History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v6.c81.714

v6.c81.714

A few words must be said with reference to certain relevant matters. How Devī was to be contemplated upon can be seen from p 163, note 418 above. That shows that only the image of Devī with the lion and the demon Mahiṣāsura was to be constructed. In the Mārk. purāṇa⁴⁵⁶ it is stated that Devī strode over the great demon's throat, struck him with her trident and with her heavy sword cut off his head and made him fall down on the ground. But in modern times the image of Devī is placed in a structure of wickerwork and there are images of Lakṣmī and Gaṇeśa on the right side and of Sarasvatī and Kārtikeya on the left⁴⁵⁷. Raghunandana does not make much of these additional deities, though he speaks of the prāṇapratiṣṭhā of Gaṇeśa and others. On p. 146 of 'Cave temples of India' by Fergusson and Burgess reference is made to a tableau at Mahavalli-puram of the strife between Mahiṣāsura and Devī (with eight arms), which the learned authors assign to the period 650–700 A. D The image may be made of gold or silver, clay, metal, stone or there may only be a picture of Devī. For Durgāpūjā it is not absolutely necessary that there should be an image Devī may be worshipped⁴⁵⁸ in a *liṅga*, on an altar or in a book, in her pādukās (wooden or stone feet), in image, in a picture or a trident or sword or in water. Some of the purāṇas like Garuḍa and Bhaviṣya⁴⁵⁹ state that on the 7th or 8th tithi nine wooden houses or only one with four corners may be constructed, that in the midst of it a platform or altar of four cubits in length and breadth should be made on which a throne of silk, woollen cloth and deer-skin should be prepared, whereon Durgā (image) made of gold, silver, clay or wood was to be established having four or ten arms, possessing a complexion like heated gold, three eyes and the moon as a head ornament.