Durga दुर्गा | The Devotee at the Threshold | Museum Poster

दुर्गा | In the temple at first light, grandchild, this is what really happens. The goddess does not move. She waits, jewelled and crowned, in her sanctum at the top of the steps. The priest comes with the lamp. The devotee kneels at the threshold, head low, offering in his hands. The columns rise around them. The incense rises with the prayer. She does not need any of it — and yet she receives all of it, because the giving is what changes us. This is why we go to her temple. Not to feed her. To remember how to bow.