Happy Mother Day 2023: Maa Durga, inspiration behind Song, Vande Mataram

In Hinduism, Maa Durga is a form of Devi, she is the supreme Goddess, also identified as Parvati. As a mother Goddess, she is frequently called Maa Durga and is sometimes referred to as the Mother of Karthik, Ganesh, Lakshmi and Saraswati (in few traditions, she is also an incarnation of Saraswati or Lakshmi).

Durga is depicted as a warrior Woman riding a lion or a tiger with multiple hands carrying weapons and assuming mudras or symbolic hand gestures. This form of the Goddess is the embodiment of feminine and creative energy (shakti).

Durga is associated with protection, strength, motherhood, destruction and wars. She is the inspiration behind the Song, Vande Mataram, written by Bankim Chandra Chatterjee, during the Indian Independence Movement, later the official national Song of India.

Durga is present in Indian nationalism, where Bharat Mata, Mother India, is viewed as a form of Durga. This is completely secular and keeping In line with ancient ideology of Durga as mother and protector of Indians. We find in many Bollywood, Maa Durga, an inspiration, who helps truth to prevail and justice to everyone. We also find, any woman, who fights for a good cause and justice is said to have the spirit of Durga matah.

Durga appears in Hindu Mythology, in numerous forms and names, but ultimately all these are different aspects as well as manifestations of one Goddess. She is imagined to be terrifying and destructive when she to be, but benevolent and nurturing when she needs to be, while anthropomorphic icons of her, such as those showing her riding a lion and holding weapons are common, the Hindu traditions sue aniconic forms and geometric designs to remember and revere what she symbolises.