Maa Sharda Mandir, Maihar

About

High on the Trikut mountain, amid the forests of the Maihar district of Madhya Pradesh, stands the temple of Goddess Sharda. Devotees revere Her as an incarnation of Goddess Saraswati, and within the Shakta tradition the shrine is honored as a Shakti Peetha, one of the seats where the Mother's presence dwells upon the earth.

The first to find the Goddess in this remote forest, tradition holds, were the warrior brothers Alha and Udal. Alha, in the tenderness of his devotion, called the Mother Sharda Mai, and from his words grew the name by which She is widely loved, Mata Sharda Mai. That bond between the legendary brothers and Sharda Devi remains woven into the devotion of this sacred place.

Most cherished of all is the belief that Alha never ceased his worship. Blessed with immortality, he is said to come to the temple every day in the quiet hours of the Brahma Muhurta, before any other devotee arrives, to bow before the Goddess.

History

The religious texts tell that Sati, daughter of Daksha Prajapati, longed to marry Lord Shiva. Her father withheld his blessing, yet Sati wed Lord Shiva nonetheless. When Daksha Prajapati later held a great yagya to which Brahma, Vishnu, Indra and the other deities were invited, Lord Shiva alone was left out. Sati asked her father why, and Daksha answered by insulting Lord Shiva; unable to bear it, she gave up her life in the sacrificial fire. When Lord Shiva learned what had happened, he opened his third eye in fury, and to save the universe Lord Vishnu divided Sati's body into Fifty One parts. Wherever a part fell, a Shakti Peetha arose, and at Maihar, it is believed, fell Her necklace. The temple itself is said to have been discovered by the brothers Alha and Udal, devotees of Goddess Sharda, who found it upon the summit of the Trikut mountain deep within the forests. Alha then performed twelve years of penance to please the Goddess, who blessed him with immortality.

Significance

Maihar is honored as the Shakti Peetha where the necklace of Sati fell, and its Goddess Sharda is worshipped as Saraswati come to earth. The shrine holds a devotion unlike any other: the belief that Alha, granted deathlessness by the Mother herself, still climbs to Her temple each day during the Brahma Muhurta to offer the first worship of the morning.