According to mythology and folklore, Shakti was created because demons attacked the male Trinity - Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva. Finding themselves routed, they created the female force and armed her with their weapons -- the lotus, chakra, trident, conch, vajra, dhanush-baan and a sword. She successfully vanquished the demons and has stood for the victory of good-over-evil ever since, as the goddess astride the ferocious lion.

However, Durga also symbolises the female Trinity - Saraswati, Laxmi and Kali, who respectively embody education, wealth and protection -- known as the Adishakti. Depending on the region and it's religious rituals she is worshipped in many forms -- Amba, Ambika, Bhavani, Katyani, Renuka, Jagdamba and many more, each with a mythological tale attached to her.

The female energy force plays an important role as a religious model as well as a symbol of creative energy -- litterateurs, poets, artists, musicians and dancers have drawn inspiration from Shakti and from their imagination and creative understanding they have presented her in many forms.

Kathak dancer Shama Bhate and her troupe performed ballets at the Pune Mahotsav held at Mahalaxmi Mandir, Sahakarnagar last year and this year as well. ``Last year, we presented an hour-long programme, Durgam Netram Bhaje and presented Durga in different forms. This year, we did the Adishakti. I've read as many stotras and shlokas and books like bharatiya sanskritik kosh on the subject for creative ideas, because frankly, one can't depict her as killing one demon after another, '' she says. Bhate choreographed the dances, keeping in mind her different incarnations. ``The story of Dhakshyani, daughter of Dhaksa feels insulted when her father does not invite her for a festive occasion because her husband lives in the smashan and is therefore impure. She throws herself into the fire and this is when Lord Shiva does the tandav.''

``Durga also stands for beauty in a woman, a facet which lends itself to the dance form -- of her dressing up and her devotees marvelling at the beauty. I have experimented with the gamut of her avtaars -- from the soft to the aggressive. In Adishakti, I experimented with a different style of presentation -- the Yavanika, which is a curtain and from behind this, she emerges in different roopa,'' says Bhate.

While dancers will draw on the energy source which can be transformed into the language of rhythm and movement, painters see the form predominantly through colours. Says Shobha Patki, an artist whose abstract, modernist paintings include themes from mythology and draws inspiration from the raagas, ``basically Durga has many forms - from the soft to the ferocious. Through colours one can depict the mood of the theme. So when I paint Saraswati, I obviously choose white, blue and pastels. But as Bhavani, red and orange predominate. And then each incarnation has a symbol, which comes useful in painting -- for instance with Saraswati, it's the peacock and for Kali, it is the tiger and so on. Even the brush strokes are more vigorous when she is depicted in her more truculent forms.''

``The different images of Shakti serve to satisfy different pursuits -- the farmers worship her as a symbol of fertility, the army as the protector, the learned as the giver of knowledge and the artistes as a creative source of ideas and concepts,'' explains Patki. Tantra musings ``Shakti as a concept has always fascinated, perplexed and mesmerised me. For me, the mind symbolises purush, the ultimate masculine element or the originator. And the heart symbolises Prakriti, the one who absorbs all these ideas to lend a concrete shape to this aspect. And so the combination of these entities is my creation. It's female embodiment in tantra is something that has always been my muse. I have tried to capture, as best as I can, its power and glory'' is artist Divakar Shetty's introduction to his world of painting.

Known as the Metal Man of India, Shetty is a Mumbai-based artist, is holding his exhibition of works on metal and wood surfaces at Le Meridien on October 16 and 17, from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. ``I believe in geometrical forms and every form has some vibrations and I believe tantra is the road which takes you to liberation of the self. What is the basic form -- the whole which is divided into the masculine element and the female form, the concept of ardhanareshwari. Shakti is the earth and the mother, without which existence is impossible,'' he says.

``Geometrical designs like the circle, triangle, and square represent the basic energies of the universe. Combined in various configurations and complex forms, they can represent the forces of creation and evolution.'' His paintings are an amalgam of symbols like Om and chakra to portray his feelings. Shetty is also a believer of colour therapy and has written a book The Vital Force, which deals with the forces, both spiritual and natural, which affect our lives and has explained the symbols which represent these forces. Shetty's repertoire includes paintings of Ganesha, the horse and the tantra, and has held exhibitions in Germany, West Asia, USA and Europe, besides India.