Parvati, Uma or Gauri is the Hindu goddess of fertility, love, beauty, harmony, marriage, children, and devotion; as well as of divine strength and power. Known by many other names, she is the gentle and nurturing form of the Supreme Hindu goddess Adi Parashakti and one of the central deities of the Goddess-oriented Shakti sect called Shaktism. She is the Mother goddess in Hinduism, and has many attributes and aspects. Along with Lakshmi and Saraswati, she forms the trinity of Hindu goddesses (Tridevi).
Durga is a major deity in Hinduism. She is worshipped as a principal aspect of the mother goddess Devi and is one of the most popular and widely revered among Indian divinities. She is associated with protection, strength, motherhood, destruction and wars. Her legend centres around combating evils and demonic forces that threaten peace, prosperity, and Dharma the power of good over evil. Durga is believed to unleash her divine wrath against the wicked for the liberation of the oppressed, and entails destruction to empower creation.
Bhārat Mātā is the national personification of India as a mother goddess. She is usually depicted as a woman clad in a saffron sari holding the Indian national flag, and sometimes accompanied by a lion.
In Hinduism, goddess Shakambhari is an incarnation of Adi Parashakti Chandika. Her name means "The One who nourished mankind with fruits and vegetables". It is said that in the end of a hundred-year lasting famine, the supreme Paramashakti incarnated as Shatakshi-Shakambhari and gave food to the starving. Shakambhari devi is the third form of the Mother as depicted in the "Murti Rahasyam" part of "The Devi-mahatmyam" or most popularly, "Sri Sri Durga Saptashati/Sri Sri Chandi", the others being Nandadevi, Raktadantika, Durga, Bhimaa, and Bhraamari. There are many Shakti Peethas in our country, dedicated to this goddess, the prominent ones being Sakray peeth and Sambhar Peeth, located in Rajasthan and Saharanpur Peeth in Uttarakhand.
Bahuchara Mata is a Hindu goddess of chastity and fertility in her Maiden aspect, of the incarnation of the Mother aspect of Shakti. Bahuchara was born in the Charan (Gadhvi) society. Devi Bahuchara was the daughter of Bapaldaan Detha. She is considered the patroness of the hijra community. Her primary temple is located in Becharaji town in Mehsana district of Gujarat, India.
Vaishno Devi is a manifestation of the Hindu Mother Goddess, Devi. The words "Maa" and "Mata" are commonly used in India for mother, and thus are often heavily used in connection with Vaishno Devi. Vaishnavi was formed from the combined energies of Kali, Lakshmi, and Saraswati.
Banswara is a city in Banswara District in south Rajasthan in India. It is named for the "bans" or bamboo forests in the area.
The Shakti Pitha are significant shrines and pilgrimage destinations in Shaktism, the goddess-focused Hindu tradition. There are 51 Shakti peethas by various accounts, of which 18 are named as Maha (major) in medieval Hindu texts.
Kherwara Chhaoni is a census town in the Udaipur district in the Indian state of Rajasthan. It is part of the Vagad region, which includes the districts of Dungarpur, Banswara and parts of Udaipur district. It is in close proximity to two major highways, National Highway 8 and Rajasthan State Highway 76 and National Highway 927A passes through it. Its name derives from the large number of Kher (Khair) trees in the region in the past.
Kheer Bhawani or Ksheer Bhawani is a temple dedicated to the Goddess Kheer Bhavani constructed over a sacred spring. The worship of Kheer Bhawani is universal among the Hindus of Kashmir, most of them who worship her as their protective patron deity (Kuladevi). The temple is situated at a distance of 14 miles east of Srinagar near the village of Tulmul. The term kheer refers to rice pudding that is offered in the spring to propitiate the Goddess, which became part of the name of the temple. As is the custom with Hindu deities, she has many names: Maharagya Devi, Ragnya Devi, Rajni, Ragnya Bhagwati, and so on.
Kumortuli is a traditional potters' quarter in northern Kolkata, West Bengal, India. The city is renowned for its sculpting prowess. It not only manufactures clay idols for various festivals but also regularly exports them.
Paraheda shiva mandir is situated at near Partapur town in Garhi tahsil of Banswara. It is 25 km from Banswara district of Indian state of Rajasthan. The temple is known for its old and fine sculptures.
Kalkaji Mandir, also known as Kalkaji Temple, is a Hindu mandir or temple, dedicated to the Hindu Goddess Kali. The temple (mandir) is situated in the southern part of Delhi, in Kalkaji, India, a locality that has derived its name from the temple and is located opposite the Nehru Place business centre and close to the Okhla railway station, Kalkaji Mandir metro station. Hindus believe that the image of the Goddess Kalka here is a self-manifested one, and that the shrine dates back to Satya Yuga when the Goddess Kalika had incarnated and killed the demon Raktabija along with other giant demons.
Khodiyar is a Hindu goddess worshiped mainly by Charan-Gadhvi community in the Gujarat and in some parts of Rajasthan in India. The suffix Mata or Maa is generally added to her name, similar to other Hindu goddesses.
Annapurna or Annapoorna is an aspect of Devi and is known as Hindu goddess of food and nourishment. Worship and offering of food are highly praised in Hinduism, and therefore, the goddess Annapurna is regarded as a popular deity. She is a manifestation of the goddess Parvati, the wife of Shiva, and is eulogized in the Annada Mangal, a narrative poem in Bengali by Bharatchandra Ray. The Annapurna Sahasranam is dedicated to the goddess and praises her one thousand names, while the Annapurna Shatanama Stotram is dedicated to her 108 names.
Shivaharkaray or Karavipur is a Shakti Peeth dedicated to the Hindu Goddess Durga, located near Parkai railway station, near Karachi, Pakistan. It is one of the two Shakti Peethas in Pakistan, other being Hinglaj Mata mandir Puranas describe that the three eyes of the Goddess fell here after she committed Sati. The Goddess is worshipped as Mahishasuramardini, or the slayer of the Demon Mahishasur. Her consort, the Hindu God Shiva, is worshipped in Ragi form as Krodhish, personification of anger. Shivaharkaray is third in the list of 51 Peethas identified in the Puranas.
The Siddhivinayaka Mahaganapati Temple is a Hindu temple located in Titwala, a small town in the Kalyan taluka of Thane district – near Mumbai, Maharashtra, India. The temple is dedicated to the Hindu, elephant-headed god of wisdom Ganesha. Titwala is believed to be the putative site of the hermitage of sage Kanva, foster parent of Shakuntala who was born here. The place is steeped in ancient legend and the temple is frequented by a very large number of devotees on account of the belief that separated married couples could be united and marriages of desired people could be fixed easily if the Ganesha image installed in the temple is worshipped with devotion.This temple is frequented mostly on Tuesdays.
Vindhyavasini or Yogamaya or Ekanamsha, is the name of a benevolent aspect of Durga. She is identified as Adi Parashakti. She was the sister of Krishna and Balarama and was born in the Yaduvanshi Gopa (caste) family in Nanda's house. Her temple is located at Vindhyachal, 8 km away from Mirzapur on the banks of river Ganges, in Uttar Pradesh.Another shrine is located in Bandla, Himachal Pradesh also called Bandla Mata Temple.
The Vaishno Devi Temple is an important Hindu temple dedicated to Vaishno Devi located in Katra at the Trikuta Mountains within the Indian Union territory of Jammu and Kashmir. The temple is one of the 108 Shakti Peethas dedicated to Durga, who is worshipped as Vaishno Devi. It is one of the most visited pilgrimage centers of India. Every year millions of visitors visit the temple. During festivals like Navaratri, the count even increases to one crore visitors. Vaishno Devi Temple is one of the richest temples in India. Authors Michael Barnett and Janice Gross Stein says, "Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine in Jammu has an annual receipts of about $16 million, mainly from offerings by devotees".
