When her mother tells her it is not possible, she goes to the temple of the goddess and asks her why she is not feeding her with her hands. Sumukhi tells the goddess she will not have a morsel till she herself comes to feed her. The goddess is moved by Sumukhi’s innocence love and devotion. She comes and feeds Sumukhi unseen by others. After the Devi feeds her, she goes away and Sumukhi falls asleep. Her parents don’t believe her when she wakes up and tells them that the goddess had come down to feed her. They think Sumukhi has seen a beautiful dream. The relationship between Sumukhi and her beloved Maa Durga continues till Sumukhi reaches her adolescence.
Then the narrative takes a dramatic twist. Sumukhi is to be married to Surath, the prince of the neighboring kingdom. Sumukhi and Surath face many challenges in their life and Maa Durga constantly comes to their rescue in times of distress and anxiety. Even demons (daanav) and other evil beings from other worlds try to create problems for Sumukhi and Surath. They even try to kidnap Sumukhi. Her cry for help is heard by Maa Durga who destroys them. There is also a horse Pawan on which Surath rides and which gives Surath wise advice from time to time.
The climax of the story is the fulfilling of the mission of his ancestors – Surath builds the biggest Durga Maiya’s temple which the Daanav forces headed by Kalketu are all out to destroy. The serial was designed to give viewers a mix of mythology, fiction, puranic stories, folk myth etc. It also included the stories and myths as in Durga Saptashati Shakti puran, Devi puran – the slaying of the demons Bhaisasur (half man, half buffalo) and Rakhtbeej whose one drop of blood produced a thousand demons. Durga takes the form of Kali and drank every drop of his blood to save mankind from death.
Year of telecast:
The telecast began from December 29, 2007 which incidentally happened to be the 90th birth anniversary of Dr. Ramanand Sagar, the soul behind the magnum opus.
Direction and Casting:
Jai Maa Durga was produced under the banner of “Sagar Films” and directed by Prem Sagar.
Shalini Kapoor played the lead role of Maa Durga.
Awards:
Kavita Krishnamurthy won the Idea ITA award 2008, for the “Best Singer”.