For the first time, the presiding deity at Sri Durga Malleswara Swamyvarla Devasthanam appeared as Maha Chandi Devi on the fifth day of Dasara festivities on Thursday. Much to the surprise of the devotees, the Vaidic committee has done away with the Swarna Kavachalankrita Durga Devi to introduce Maha Chandi Devi.
Usually, the deity will be decorated as Swarna Kavachalankrita Durga Devi alanakaram on the first day of festivities to mark that the goddess Durga Devi showering her choicest blessings on king Madhava Varma, who ruled Vijayavatikapuri (now Vijayawada) and was an ardent devotee of Kanaka Durga. Appreciative of the King’s devotion to Her, Goddess Kanaka Durga resurrected the dead boy and showered gold on the city for a while. It was then that She got the name Kanaka Durga and had since then has been worshiped as ‘Swarnakavachalankrita Kanaka Durga Devi’.
