She is associated with protection, strength, motherhood, destruction, and wars; her legends center around combating evils and demonic forces that threaten peace, dharma and cosmic order, representing the power of good over evil. Durga is seen as a motherly figure and often depicted as a warrior, riding a lion or tiger, with many arms, each carrying a weapon and defeating demons.

Durga is believed to have originated as an ancient goddess worshipped by indigenous mountain-dwellers of the Indian subcontinent,