Maa Durga

Everything we make bearing Durga, from brass murtis for the mandir to a Nav Durga pocket temple and a Maa symbol diya. She is the deity whose season dominates the buying year in this collection, and how that season is kept differs sharply by region.

The formats

Murtis in solid brass and in white-and-gold marble dust: the eight-armed form seated on the lion, and the standing form with the lion beside her.

Nav Durga pocket temple, which closes around the nine forms for a desk, a bag or travel. See pocket temples.

The Maa symbol diya, a brass lamp rather than a murti, which is lit rather than only displayed and is the more useful gift for a household that already has an idol. See brass diyas.

Combos and hampers, usually the pocket temple paired with a diya, which is the easiest thing to give.

Durga, Sherawali, Mahishasuramardini

Different names for the same goddess, and the name a piece carries usually tells you which region it is made for.

Sherawali Mata, the one who rides the lion, is the North Indian name and the form most associated with Navratri and with the Vaishno Devi tradition. Mahishasuramardini is the slayer of the buffalo demon, the narrative form, and the one where the arms carry the weapons given to her by the gods. Nav Durga is the nine forms honoured across the nine nights.

On the arms: eight-armed and ten-armed are both canonical and the count varies by text and region. Neither is more correct. Practically, more arms means a wider silhouette, so check the width.

One goddess, three different festivals

Worth understanding before you buy, because they want different things.

Navratri, across North and West India, is nine nights of fasting and worship of the nine forms, with garba and dandiya in Gujarat and Maharashtra. A household murti or a Nav Durga piece suits it.

Durga Puja, in Bengal, Assam and Odisha, is a community festival built around large clay pratimas made for the pandal and immersed at the end. A home murti is a companion to that rather than the centre of it.

Golu, in Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Karnataka, is a tiered display of figures assembled over the same nine nights, where a Durga piece sits among many.

See Navratri gifts and Durga Puja gift ideas.

Which material

Brass if the murti will receive abhishek or be handled daily, since it tolerates water, milk, kumkum and turmeric and cleans indefinitely. See brass idols.

White and gold marble dust holds the finest detail on a form this intricate, which matters when there are eight arms, weapons and a lion to render. It is a display material: keep it dry and out of sustained sun. See the white and gold premium range.

Gold plated pieces are light and crisply detailed, for display and gifting. Dry cloth only. See gold and silver plated idols.

Size and placement

Five to six inches suits most home mandirs. Measure the width, not just the height: a seated eight-armed Durga on a lion is one of the widest silhouettes we cast, and the weapons project. Leave clearance, and lift from the base rather than by an arm or the trishul.

On placement, the northeast is the quadrant associated with the household shrine in the vastu literature, which has a genuine textual lineage. The specific facing conventions are custom rather than text.

As a gift

Durga is given most at Navratri and Durga Puja, and a pocket temple or a diya travels better than a murti. For a household that already keeps her, the diya is the more useful gift.

See griha pravesh and housewarming gifts; for volume, corporate gifts or the bulk order enquiry page. For the other Devi forms, Maa Lakshmi, Maa Saraswati and Maa Rajarajeshwari. To furnish the mandir, pooja essentials; for the wider pantheon, god idols and figurines.

Before you order

• Measure the width. An eight-armed seated Durga is far wider than her height suggests.
• Eight arms and ten arms are both canonical. Neither is more correct.
• Buy brass if the murti will be bathed. Marble dust and plated pieces stay dry.
• Lift from the base, never by an arm or a weapon.
• Buying for a pandal rather than a home shelf? That is a clay pratima, not this.