Maa Vindhyawasini

Universal Mother Maa Vindhyawasini has been worshipped and praised by Rishis, Munis, and devotees for ages. She has been honoured as Ishwari Naraini Devi and gods praise her as creative force and she has been accepted by Trilok – Akash, Patal and Mrityulok.
'You are sidhi, dhriti, medha, srividya, sannate, mati, sandhya, ratriprabha, nidra, kalratri, arya, katyayni, kaushiki, brahmacharini, janavi, sidh-senani, ugrachari, mahatatrapa, jaya, vijya, pushti, chamma, daya, heyshthaya, yamabhagini and neelkaushyawasini.', the scriptures say.
Jagatatma has been described as the savior of her devotees in the form of biroopa, birupapshi and vishalakshmi. Her abode is in high hills, dense forests, rivers, gardens and the houses of her worshippers. She is the preserver of the world and she has been worshipped by sherbers, berbers and pulinds. Her flag holds peacock as her symbol.
Vindhyawasini has her abode on Vindhyachal hills and she is surrounded by cocks, goats, sheep, lions and tigers. The whole Vindhyachal mountain ranges reserved and echoes with the sound of ghantaas (bells)'. She is Trishulpatti, Navmi of Krishna Paksha and Ekadashi of Shukla Paksha and the sister of Baldvji. She is the ultimate poojya of all creatures and it is she who is base of all faiths on the earth. She brings salvation of the people. This great mother is called Nandputri, the helper of gods, wearer of good clothes and she is also addressed as Raatri and Sandhya.
Rishis call her with the name of Savitri and she is also the mother of Vedas and Mantras. She is Brahmacharya in maidens, Saubhagyaswaroopa for married women and Deeksha among Brahmacharyas. The astrologers call her Prabha and she is existent as Rohini in Nakshatras. She is worshipped in royal palaces and in the confluences of rivers.
'You are the fullness of moon and you are Kritiwasa. You are the Saraswati of Valmiki and Smriti of Dwepayan', the scriptures say.
She is the Sita of former learners of all creatures, reasoning of knowledge of rishis and the manasi of gods. She is also called Sura Devi for desirous gods. She is aesthetic beauty of Indra with her thousands eyes, she is aranya for Agnihotris.
She has been worshipped in many names – she is swaha, tripti, ghriti, medha, basumati, hope of human beings, santushti of krits, prabha, shakuni, pootna, rewati, vasudaren, sleep of all creatures and mohini for all.
Dedantees call her brahma vidya. Khbar and bapat are her forms. She is parbati among women and paurani of rishis.
The worshippers of 'shakti' call her the words of Prajapati. She is Arundhati of Satees and she is also called Indrani. Rishis pray her saying 'you are the saviour of all. You protect your devotees on river side in the forests in foreign countries, under the state punishment – almost everywhere.'
Rishis who have been worshipping her for ages say that if a person prays her with full devotion, the holy mother fulfills his desire in three months, in six months, she gives a good boon, and in nine months, she gives us divya drishti. She gives Yatheshta Siddhi after a devoted prayer of one year.

( 2 )

This goddess is described as full of generous qualities. She blesses and helps us under all kinds of calamities – bondages, death, death of children, loss of money, sickness and fear of death – all fears are removed by this great goddess Vindhayawasini.
'Vindhya Dham' is situated on the Southern Bank of river Ganga. It covers the middle part of Vindhyachal Mountain. Its location becomes unique as on one side i.e. to the north is river Ganga and on the southern side extends great mountain Vindhyachal. Maa Vindhyavasini permeates bur power of all though the surrounding areas while she herself is seated on Laxmibhoot Shilakhand of the Vindhyachal hills. She is also called Devi Paramba. There are many citations about her in Puranas. Waaman Puran tells that Lord Indra brought Maa Durga to these hills from far north via sky route. It is said that Asuras had grown very powerful in their region. The gods were frequently defeated by demons. Hence, the being of Gods requested to land mother Durga here on these hills and destroy the culprits.
According to another myth after the 'deh+yoag' (Self immolation) of Sati, Lord Shiva took the dead body through the sky. As her body had become burnt badly, her limbs fell on route. One part of her body fell here in Vindhyas too and later became Shaktipeeth. Due to Achal power of devi Achala, this Vindhya dham became achal.
It is a remarkable fact that term Vindhyachal does not represent mountain but it represents the supernatural power of goddess, who herself is Laxmi Swaroopa.
Maa Vindhyavasini is the source of radiance – Achievement gained here are permanent. Even chanchala Laxmi became 'chanchal' here. If worshipped properly, she awards the devotee with all kinds of boons – physical as well as spiritual. Her blessings permeates the whole universe, look aside the earth.

The Vindhya Tricone in Religious Prospective

The holy pilgrimage to the Vindhya Triangle (Tricone), however mythical it may be, has got an all time relevance. On one point of the holy tricone, lies the shrine of Mahasaraswati, the Goddess of learning, on the other point abodes Goddess Mahalakshami, the provider of wealth, whereas on the third point abodes Goddess Mahakali, the destroyer of evils. By undertaking a pilgrimage to this holy tricone, the devotees get such an immense feeling of divinity which is simply unexplicable, beyond description, unillustrable.
The pilgrimage is to be started for Right side and must end at the starting point. Hence, the actual tricone pilgrimage is to be started from Ashtabhuja (Mahasaraswati) and must conclude there only. At the eastern point of Tricone-Yantra abodes Mahalakshami (Vindhyavasini), at Southern point abodes Mahakali and at Western point abodes Mahasaraswati (Ashtbhuja).
Maa Ashtabhuja is the daughter of "Nandja", related to Sri Krishna's birth story. The same body born as eighth issue of Devaki, whom Kans thought to be his destroyer and wanted to kill it, flew to sky to become Ashbhuja. Later on, at the behest of gods, the girl started living in the Vindhya jungles and permanently settled there.
The pilgrimage must start their tricone yatra by taking permission of Mahasaraswati and with the chanting of 'Maa', "Maa! I am undertaking this pilgrimage in the hope that every step of mine will bear the fruit of 'Ashwamedh Yagya' and all my sins be washed away." After getting the Mother's permission, they must visit Vasku Bhairav, near Bairav Kund – just at a distance of 4 furlong – from Ashtbhuja. And, very near to that, lies the Shreeyantra beside Mangla Gauri.
Lord Ram, the mythological king of Ayodhya, performed some rituals here on the bank of the Ganga and the place is known as Ramgaya. So, after the darshan of Shreeyantra, the pilgrims must pay a visit to Ramgaya followed by a visit to the shrine of Mahatara – the goddess of tantra. After that, visit to Lord Hanuman, the guardian of eastern gate to Vindhyachal, must be made.
On the eastern angle of the holy tricone, abodes the beautiful decorated and ornamented Mahalakshami. In Devi Puran, the description and related stories of 108 Shakti Peeths is given. It is said that lord Vishnu, with his sudarshan chakra, cut the body of Sati in 108 parts and the parts fell at 108 places on earth, each part forming one Shakti peeth and the abode of Vindhyavasini (Mahalakshami) being one.
In Her quest to attain eternal beauty, Goddess Lakshami worshipped Tarakeswar Mahadev at Tarkapuri, Vindhyachal after bathing in the holy pond dug up by Tarak, the demon king. After that holy bath, Goddess Lakshami undertook worship (tapasya) of Lord Shiva at Narayan sarovar for the ten thousand years. Pleased at Her rigorous tapasya, Lord Shiva blessed the Goddess Lakshami to be established as the presiding deity of Vindhyachal.

At the southern angle of Vindhya tricone, abodes Goddess Mahakali. About this Goddess, the purans describe an incident of Lord Ram's court. One day when the meeting between Lord Ram, Goddess Sita and other courtiers was going on, the question about who should be given credit for Ravan's fall was raised. At this Goddess Sita said that ten headed (dashanan) Ravan is killed but sahastrabhuj (thousand handed) Ravan is still to be killed. Furious at Sita's instigation, Lord Ram invaded the capital of Sahastrabahu with a huge army. During that furious battle Lord Ram was defeated and became unconscious. Sahastrabahu caught hold of Sita asking Her to be his spouse. Hearing those insulting words, goddess Sita took on ugly form. She opened Her mouth and within no time Sahastrabahu along with his entire army entered into the mouth of Goddess Sita turned to goddess Kali. She started chewing them all. Wherever the goddess ran the earth Lord Shiva lay down under the feet, the goddess humbled and turned to Bhadrakali. Lord Ram regained his consciousness and worshipped the goddess. That place of worship is known as Kalikhoh, the abode of Mahakali.
After paying visit to Mahakali at Kalikhoh, the devotees must pay a visit to Bhootnath, at the backyard. During Navratras, the ghost stricken people through the place of salvation. From that place, the pilgrims should climb up the stairs to go to Geruwa talab. After paying respects to Lord Krishna there, they should process forward towards Sita Kund, which was established by Sitaji during her 14 years exile with Ram and Lakshaman. From there, they must come back to Ashtabhuja and bow their heads to the goddess. Finally they must visit the Pataal Kali shrine nearby and again turn their faces towards the goddess Ashtabhuja for paying their respect and expressing thanks for the successful completion of the tricone yatra.
There is no doubt that if the tricone yatra is undertaken with complete faith and devotion, it bears unimaginable fruits and all humbly wishes are fulfilled.

jai maa vindhyavasini