Mansa Devi

Presiding deity in the village of
Manimajara, located in the Shiwalik
Hills, a short distance from Chandigarh,
and one of the nine Shiwalik goddesses.
According to local tradition, this is one
of the Shakti Pithas, a network of sites
sacred to the Goddess that spreads
throughout the subcontinent. Each
Shakti Pitha marks the site where a body
part of the dismembered goddess Sati
fell to earth, taking form there as a different goddess; Mansa Devi was Sati’s
head. The word mansa means “wish,”
and it is claimed that Mansa Devi
will grant whatever wish the devotee
(bhakta) brings to her. There is another
temple of Mansa Devi on the hill above
the bathing (snana) ghats in the sacred
city of Haridwar; here, too, the officiants
claim that the presiding deity will fulfill
all one’s wishes.
The charter myth for the Manimajara
Mansa Devi, set in the time of the
Moghul emperor Akbar, illustrates her
power and concern for her devotees.
Akbar appoints a Rajput chieftain to
manage the land around Manimajara.
One year the chieftain is unable to pay
his taxes because bad weather has
ruined the crops. The chieftain is put in
prison, but his plight moves one of
Mansa Devi’s devotees, who implores
her to intervene in his behalf. The chieftain is released and the taxes waived;
when the chieftain discovers how this
has happened, he is so grateful that he
erects a temple in honor of the goddess.
See also pitha and Moghul dynasty.