Vindhyavasini

(“dweller in the Vindhyas”) Powerful
form of the great Goddess. The
Vindhyas are a mountain range in
central India that are difficult to
reach, inhabited by tribal peoples,
754
Vinata
and seen as a place at the margins of
civilized society. As the goddess who
dwells in that place, Vindhyavasini is
equally marginal, often seen as a
fierce and dangerous deity who
demands blood sacrifices from her
devotees (bhakta). The mythology of
Vindhyavasini is associated with various places in the Vindhyas, but for
centuries, her primary temple has
been in the village of Vindhyachal
near the city of Mirzapur in the state
of Uttar Pradesh, although she is
worshiped in other places in northern
India. One of her charter myths identifies her as the goddess (in infant
form) exchanged for the infant god
Krishna and killed by Krishna’s
wicked uncle, Kamsa. After taunting
Kamsa that the child he seeks has
already escaped, she flies off and
takes up residence in the Vindhyas.
Since other accounts identify this
goddess as Bhadrakali, this points to
the fluidity of the Hindu pantheon, in
which the renditions differ in the various accounts, according to the purpose of the writers. For further
information see David R. Kinsley,
Hindu Goddesses, 1986; and Cynthia
Humes, “The Goddess of the
Vindhyas in Banaras,” in Cynthia
Humes and Bradley R. Hertel, Living
Banaras, 1993.