Food fills the air, there are smiles on people's faces and idols of a beautiful goddess are all around, Durga Puja has arrived. It is a time of great celebration in India and other countries as well as it is a celebration of Goddess Durga, the slayer of the Buffalo demon. There are many rituals that correspond to the holiday; many types of foods are served, the myth of Durga brings people together and it all originates from Bengali. The Durga Puja festival is a celebration of Goddess Durga who helped the gods eliminate many demons like Madhu, Kaitabha and Mahishasura, the most famous demon (Jones, 139). The festival mainly commemorates the victory over Mahishasura also known as the Buffalo Demon (Jones, 140). Hindu mythology states that Mahishasura once received a blessing from the destructive god Shiva, where neither man nor god could kill him. The only way to take his life was for a woman to kill him. The demon took advantage of the blessing, creating chaos in the world and defeating the gods to become the Lord of heaven (Mythology of Durga Puja, par 1). The gods who had their homes taken away had no choice but to create a woman who could defeat Mahishasura (Mythology of Durga Puja, par 2). With Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva combining their energies along with other gods, they formed the ultimate power Durga (Mythology of Durga Puja, pars 2-3). To help the goddess in the battle against the demon, the gods gave her various weapons and gifts, including new clothes, a garland of immortal lotuses and much more (Mythology of Durga Puja, par 4). She was now ready to engage in combat. Armed with the weapons and gifts of the gods, she rushes into battle (Mythology of Durga...... middle of paper ...... uh religions; they are unique and bring a warm feeling to the heart. Works Cited Azmi, Neha. “DURGA PUJA – The Festival”. npnd Web. Das, Subhamoy “The History and Origin of Durga Puja”. File, 2007. Infobase eBooks January 19, 2014. Mudi, Aparna. January 2014. “Mythology of Durga Puja.” Durga Puja. January 12, 2014. Pandey, Jhimli “Kolkata's first community puja continues for 104 years. » 2014. Robinson, James. Hinduism New York: Chelsea House, 2004. Infobase eBooks January 19, 2014. Sen-Handley, Shreya “Durga Puja can be as magical as Christmas... 2014.