India is celebrating Navratri or Durga puja, one of the biggest Hindu religious festivals. The festival is dedicated to the goddess Durga. She is depicted with multiple arms , carrying various weapons and riding a ferocious lion or tiger. She is often pictured as battling or slaying Mahishasura, the demon.
When Mahishasura saw Durga , he fell in love with her and sought to marry her. The goddess promised to marry him, if he defeated her in the battle. A terrible combat ensued and continued for nine days. Finally, Durga assumed the terrifying form of Chandika and pinned Mahishasura down with her foot and pierced his neck with her spear and she cut his head off with her sword.
Popular Goddesses worshiped in Hinduism are Lakshmi, Saraswati, Parvati, Durga, and Kali.
It is amazing to see Hindus worshiping goddesses. There are millions of goddesses. Does it mean Hinduism respect women? Hell, no. There are millions of sacred verses too that are anti-women. One verse says, ‘Na Stree Swatantram Arhati’, women do not deserve independence or freedom! Women are often victims of sexual harassment, rape, domestic violence, dowry system, dowry murder, bride burning, sex trafficking, sexual slavery, child marriage etc. No matter they are rich, middle class, poor, illiterate or literate, most people are religious, superstitious and many are terribly misogynists. The problems can not be solved by worshiping millions or billions of goddesses. We can get an equal society by educating boys and girls about women’s equal rights.