| Shakambhari | |
|---|---|
Goddess of Nourishment[1] | |
 Artistic depiction of Shakambhari | |
| Devanagari | शाकम्भरी |
| Venerated in | Shaktism |
| Festivals | Navaratri,Durga Puja,Durga Ashtami,Lakshmi Puja |
Shakambhari (Sanskrit: शाकम्भरी,IAST: Śākambharī), also referred to asShatakshi, is a goddess of nourishment. She is regarded to be an incarnation ofMahadevi, and identified withDurga inHinduism.[2] After the malevolentasuraDurgamasura deprived the earth of nourishment by causing the sages to forget theVedas, the goddess appeared to offer human beings anddevas sufficient fruits and vegetables to restore their strength.[3]
| Part ofa series on |
| Shaktism |
|---|
 |
Festivals and temples |
Regional variations |
 Hinduism portal |
The wordśākaṃbharī means 'she who bears vegetables'. The word is derived from two words-śākaya (Sanskrit: शाक) which means 'vegetable/vegan food' andbharī (Sanskrit: भरी) which means 'holder/bearer/wearer' which is ultimately derived from the root wordbhṛ (Sanskrit: भृ) which means 'to bear/to wear/to nourish'.[4]
After the asuraDurgamasura sought to plunge the earth in drought and scarcity, a century of suffering endured on earth, when the sages finally remembered the goddessParvati after the asura had made them forget about the Vedas, she appeared upon the worlds in a dark-hued blue form, casting her hundred eyes on the sages. When the sages extolled and chanted the hymns ofIshvari, thefour-handed goddess appeared bearing a lotus, arrows, a great bow, and vegetables, fruits, flower, and roots. According to theDevi Bhagavata Purana, seeing the misery of the people, she showered incessant tears from her eyes, streaming into rivers, and offering medicines.[5]
There is the main temple in Saharanpur ,Uttar pradesh .There are many various temples of Shakambhari Devi including one of the ancient temples inSaharanpur, Uttar Pradesh among the mountain range as it is most famous and visited by devotees afterVaishno Devi apart from that there is another major temple which is situated in Rajasthan near atSambhar Lake Town jheel, a huge ground of dry salt lake. Shakambhari is worshiped as the ninth number among the nine deities inNavaratri after the beginning ofVaishno Devi.
