Mahishasura

Mahishasura is a Sanskrit word composed of Mahisha meaning "buffalo" and asura meaning "demon", translating to "Buffalo Demon". As an asura, Mahishasura waged war against the devas, as the devas and asuras were perpetually in conflict. Mahishasura had gained the boon that no man could kill him. In the battles between the devas and the demons (asuras), the devas, led by Indra, were defeated by Mahishasura. Subjected to defeat, the devas assembled in the mountains where their combined divine energies coalesced into goddess Durga. The newborn Durga led a battle against Mahishasura, riding a lion, and killed him. Thereafter, she was named Mahishasuramardini, meaning The Killer of Mahishasura.[3][8] According to the Lakshmi Tantra, it is the goddess Lakshmi who slays Mahishasura instantaneously, and extolling her feat is described to offer everlasting supremacy.[9]

Artwork depicting the goddess Durga slaying the buffalo demon Mahishasura is found all over India, Nepal and southeast Asia. Clockwise from top: 9th-century Kashmir, 13th-century Karnataka, 9th century Prambanan Indonesia, 2nd-century Uttar Pradesh.

Mahishasura's legend is told in the major texts of the Shaktism traditions known as the Devi Mahatmya, which is part of Markandeya Purana. The story of Mahishasura is told in the chapter where Markandeya is narrating the story of the birth of Savarnika Manu. Per the Markandeya Purana, the story of Mahishasura was narrated in the second Manvantara (approximately 1.3 billion years ago, as per the Vishnu Purana) by Maharishi Medha to a king named Soorut, as an incident which occurred in times ancient for even the 2nd Manvantara. Mahishasura is described as an evil being who can change his outer form, but never his demonic goals.[8] According to Christopher Fuller, Mahishasura represents the forces of ignorance and chaos hidden by outer appearances.[10][2] The symbolism is carried in Hindu art found in South Asia and South-East Asia (e.g., Javanese art), where Durga is shown as a serene, calm, collected and graceful symbol of good as she pierces the heart and kills the scared, overwhelmed and outwitted Mahishasura.[11][2]

Durga slaying Mahishasura is a prominent theme which was sculpted in various caves and temples across India. Some of the prominent representations are seen at the Mahishasuramardini caves in Mahabalipuram, the Ellora Caves, in the entrance of Rani ki vav,[12] Hoysaleswara Temple in Halebidu and many more temples across India. The worship of Durga during Durga Puja in Bihar, West Bengal, Jharkhand, Odisha and other eastern states is represented in Pandal which depict Durga killing Mahishasura.[13] The legend of Mahishasura has also been inspiration to films, plays and dance dramas.[14]

The popular legend is that Mysore (Mahishooru) gets its name from Mahishasuramardini, a manifestation of goddess Durga. The Buffalo demon Mahishasura, states the regional tradition, had terrified the local population. It is believed that goddess Durga (Chamundeshwari) killed Mahishasura on top of the Chamundi Hills. The spot was constructed as the Chamundeshwari Temple in Mysuru, an event that is annually celebrated at Navaratri and Mysuru Dasara. The British Era in India saw the name of "Mahishooru" change to "Mysore" and later Kannadized into "Mysuru".[15]

The temple of the city's guardian deity, Chamundeshwari, has a giant statue of Mahishasura on the hill facing the city. The earliest mention of Mysore in recorded history may be traced to 245 B.C., i.e., to the period of Ashoka when on the conclusion of the third Buddhist convocation, a team was dispatched to Mahisha Mandala.[16]

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  Durga killing Mahishasura, 9th century Sirpur temple, Chhattisgarh.
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  Durga is depicted in the Hindu pantheon as a Goddess riding a lion and with many arms, each carrying a weapon to defeat Mahishasura or the buffalo demon
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  Buffalo-headed Mahishasura in Cave Temple, Mahabalipuram
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  Mahishasura at Durga's foot in the Aihole Temple
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  Durga is worshiped in her Mahishasuramardini form, during Durga Puja. Lakshmi and Ganesha flank the left while Saraswati and Kartikeya flank the right.

• Raktabīja
• Sumbha and Nisumbha
• Rambha (asura)
• Chanda and Munda
• Dhumralochana
• Sugriva (asura)

• Hindu Goddesses: Vision of the Divine Feminine in the Hindu Religious Traditions, David Kinsley (ISBN 81-208-0379-5).
• Mahishasura Mardini Stotram (Prayer to the Goddess who killed Mahishasura), Sri Sri Sri Shankara Bhagavatpadacharya.
• McDaniel, June (2004). Offering Flowers, Feeding Skulls. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-534713-5.
• Pintchman, Tracy (2014). Seeking Mahadevi: Constructing the Identities of the Hindu Great Goddess. State University of New York Press. ISBN 978-0-7914-9049-5.
• Pintchman, Tracy (2015). The Rise of the Goddess in the Hindu Tradition. State University of New York Press. ISBN 978-1-4384-1618-2.
• Rocher, Ludo (1986). The Puranas. Otto Harrassowitz Verlag. ISBN 978-3447025225.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Mahishasura.

• Devī Māhātmya by Swami Sivananda at Divine Life Society