Devi Mahatmya

The Devi Mahatmya is the text in which the goddess becomes the supreme reality rather than somebody’s consort, and the date of it is roughly the date Shaktism becomes a tradition with a scripture. It sits inside the Markandeya Purana and is read on its own. Three demon killings are told in it, and around them is the argument that the power by which everything exists is feminine and prior to the gods who ask her for help. It is recited in full through the nine nights of Navaratri in households across India.

Seven hundred verses in thirteen chapters, which is why it is called the Saptashati, the seven hundred. Three charitas: the first, Madhu and Kaitabha, in one chapter; the middle, Mahishasura, in three; and the last, Shumbha and Nishumbha, in nine. Recitation is framed by subsidiary texts, the Kavacha, the Argala and the Kilaka before, and the Rahasyas after, which are not part of the seven hundred but are read with them.

The theological claim is explicit and was new: the goddess is not an aspect of a male deity but the substrate of everything, and Vishnu and Siva act because she permits it. The text has Brahma wake Vishnu by praising her, which inverts the usual order. Where earlier texts have goddesses as consorts, here the gods pool their energies and what emerges is greater than the sum and independent of them. The other argument, which commentators have worked on for centuries, is about violence: the text is unflinching about the goddess killing, and the Shakta tradition reads the demons as states of mind while the folk tradition reads them as demons. Both readings are performed at the same Navaratri.

Markandeya Purana

The text it sits inside, as chapters eighty one to ninety three, from which it was extracted for independent recitation very early.

Chandi Path, Bengal

Recited in full on Mahalaya and through Durga Puja; the Birendra Krishna Bhadra radio recitation of 1931 is broadcast every year before dawn and is itself now the tradition.

Nepali and Kashmiri recensions

Palm leaf manuscripts from Nepal are among the oldest, and the Kashmiri Shakta commentaries read it through Trika philosophy.

Chandi homa

Performed as a fire rite with the seven hundred verses offered, in a set of prescribed multiples, which is a ritual use distinct from reading.

Bengal

The Chandi Path before dawn on Mahalaya opens Durga Puja, and the radio recitation is an institution older than most listeners.

North India

Recited through the nine nights of both Navaratris, with the Saptashati published in pocket editions for household use.

Tamil Nadu

Read during Navaratri alongside the Lalita Sahasranama, and the Chandi homa performed at the Amman temples.

Kashmir

The Trika commentators read it philosophically, and the Kashmiri Pandit households keep it at Navaratri.

Nepal

Among the oldest surviving manuscripts are Nepali, and the text is central to the Dashain observance.

Deities

• Durga
• Kali
• Parvati
• Mariamman

Arts

• Odissi
• Carnatic music

Festivals

• Navaratri begins
• Sharad Navratri begins
• Durga Puja begins · Maha Shashthi
• Maha Navami
• Durga Ashtami · Maha Ashtami
• Vijayadashami · Dussehra
• Mahalaya Amavasya · Bathukamma begins

Temples

• Kamakhya Devi Temple, Nilachal
• Mata Vaishno Devi Bhawan, Katra
• Kanaka Durga Temple, Indrakeeladri

Related works

• Mahabharata