The Durga Chalisa is a Hindi hymn of forty chaupais to the Goddess Durga, opening with Namo namo Durge sukh karani — salutations to Durga, the giver of happiness. It carries no date, and its closing line names its poet, Devidas, who takes refuge in the Mother of the world. Gita Press prints it in a small booklet with the Vindhyeshwari Chalisa.
The Chalisa praises the Goddess as the light that fills the three worlds, as Annapurna who feeds them, and as Gauri, beloved of Shiva, on whom Brahma and Vishnu meditate. It sees her in other forms too: as Saraswati giving wisdom to the sages, as Lakshmi beside Narayana on the ocean of milk, and as Narasimha bursting from the pillar to save Prahlada. It names Matangi, Dhumavati, Bhuvaneshvari, Bagala, Bhairavi, Tara and Chhinnamasta among her forms, pictures her riding a lion with sword and trident in hand, and recalls her battles: how she slew Shumbha and Nishumbha and Raktabija, and how, taking the fierce form of Kalika, she destroyed Mahishasura and his army.
Through the nine days of Navratri, devotees read the Durga Chalisa as part of their worship of the Goddess. The three seats it names are all in this collection: Hinglaj, in a cave on the Hingol river in Balochistan; Nagarkot in the Kangra valley, where the Goddess is worshipped as Brajeshwari; and Jwala Ji at Jwalamukhi, where she is worshipped as flames that burn from the rock.