In this assignment, you will construct a table and insert it into your existing paper. Tables can be used for a variety of purposes, with the goal of helping your readers better understand the information in your paper. 

Review the paper that you have been working on in this course and think about what information could be conveyed in a table.  For example, if your paper contains several recommendations or proposed solutions to a problem, the table could display the benefits and drawbacks of each of these recommendations. You may also choose to display data from another source (e.g., census data, budget, timeline of events) in a table, as long as it supports your existing paper. If you choose to use data from another source, you must create the table yourself and properly cite the information source.

If you are having a difficult time thinking of how the information in your paper can be displayed as a table, create a table that either outlines how the paper is structured -OR- lists the sources used in the paper, including key information about the sources.

Remember that you must insert a table–not a chart, graph, or other figure. Your table should:

• Contain at least three columns and at least three rows
• Include a brief, descriptive title
• Include a label/heading for each row and column
• Use appropriate margins, spacing, font size, and orientation

Think carefully about where to place the table in your paper. The table should serve a clear purpose and be integrated in a way that makes sense to the reader. You may insert the table into the body of your paper, or you may insert it into an appendix, which is a section that appears at the very end of your paper. The use of appendices allows you to convey detailed information or supporting evidence to the reader without distracting from the flow of the main body of the paper. No matter where you choose to place the table, refer to it at least once in the body of your paper, so readers know why to view it and where to locate it.

Running head: The age of faith: Goddess Durga

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The age of faith: Goddess Durga 7

The Age of Faith: Goddess Durga

Poojan Patel

National Louis University

Abstract

This essay describes the representational strategies used to visualize the Pratima (deity) of the goddess, Durga that the Hindus worship. The worship of goddess Durga among the Bengalis presents and represents culture, commodity, and identity and brings to the fore many more things or issues that have implications not only for a person but also for broader anthropological studies of people and culture linking global to the local. The Goddess Durga depicts the energy needed to overcome evil and also symbolizes the power we have over demons and standing strong over our challenges. Hinduism is a religion where people worship multiple gods. The gods’ people worship come in many forms, and each has special meaning and purpose. The goddess Durga depicts the energy needed to overcome evil. All the people recognize the goddesses as their protectors and providers. According to the Hindu view, there are four purposes of life in the world, and all individuals should strive to get all four. Each person should target for righteous living (dharma), legal wealth (Kama), human and sexual love, and spiritual uplifting (moksha). Hinduism is an interesting religion to study since it incorporates all kinds of people and all kinds of beliefs. For the non-Hindus, it is difficult to understand how they worship several gods, the whole aspect is puzzling, but the Hindus believe that when a particular god has a single problem to sort out, it will be solved faster.

Durga is a Hindu Goddess created from the attributes to the gods that Hindus worship. This was during the 12th century. She was formed to slay a powerful buffalo demon, Mahisha. It is bronze, and its height is 17.6cm. According to Malinar, Mahisha was worshiped in some sections of Hindus as one of the gods whereas in some parts he was a buffalo demon (2). The sculpture shows sixteen arms. Each of the arms in an array has a weapon thus creating kinetic energy to display power; the image is more illuminated in a dimly lit shrine. By her assembling the weapons of all gods and overcoming the demigod, who in some sectors was evil, Mahisha. Hinduism is a religion depicted as one of the religions in the world where there is worshipping of multiple gods. They come in many forms, and each has special meaning and purpose. The Goddess Durga depicts the energy needed to overcome evil. It also symbolizes the power we have over demons and standing strong over our challenges (Malinar 3).

The artwork of the goddess Durga killing the buffalo demon represents her moment of victory on winning the battle. After cutting off the head of the bull, Durga pulls the demigod from the animal and swiftly stabs him by surprise, before he can even think of drawing a weapon. The perfect sculpture combines dynamic power with static. According to Malinar, the artwork of Durga represents power after successfully finishing of the demigod (4). The sculptor successfully prompts the show of victory through the sculpture. The sculpture also portrays the triumph of good over evil. The story behind the statue of Durga is simple, a long time ago it was believed that a demon called Mahisha existed. The evil terrorized a lot of people, and it was almost immortal. The only god who was able to kill it was powerful energy formed by Lord Shiva and other gods, in the form of a woman. The woman had several arms each holding a weapon. Mahisha came in the form of a buffalo and saw a woman, convinced that he would kill the woman, they fought, and Durga killed him before he could take back his original form. Durga Devi had sixteen arms each carrying a weapon from all the gods who came together.

According to Bhattacharya, the name Durga means impossible to overcome (2). Her victory gets portrayed in the towering figure over her victim. The two companions of the demigod are bowed down in defeat, the arms with which they carry weapons dropped down in defeat. Hinduism is a religion that worships many gods each with different reasons. There is a god of harvest, god of prosperity, and a god of fertility. For the non-Hindus, it is difficult to understand how they worship several gods, the whole aspect is puzzling, but the Hindus believe that when a particular god has a single problem to sort out, it will be solved faster.

Deities often come with multiple arms generally used to portray the energy they need to combat several powers. The evils are equally compelling, so the need to use extra energy is vital. The multiple arms symbolize the ability of the god to fight off several evils at the same time. Or they can perform several tasks at the same time (Bhattacharya 4). Sometimes the deity comes with several heads to portray the different characters portrayed in the heads.

Durga stands serenely with her feet apart. One foot on top of the slain buffalo, to show how powerful she is. She gets dressed elegantly in a curved sarong of a Cambodian queen. The sculpture could represent a member of royalty thus the elegant appearance. The base of the sculpture has a buffalo (Malinar 3).

The buffalo is under the foot of the goddess and her lion under the right. This signifies the power depicted in the sculpture. The energy in the bronze sculpture is represented by how the goddess possesses all the weapons. The way she holds the head of the demigod shows that the power combined by several lords including Lord Shiva is powerful (Bhattacharya 5).

From the Hindu myths, the goddess received several weapons from different gods like Lord Vishnu gave her the mighty Sudarshan, and Lord Shiva gave her the terrible Trishul, arrows from lord Varuna, the god of the sea. Goddess Durga perceives power. Hinduism religion is complex and very old. The Goddess Durga is the principal deity in the Hindu religion. She gets associated with the theory of reality called Brahman. She gets declared as the creator and the Supreme Being in the world. The weapons that Durga holds are symbolic, and they include the bow, arrow, sword, javelin, shield, conch, and a noose.

Symbolism is depicted by those weapons as believed by the Shakta Hindus. They represent self-discipline, devotion, and cheerfulness, remembering of mantras, self-examinations, meditation, and generosity to others. The iconography of Durga is flexible in all Hindu temples. Where there are intellectuals, they place writing materials and pens in the many hands to signify the importance of stylus (Bhattacharya 2).

Goddess worship is the primary form of worship in the Hindu religion. All the people recognize the goddesses as their protectors and providers. Durga has magnificently conceived arms hanging in three dimensions, the original positions of the arms pulled back as they get captured in contrasting positions in the curve. According to the Hindu view, there are four purposes of life in the world, and all individuals should strive to get all four. Each person should target for righteous living (dharma), legal wealth (Kama), human and sexual love and spiritual uplifting (moksha).

Anyone did not start Hinduism, instead, its origin is mixed and complicated. It emerged almost the same time as the beginning of the Christian era. The first gods were lord Shiva, Lord Vishnu, and the goddess Shakti. Shaktism regards Devi as their supreme Brahman itself. Mahisha worshipped the sixteen armed bhradkali after having a vision that the world was near. Mahishasur pleaded with Devi to provide her Moksha by killing after Uddhar; hence he was blessed.

Mahisha got the power of immortality, and only a woman could kill him. Mahisha will always remain under the foot on the left side and be present and worthy of worship. This was a good aspect since he would also get worshiped whenever people would worship Devi.

Durga’s annual day is one of the most celebrated festivals in India since Durga is one of the most important deities in India most people worship him in their houses and temples. As firmly believed that preservation, destruction, and creation of the whole world, Durga means a building that cannot be defeated or destroyed. She gets portrayed with a distinct appearance and a beautiful, meticulous texture that the sculptor took time to create the pattern of hands.

The array of hands are well arranged they seem to be waving in the air holding tools and other symbolic objects. She is imagined to be terrifying and destructive when she has to be. She is multi-limbed as a symbol of being alert and ready to combat all evil from all sides. The iconography of Durga is depicted by how she stands on a lion thus showing how she has the power over the most fearsome creatures and the freedom from fear.

Hinduism is an interesting religion to study since it incorporates all kinds’ people and all kinds of belief (Malinar 4).

Works Cited

Malinar, Angelika. “Religious Pluralism and Processes of Individualisation in Hinduism”. Religion, vol 45, no. 3, 2015, pp. 386-408. Informa UK Limited, doi:10.1080/0048721x.2015.1024038.

Bhattacharya, Niloshree. “Book Review: Tapti Guha-Thakurta: In The Name Of the Goddess: The Durga Pujas of Contemporary Kolkata”. Sociological Bulletin, vol 66, no. 1, 2017, pp. 106-108. SAGE Publications, doi: 10.1177/0038022916687183.