Durga temple is  also known as the The Monkey Temple as one of the important temples of Varanasi. This temple is dedicated to Goddess Durga. The Durga temple was built in the eighteenth century. A Bengali Maharani built the Durga temple in Nagara Style (the North Indian style of temple architecture). It is stained red with ochre and has a multitiered shikhar (spire). The Durga temple is situated on a rectangular tank, called the Durga Kunda. According to the Puranas, Goddess Durga has kept this place for many centuries and protects the holy city of  Varanasi from the South. According to legends the present statue of Goddess Durga was not made by man but appeared on its own as swayambhu  in the temple. In Hinduism Durga  Devi is represented as the embodiment of shakti or female power clad in red riding a tiger and fully armed with Shiva’s Trishul , Vishnu’s Sudarshan chakra  and a sword. Non-Hindus can enter the courtyard of the Durga temple but not the inner sanctum.