This celebration in honour of the goddess, the      mother of the world, begins on the first day of      Ashvin, and goes on for nine days. The goddess is the personification of Power, or ?Shakti?. She is known by many names: ?Kali?, ?Laxmi?, ?         Sarasvati?, ?Chandi-ka?, ?Durga?, ?Bhavani?, ?Ambika?, ?Ashtabhuja? (eight hands). Her main task is to punish the wicked. She is engaged in war, and weapons are in her hands (four, eight, eighteen...) She is sitting on a lion. Her weapons are the ?shul? (pike), ?chakra? (wheel), ?parshu? (axe) and ?talvar? (sword). Kali is known as ?Mahisha-surmardini?, the slayer of the demon Mahishasur. The fight against the demon begins on the first day until he is defeated on the ninth day.

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