Durga rode to the top of a mountain on a lion. Attracted by her beauty, Mahisha came to the mountain and proposed marriage. "I will marry only he who defeats me in battle," said Durga. Mahisha immediately attacked the goddess. She hurled many weapons at the buffalo-demon but each time he rose unscathed. Finally she kicked him. Mahisha, immune to the weapons of the gods, succumbed to the touch of her feet. Durga immediately impaled him with her trident and blew her conch in victory. All the gods saluted this warrior-goddess and celebrated her triumph. Durga (or Shakti), the female principle which activates Shiva, is the personification of Universal Energy. Durga (Invincible) is Parvati in her terrifying form, and in the same time the most powerful embodiment of Shiva's Shakti. She is a composite goddess who includes in herself different elements of many Gods and local Goddesses. She has eight, sometimes thirty-two arms, and carries the weapons of almost all the Devas.
Thus this supreme form is called mahishasuramardhini.The goddess who killed mahisha
