Goddess+Durga

__**---Matt Wolfe and Blaire Stillwell**__---

=---__Goddess Durga__--= = = image one

__**--Research--**__
+**Image Citation & Image Search Strategies**+

__Image One.__ Goddess Durga Killing the Demon! "vamsikarra.files.wordpress.com". September, 10th, 2009. 
 * Our research suggests that Durga is always in motion. We wanted to find a picture that showed her in motion. My search term for this picture was plainly "Goddess Durga in motion" in a google image search. We thought a picture of Durga in motion would simply and clearly state that she is hard working.

__Image Two__. Goddess Durga as Slayer of the Buffalo Demon. "www.metmuseum.org". September, 10th, 2009. 
 * (This was the image located on the Religious Images Project Page.)

__Image Three.__ Mother Goddess Durga."Exoticart.com". September, 10th, 2009. < http://www.shalincraft-india.com/images/zoom/sculpture/mainlarge/icon/durgab001.jpg>
 * We knew from our research that both Durga and her Demon enemy changed form during their battles. For our third picture we wanted something that provided a visual of some of these forms. I simply used the phrase "forms of mother goddess Durga" in a google image search. The above picture was on the third page.

--__Research Notes__--

 * 'Durga' literally translates as "the unattainable."
 * She is a Hindu goddess for protection

2. Her purpose represents the universal battle between knowledge and ignorance, truth and lies, and the oppressor and the oppressed.
 * Durga`s creation was fueled by the male divinities that joined together after the loss of the battle against the Demon, Mahishasur.
 * 1) Her main purpose, then, was to defeat all demonic forces.


 * Perhaps Durga`s greatest battle took place against the Demon, Mahishasur.
 * 1) Mahishasur transforms into a great buffalo.
 * 2) After a long battle, Durga ultimately kills Mahishasur.


 * Durga is ofter referred to as "The Divine Mother," and is also know by the names Kali, Parvati, and Ambika.
 * 1) She is believed to control the fate of all humans.
 * 2) Represents "unreachable" power.
 * 3) Believed to be responsible for the works of creation, preservation, and destruction of the world.

-The conch shell symbolizes the mystic word "Om" -The bow and arrow represent energy. -The thunderbolt stands for striking an object without having harmed one`s self -The lotus, having not fully bloomed, symbolizes certainty in success, but not finality -The discus spins around Durga`s index finger without touching her, symbolizing that the entire world is at her command. -The sword represents knowledge and suggests that the sharpness of knowledge is as useful as the sharpness of a sword -The trident represents three miseries; physical, mental, and spiritual, and it suggests that Durga has the power to remove them all. It was a gift from Shiva. -The club is used to crush the separation inside each of us that is the cause of conflict in the world
 * Durga has 10 arms; symbolize continual movement
 * 1) The weapons she holds in her hands were gifts from the male gods who created her
 * Durga has three eyes
 * 1) the left eye represents desire and is symbolized by the moon
 * 2) the right eye represents action and is symbolized by the sun
 * 3) the center eye represents knowledge and is symbolized by fire


 * Durga is more ofter than not seen in red clothing. Such clothing represents action and hard work. It may also show that Durga`s path to enlightenment was not one of quiet contemplation.
 * Durga`s long, black hair is said to symbolize the vastness and indestructibility of her power.


 * Durga`s vehicle is the lion
 * 1) the lion reflects power, will, and determination
 * 2) she rides the lion to suggest her power over all three of these qualities

Most famous quote: "Surrender all actions and duties onto me and I shall release thee from all fears."

--__**Summary**__--
Durga is one of the most important goddesses in the Hindu religion. Because of this, in this piece of artwork, she reflects multiple beliefs of the Hindu religion. Her red clothing, for instance, symbolizes her own path to enlightenment. The red represents action and hard work, showing that Durga reached Enlightenment not by quiet contemplation, but by protecting the people of the Earth. Her three eyes represent three major qualities in the Hindu religion; knowledge, desire, and action. The many weapons she bares show that there is not one way to defeat all evil. She is said to be the controller of all fate, so in other words, she is a strong representation of Kharma. The artwork shows Durga in a certain stance, showing that she is ready for anything. Her black hair is long, perhaps showing the vastness of Hindu beliefs. Durga slaying the Buffalo Demon was one of the most important events in the Hindu religion because it reflects the universal idea of good prevailing over evil.

--Bibliography--
database article websites
 * **White, Charles S. J. "Durga." Encyclopedia Americana. 2009. Grolier Online. 9 Sept. 2009 **
 * 1) We spent a lot of time researching the history databases for anything on Goddess Durga and were unsuccessful. I finally decided to check the encyclopedia and found a short description of the Goddess. My search term was simply "Durga", and since it was the title of the article, it was at the top of the result list.


 * **"Goddess Durga: the Mother Goddess." __About.com: Hinduism__. September 10th, 2009. **
 * 1) We were looking for information that would describe the symbolism behind Goddess Durga. Simply enough, I typed "symbolism: goddess Durga" into google. About.com:Hinduism was the first result and proved to be one of the most useful in this project.


 * **"Helibrunn Timeline of Art History." __MetMuseum.org.__ October 2006. September 10th, 2009. **
 * 1) This was the site given to us at the beginning of the project. There was no strategy involved for getting information off this site.


 * **"Durga - Narrative Art of an 'Independent' Warrior Goddess." __Exotic India.__ October 2nd, 2008. September 10th, 2009.**
 * 1) From our growing knowledge of Durga, we knew that she was a warrior. We wanted information that would back that up. I typed "durga warrior goddess" into google, and exoticindiaart. com was, once again, the first result on the list. This site provided stories of the battle Durga fought and was useful in the very sense we needed it to be.

_ _ _


 * Presley Culp and Beth Ignatova**

__**Pictures of the Goddess Durga:**




 * Research:**

Bibliography: 1.) "Durga Bhagwati."Online image. Kashmir: Hindu Deities. September 8 2009. []

When we went on Google, we typed in "Goddess Durga and sybolism" and nothing good came up. So we changed my search to "Goddess Durga" and we got my picture and an analysis of what she meant and how she was portrayed on the same page.

2.) "Goddess Durga as Slayer of the Buffalo-Demon Mahisha (Mahishasuramardini), The [Nepal] (1986.498)". In //Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History//. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000–. http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/ho/08/ssh/ho_1986.498.htm (October 2006)

This website was given to us already as the picture we were researching. We really didn't have to do any work to find it but we still got information from it.

3.) "Goddess Durga."__ Kashmir: Hindu Deities__. September 8 2009. []

When we went on Google, I typed in "Goddess Durga and sybolism" and nothing good came up. So we changed my search to "Goddess Durga" and we got the picture and an analysis of what she meant and how she was portrayed on the same page.

4.) "Goddess Durga." 8 September 2009. Online image. Vanadurga. 8 September 2009. .

This picture was found on Google images. We typed in "Goddess Durga" and after 3 pages of pictures this was one of the pictures that depicted her in the way that our research told us.

5.) "Indian subcontinent."__ Oxford Art Online.__ September 9 2009. .

This site was found on the MICDS library databases. We couldn't find anything that would help us on Gale or ABC-CLIO. WE even tried other forms of Goddess Durg's name. So then we went to Oxford Art Online. The first page was the page that was already given to us. The second link led us to a very long article that had a good-sized section of it about Hinduism and the Hindu deities. That section helped us a lot in our research.

Research Notes:

The Goddess Durga is a main deity in the Hindu religion. She is the goddess of being moral and the conquer of good over evil. When Durga is depicted, she is typically depicted wearing red clothes. Red shows that not only that she is always busy protecting the humans, but a tiger or lion behind her symbolizes her ultimate power. She has 18 hands which represent the fact that she possesses all 9 incarnations of Lord Vishnu. The many weapons that she carries are a symbol of how different problems cannot be defeated by the same thing, they all have their own way to be conquered. The statue of Durga that we were assigned to research was a depiction from Nepali. In the story, the gods tried to defeat the demon Mahisha. They created Durga and gave her all of their weapons and put a collective force into to her as well to help her kill the demon. In the original sculpture, Durga was on top of Mahisha. This piece of art portrays one of the greatest conquers of the Hindu gods, of good over evil. Of all the Ancient Hindu sculptures of deities found, Durga slaying the demon was one of the more frequent.
 * Durga is also called the Divine Mother, Parvati, Ambika, and Kali
 * "Durga" means wall or fort; difficult to penetrate
 * Represents power of supreme being; preserves moral being and righteousness
 * Protects humans from evil forces
 * Ex. Jealousy, ego, selfishness, hatred, ect.
 * Popular goddess among Hindus
 * Spouse of Lord Shiva
 * Has two sons: Ganesha and Karttikeya
 * One daughter: Jyoti
 * Has many temples
 * Symbolism
 * Shown as female; wearing red/-ish clothes
 * Red clothes shows she's always busy protecting humans
 * Usually is depicted riding a tiger or lion
 * Means unlimited power
 * 18 hands
 * Posses the 9 incarnations of Lord Vishnu
 * Symbolizes all forces against evil and wickedness
 * Conch in her hand means victory of good over evil
 * Many weapons
 * Mace, sword, arrow, ect.
 * Shows that not every enemy can be defeated with one thing; there are different ways to overcome different thin
 * Summary:**