On the Indrakeeladri hill overlooking the Krishna river at Vijayawada in Andhra Pradesh stands the temple of Kanaka Durga, the golden Goddess, one of the most revered Devi shrines of the South. Here the Mother is worshipped as Durga in her fierce, self-manifested form as Mahishasura Mardini, slayer of the buffalo-demon, radiant with the light of gold from which she takes her name.
Tradition holds that Arjuna performed penance on this hill and received the Pashupatastra from Shiva, and that the Goddess herself slew the demon here to protect the sages. Thronged through the year and above all during the Dasara Navaratri, when she is adorned each day in a different alankaram, Kanaka Durga of Vijayawada is a great and beloved seat of the Divine Mother on the Krishna.
