ICONOGRAPHIC CONSTRUCTION OF DURGA IN LITERARY SOURCES

Durga holds a central position in Shakta literary traditions, where her identity is formed through narrative as well as visual prescription. While her iconography is often approached through sculpture and temple imagery, the way her form is shaped within texts receives less sustained attention. This paper examines Puranic and Agamic descriptions that define Durga’s posture, weapons, gestures, ornaments, and vehicle. These accounts do not function as incidental detail. They organize how authority, protection, and responsibility are placed onto the body of the goddess. Drawing on sources such as the Devi Mahatmya, Shiva Purana, Kalika Purana, Agamic manuals, and classical iconographic writings, the study follows how Durga’s image is written before it enters visual or ritual space. Attention is given to arm numbers, ayudhas, vahana, stance, and naming practices across traditions. Although descriptions differ from text to text, a stable logic appears. Durga is shaped as a figure prepared for confrontation and control. She is addressed as mother, yet her image is marked by command rather than reliance. Even when weapons are said to be offered by other gods, narrative action remains with her. The study supports reading Durga as a construction of power that takes form in literature before it appears in material representation.