Vindhyavasini

Vindhyavasini or YogaMāya is the name of a benevolent aspect of Durga. She is identified as Adi Parashakti. Her temple is located at Vindhyachal, 8 km away from Mirzapur on the banks of river Ganges, in Uttar Pradesh.[1]Another shrine is located in Bandla, Himachal Pradesh also called Bandla Mata Temple.[2][3][4]

Vindhyavasini
Yogamaya appears in front of Kamsa
AffiliationParvati, Devi, Durga Adi Parashakti
Personal information
Born
Gokul
ParentsNanda Baba (father) Yashoda (mother)
SiblingsKrishna
Balrama

"Yogmaya" redirects here. For Temple, see Yogmaya Temple.

Legend
Vindhyavasini

The goddess gets her name from Vindhya Range and the name Vindhyavasini, literally means, she who resides in Vindhya. As it is believed that the Shaktipeeths were created on earth, where the body parts of Sati fell. But Vindhayachal is the place and a Shaktipeeth, where the Devi had chosen to reside after her birth.

At the time of the birth of Krishna as 8th Child of Devaki-Vasudeva, Maha-Yogini Mahamaya has taken birth at same time at Nanda-Yashoda and as per the instruction from God Vishnu, Vasudev had replaced Krishna with this girl child of Yashoda. When Kansa tried to kill this girl child she escaped from the hand of Kansa and turned into Devi form and informed him that Oh!! You fool!! The one who will kill you is already born and safe and vanished from the prison of Mathura.

The child, Yoga-māyā-devī, the younger sister of Lord Viṣṇu, slipped upward from Kaṁsa’s hands and appeared in the sky as Devī, the goddess Durgā, with eight arms, completely equipped with weapons

— Srimad Bhagavatam, Canto 10,Chapter 4, Verse 9[5]

O Kaṁsa, you fool, what will be the use of killing me? The Supreme Personality of Godhead, who has been your enemy from the very beginning and who will certainly kill you, has already taken His birth somewhere else. Therefore, do not unnecessarily kill other children

— Srimad Bhagavatam, Canto 10,Chapter 4, Verse 12[6]

Thereafter, she choose Vindhyachal mountains to reside, where her temple is located at present. Many believe that Subhadra was her reincarnation.[7]

Temples

The temple is one of the most revered Shakti Peethas of India. The Vindhyavasini Devi is also known popularly by name of Kajala devi. Goddess Kali is adorned in the form of Vindhyavasini Devi.[3][4]

The huge number of crowds visit the temple, especially during Navaratri in Hindu months of Chaitra and Ashwin. In month of Jyeshtha, the Kajali competition, a folk genre are held here.[3][4]

There is a temple of Mahasaraswati named Ashtbhuja Temple, 3 km away on a hillock and a temple of goddess Kali in cave called Kali khoh temple. The pilgrims prefer to visit these three temples, which is a part of rite called Trilokan Parikrama.[3][4]

The goddess is known as "Bijasani devi " in middle of India and the Bijasani Mata temple is present on Maharashtra - Madhya Pradesh boundary.

There is also a temple dedicated to goddess in Pokhara, Nepal.[8]

See also

References
  1. "Vindhyachal Dham". District Mirzapur, Government of Uttar Pradesh. Retrieved 3 July 2020.
  5. https://vedabase.io/en/ https://vedabase.io/en/library/sb/10/4/9/. Retrieved 24 February 2020. Missing or empty |title= (help); External link in |website= (help)
  6. https://vedabase.io/en/ https://vedabase.io/en/library/sb/10/4/12/. Retrieved 24 February 2020. Missing or empty |title= (help); External link in |website= (help)
  7. Krishnan, S. A. (20 May 2017). Abhimanyu: The Warrior Prince. SA Krishnan.
  8. Galen Rowell; John Everingham; Jim Goodman (1997). Pokhara in the shadow of the Annapurnas. Book Faith India. p. 29. ISBN 978-974-89765-4-9.

5.↑ Mahatmya of Maa Vindhyavasini

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