DURGÀ. – D., “the Inaccessible,” is one of the most common names of Umà, the consort of the god Siva, also called Devì, the goddess par excellence; Kàtì, the Black One; Pàrvatì, the Mountain Woman, etc.
Her nature is at once benevolent and malign, gentle and cruel, because in her figure the characteristics of various aboriginal deities of India are imperfectly fused. As Pàrvatì, Umà is a peaceful Oread; as D., she is the vanquisher of the asura or demons, and her deeds are the subject of the Devimàhàtmya, or “Praise of the Goddess,” which is incorporated into the Màrkaṇḍeyapurāṇa (chaps. 81–93) and has become the sacred text of D.’s devotees.
BIBL.: J. Dowson, Devì, in A classical Dictionary of Hindu Mythology, Londra 1879, pp. 86–88; H. Jacobi, s. V. in Enc. of Rel. and Eth., V, pp. 117–19. Ferdinando Belloni Filippi