Goddess Durga is the wife of Lord Shiva and the mother of Laxmi, Saraswati, Ganesh and Kartikeya. She has ten hands out of which she holds different arms in eight of her hands and conch and lotus in the rest two. She was born fully grown, created out of flames that issued from the mouth of Brahma, Vishnu, Shiva and other Gods embodied in their collective energy. All the Gods in the heaven had created her to kill a fierce demon called Mahisasura who had been terrorizing the Gods in heaven and the men on earth. She was armed with the arms of every God so that she could kill him. She sat on a lion and went and killed Mahisasura.

In Bengal Durga Puja is celebrated with great pomp and show. She is considered to be a form of Shakti. The legend holds that Mother Durga visits earth once in a year and the people treat her like a daughter. She is believed to come along with her husband and she leaves after nine days.

She is lovingly called Ma for her motherly nature and prayed by the Hindu ladies to have a long and happy married life.