From Wednesday 18th November, Bengal starts the worship of the mother goddess in the form of JagadDhatri - the holder of the world.
I could not find any references to this goddess in the Puranas that I was able to browse through, but the Tantra texts have reference to this Goddess.
She is three-eyed and has four arms. In her two right hands she holds a discus and an arrow, and in her left hands she has a bow and a few arrows. She is clothed in red. She is riding a lion and has killed an elephant in a fight. So far, I could not find any references to the war in the puranas, but search continues. While Durga is seen killing the demon, Jagadhatri is usually depicted sitting, letting the lion do the killing part.
This goddess is probably the Mahamaya devi, who has references in the Mahamaya Tantra. Not many temples exist for this goddess. I came one reference - in Balagarh, in Chinsura, Hooghly.
This devi also goes by the following names : Karindrasuranisudini (Slayer of the Elephant Demon, Karindrasura), Maheswari (the Great Goddess), Shaktacharpriya (the Goddess who loves to be worshiped as according to the practices of the Sakta ), Adharabhuta (the Bearer of the World).
Sri Ramakrishna had said that is the Goddess who controlling the mind, which is like a mad elephant.
Worship of this goddess dates back to eighteenth century Bengal, where the first documented evidences of the worship are found.
As per the tantra texts, she comes into prominence after Durga had killed the buffalo demon. The Gods, who had given their weapons to Durga to kill the demon, thought it was because of the weapons that the demon was killed. Fighting among themselves, they were made to realize that it is JagadDhatri, who upholds the world and it she, whose power brought about the death of the buffalo demon.
Like Durga represents the Raja Guna, and Kali represents the Tama Guna, this devi represents the Satva Guna.
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