The autumnal worship of the Goddess in India, culminating in the grand celebrations of Durga Puja and Navratri, is not a mere folk tradition. It is anchored in a profound and sophisticated theological framework that stretches back to the very dawn of Hindu scripture. This philosophical bedrock conceives of the Divine Feminine, or Shakti, not as a consort or a secondary deity, but as the supreme, allpervading cosmic force.

Long before the iconographic depiction of Durga emerged, the concept of a supreme feminine divinity was articulated in one of the most remarkable hymns of the ancient Rig Veda. The Devi Suktam (Mandala 10, Hymn 125) stands as the foundational text of Shaktism, the tradition that venerates the Goddess as the ultimate reality. What makes this hymn radical and foundational

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