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Maa Vindhyavasini Temple

On the bank of the Ganga, Vindhyachal, Mirzapur district, Uttar Pradesh

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Maa Vindhyavasini Temple
Photo: Karmandir, AI illustration

About

Maa Vindhyavasini, 'the Devi who lives on the Vindhya hills', is worshipped in this temple on the bank of the Ganga at Vindhyachal, near Mirzapur. She is a form of Maa Durga, and devotees revere the place as a 'jagrat', or wakeful, Shakti Peeth where the Devi is always present. The temple is the first stop of the Trikon Parikrama, a triangle of three shrines: Maa Vindhyavasini, Mahakali in the cave temple of Kali Khoh, and Ashtabhuja Devi on a hilltop, revered as Mahasaraswati. During Chaitra and Sharad Navratri a huge mela is held here and lakhs of devotees come for darshan.

The story

The Devi Bhagavat tells that when Brahma ji created the first humans, Swayambhuva Manu and Shatarupa, Manu made a murti of the Devi with his own hands and prayed for a hundred years. Pleased, the Devi blessed him and then went to live on the Vindhya mountain. So devotees believe she has been worshipped here since the beginning of creation. The best-known story comes from the time of Krishna's birth. On the night Krishna was born to Devaki in Kansa's prison, Vasudev carried him across the Yamuna to Gokul and brought back the baby girl just born to Yashoda. She was Yogmaya, the Lord's own power. When Kansa tried to dash the baby against a stone, she slipped from his hands, rose into the sky in her divine form, told him that the one who would end him was already born, and then went away to the Vindhya mountain. The Durga Saptashati also speaks of the Devi being born in Nand's home from Yashoda and living on the Vindhyachal. In the Virat Parva of the Mahabharata, Yudhishthir praises the Devi and says that her eternal home is on the Vindhya, the best of mountains.

Visiting

October to March is comfortable; Navratri is the busiest time. To complete the Trikon Parikrama, visit Kali Khoh, about 2 km away, and Ashtabhuja Devi on the hill. Vindhyachal railway station is about 1 km from the temple, Mirzapur about 9 km, and Varanasi about 63 km.

Festivals

  • Chaitra Navratri mela
  • Sharad (Ashwin) Navratri mela
  • Special worship at Kali Khoh on the Saptami of Navratri

Famous temples

Sources