "ghanta". 
  8. From Yama, the god of death, Durga received a rod - "Kaaldanda", and 
  9. from the Ruler of Waters she was given a noose - "Paash". Durga received many other precious and magical treasures -- gifts of jewels, new clothing, and a garland of immortal lotuses for her head and breasts. 
  10. Heaven's architect Vishwakarma gave her a bright axe and magic armor. 
  11. God of the Himalayas, Himavat, gave her jewels and a magnificent lion to ride into battle as her mount ("vahan").

The story from 'Markandeya Chandi'
http://de08.blogspot.com/2012/02/purana-book-sayings.html
("Mahishasur-Vadh" or 'The Killing of Mahishasura'-episode from the book):

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