Hindu goddess Durga mystifies, fascinates

Hindus have many notions of god as male, but this notion of god as goddess was interesting and at first a little puzzling to me as a guy. HILLARY RODRIGUES

The notion that the divine can be female has fascinated a University of Lethbridge professor for decades, writes Chris Nelson.

For a Lethbridge professor, the lure of the great Hindu goddess Durga has proven too strong to ignore.

The study of the mysterious and powerful deity, with her multiple arms and stunning beauty, became a labour of love for Hillary Rodrigues many years ago.

And the professor of religious studies at the University of Lethbridge is not alone in his devotion. Durga has become a symbol of female empowerment for many young women who have sat through his lectures.

Rodrigues was born in India — named in honour of Sir Edmund Hillary, the first man to summit Mount Everest — and came with his family to Montreal when he was 11 years old.

He later graduated with a chemistry degree from McGill University and had ideas of becoming a scientist, but a decision to first travel the world set him on a different path.

“Before grad school I thought I’d travel a little, and that was the beginning of the end for me regarding science,” said Rodrigues.

Eventually his travels led him back to the land of his birth, as well as Nepal and Sri Lanka, and after three years away from Canada he returned with a desire to learn more about eastern philosophies and religions.

After taking a degree in religious studies, he eventually found teaching work at the University of Lethbridge in 1992.

“I was interested in these big questions about life and that led to teaching eastern religions in Lethbridge,” he said. “I didn’t even know exactly where the place was at first, I had to get an atlas out.”

But the move proved a good one and it was as a professor in Lethbridge that Rodrigues was able to learn more about Hindu deities, especially the great goddess Durga.

The mother goddess is best known as an invincible warrior and slayer of the mythical demon buffalo.

“I found the Hindus have many notions of god as male, but this notion of god as goddess was interesting and at first a little puzzling to me as a guy,” said Rodrigues. “It was so outside my normal ways of thinking, so this was a great thing to take on and study, as I thought I might learn something. Turns out it has fascinated me now for decades.

“Durga doesn’t just appeal to women — she has both male and female devotees. Durga is interesting — there are goddesses who are wife goddesses, being the wife of a male god, but Durga is a supreme deity in her own right. It is hard to wrap your head around that if you have grown up in Abrahamic western religions all your life where you are surrounded by only male examples of supreme divinity.”

The professor has returned to India many times to explore the myths and beliefs surrounding the goddess. Durga is said to have been created by the most powerful male Hindu gods, who then armed her with their own individual weapons.

“All the gods pooled their energies together and this amazingly beautiful goddess emerges from this pool of energy. So they arm her with each of their individual weapons — this is symbolic as she now holds the powers of all the male gods. Then she goes off and kills this buffalo demon.

“I’ve done lots of field work in India trying to understand why people worship this goddess,” he said. “What are her key myths, what about the symbols such as the demon buffalo that she is shown to destroy, what does that mean? I find it utterly mysterious and interesting.”

But Durga’s appeal isn’t limited to followers of Hinduism. Young women listening to the stories of the goddess in class are also drawn to her power.

“I believe women are always seeking images and symbols of empowerment and the goddess Durga is an amazing model of female empowerment,” added Rodrigues. “They love hearing stories about her. Western women are grabbing on to goddesses like Durga, as I think there’s a great appeal in this image.”