The story of Durga comes to us from the Sanskrit Devi Mahatmaya or Chandi Patha that is part of the Markandeya Purana and is around 1,500 years old. Her icons are also traced to the same period. Some scholars are of the opinion that the idea of a lion-riding goddess probably came with the Kushana kings as the Goddess Nanna, a variant of the Mesopotamian Ishtar, or the Persian Anahita. Others believe she is indigenous, part of an older, earlier matriarchal pre-Vedic substratum, as suggested by Indus valley tiger-woman seals. Broadly, we find three schools of interpretive narratives: the dominant mainstream (patriarchal?) narrative, feminist narrative and the subaltern narrative. Every theory is just speculation to suit various political ends based on shadowy and sparse facts.

Illustration/ Devdutt Pattanaik