Shakumbhari Devi

Presiding deity of the Shakumbhari Devi
temple in the district of Saharanpur in
Uttar Pradesh, and one of the nine
Shiwalik goddesses. This site 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; in the case of Shakumbhari Devi, the body part is said to have
been Sati’s head. The temple is in a thinly settled region, and the major time of
year that pilgrims come to visit is during
the Navaratri festivals.
Although Hindi literature identifies
Shakumbhari Devi as a form of Durga,
the site’s charter myth shows the nurturing capacities of the Goddess as
well as the warrior aspect more commonly associated with Durga.
According to the story, a demon
named Durgam gains the boon that he
cannot be conquered by any of the
gods. After subduing all the gods,
Durgam prevents the storm-god Indra
from sending rain to the earth for one
hundred years. Seeing the earth’s distress, the gods approach the Goddess
and beg for her help. The Goddess,
620
Shakra
filled with pity, takes a form with one
hundred eyes, because of which one of
her epithets is Shatakshi (“hundred
eyes”). From each eye comes a stream
of tears, and when these fall to the
earth, plants begin to grow again.
Further, when her tears do not reach
some places, she puts forth vegetables
(Shak) from her own body to nourish
the creatures of the earth. Her final
action is to kill the demon Durgam,
reasserting the Goddess as a strong
and protective figure. Although there
is little information on Shakumbhari
Devi in English, there are further references to her in David R. Kinsley, Hindu
Goddesses, 1986. See also pitha.