In Puri, India and throughout the country, the Durga Puja festival begins today, the most important festival of Bengalis. Every fall the Hindu's worship 'Shakti' or the divine power. Award-winning, Indian sand artist Sudarsan Patnaik and his students worked for 13 hours on the beach to sculpt this Hindu female guru who symbolizes the divine power, the Mother Goddess, to those who worship her.

Her name: Goddess Durga.

The sculpture depicts a battle of good over evil, the dark forces eventually succumbing to the divine. Here the Hindu goddess of warfare slays the demon Mahishasur in the sand. She inspires fear because she effortlessly slays the demon with her impressive array of instruments and weapons - conch, discus, trident, bow, arrow, sword, dagger, serpent, mace and other objects.

Those who worship her believe she can help them destroy their own demons, including: poverty, sufferings, famine, evil habits and sins, injustice, irreligion, cruelty and laziness.

Durga is also considered the "Mother Goddess" because she nourishes the universe and bestows both material and spiritual wealth.

123DurgaPuja.com states:

In Hindu mythology, Durga is a fierce form of Devi, the Mother Goddess, the all-powerful almighty goddess. According to a legend the gods could not defeat the buffalo demon Mahish, who was threatening the existence of the universe. They begged Shiva for his assistance, and Shiva advised all the gods to release their shaktis.

The shaktis of the gods emerged in female form. These goddesses fused together in blinding light from which arose a magnificent goddess with many arms. She was as beautiful as she was deadly. Durga was born fully-grown and is depicted as extremely beautiful and full of rage.

The gods called this goddess Durga, the invincible one, and they armed her with all their weapons. Thus armed, Durga rode to the top of a mountain on a lion. In a bloody battle, she defeated Mahish and his army of demons and thus saved the Universe from this demon's menace.

Only sand and water were used to sculpt the goddess in Puri; 2,000 bags of sand. "And no binding material," Patnaik said.

Thousands of tourists from India and abroad visit the famous temple town of Puri each year.

The sculpture, which is on display until the end of the ten-day fall festival, is an added attraction in this festive season.

In medieval India, military campaigns were commenced on the last day of Durga's festival.

Pattnaik can often be seen working at the Puri beach. His sculpture about the torture of Iraqi prisoners in the Abu Ghraib prison and on the conservation of Olive Ridley turtles have received wide acclaim.

His open-air institute inspires approximately fifty students to learn from this master sand builder.

To learn more about the Hindu goddess Durga, go to:

Inspire & Be Inspired(R).

Here's to healthy, adventuresome, soulful and "invincible" living!

~ Jennifer Carolyn King