While all the god-forms have some fixity about their forms, Devi’s has more variables.
Shiva, wherever he is, has some definite description, like the trident, ash-smear, matted locks etc. Vishnu is known by conch and wheel, mace and lotus held in each of his four hands. Brahma for his four heads and the lotus he sits on. Ganesh, for his elephant proboscis, and such. Whereas Devi’s forms are varied and various in different regions and times!

Her complexion is different, her sari colour is varied, her weapons and the number of arms also vary! Some forms have Devi with two arms, with four, with six, ten, sixteen or even a thousand. The items she wields in these arms are also varied – they can be weapons or flowers or in the gesture of boon giving.

Let us see how many kinds of vehicles she rides on. A vehicle is not a possession as in the modern sense but a dear companion of the deity. Like the mouse is to Ganesh. Normally Devi is said to ride on a lion as Katyayani, or on a tiger as Durga.

But one needs to go deep into the folk culture of the vast land of Bharat to see more examples. Devi has descended in all these parts at various times. In Gujarat, where Mother is worshipped as Ambaji, meaning Mother, she is seen as Kukkuta-vahini, riding on the rooster. She is also seen as one riding on the camel, on the elephant, on the horse, on the bull, on the crow, on the tortoise. Makara-vahini – Devi riding on a crocodile, is representative of the River Ganga. As Goddess Saraswati, Devi rides on a peacock, as Gayatri, She rides on a swan. As Adishakti in Dravidian cultures, she wears the five or eight hooded serpent behind her head. As Meenaksi, she has a parrot for a companion.
As Durga in Bengal, she has an owl for a companion –(though the owl elsewhere in India is generally viewed as a bad omen.) As Lakshmi she rides on the eagle.

Navaratri is a time to worship this Universal Motherhood.

-Sandhya