#devi chandika

Devī Caṅḍikā slaying Mahiśāsura

Folio from a Devī Mahātmya: Devī Caṅḍikā slays Mahiśāsura the buffalo demon. Illustrating the third adhyāya, verses 21-31 of Mahiśāsura Vadha (the slaying of Mahiśāsura). The devī is referred to as Caṇḍikā almost throughout the Devī Mahātmya.

Opaque watercolour with gold on wasli

Not far from the coastal town of Mālvaṇ in western Mahārāśtra is the town of Ghumḍe presided over by the village deity Śṛī Devī Ghumḍāī. The temple is located in a little vale surrounded by coconut palms and thick woods.

The present enlarged temple was constructed in 2011 and maintains elements of local architectural traditions such as tiled roofing for the maṇḍapa.

A Tulasī vṛndāvana flanked by two dīpa staṁbhs, locally known as tipors, stand facing the temple.

Brightly painted maṇḍapa and open pillared design give the temple a sense of oneness with nature. This is significant because prior to the renovation, the deity was worshipped in aniconic form represented by self-formed rounded lithic structures submerged in the clear waters of a natural spring.

The renovation or जीर्णोद्धार of the temple has been sensitive to this – the present sanctum is built around and not over the old spring well.

Sanskritisation – that’s the term some indologists have used to describe the syncretism with which local village deities were interpreted as forms or aspects of the great Gods and Goddesses of Hinduism. In the śloka inscribed on the base of the pedestal on which stands the idol of the Goddess, she is described as Devī Canḍikā. Interestingly, the iconography depicts the four-armed Goddess seated in a lotus wielding in each of her upper arms a lotus in full bloom, the lower arms held in the abhaya mudrā and varada mudra gestures of allaying fear and indicating benevolence.

|| ॐ नमः चण्डिकायै ||

जयन्ती मङ्गला काली भद्रकाली कपालिनी | दुर्गा क्षमा शिवा धात्री स्वाहा स्वधा नमोऽ‌‌‍स्तु ते ||

Devī Canḍikā and the Saptamātṛkās in battle

Devī battles with Asuras, as Kāli fighting the demon Śuṁbha

Illustration from the Mārkaṅḍeya Purāṇa, Gouache and gold on wasli