Vindhyachal
Vindhyachal is a famous city in the District Mirzapur of the state Uttar Pradesh in the northern India region. Vindhyachal Dham is famous for its Hindu Pilgrimage because there are many famous Temples of Maa Vindhyavasini- she is the generous manifestations of Maa Durga or Maa Amba. As per MarkandeyaPurana, Maa Vindhyavasini had incarnated to slay demon Mahishasur. The river Ganga runs through this city Vindhyachal. The Vindhyachal is situated in the vicinity of and exactly in the middle of Prayag (Allahabad) and Kashi (Varanasi), two most famous religious places of India, getting benefit of their combined energy.
History of Vindhyachal
The history of the city Vindhyachal articulates about its land which was formerly dotted with many holy places and later on destroyed during the sovereignty of the King Aurangzeb. One must have seen idols of Ma Durga, killing demon Mahishasur, in the Durga Puja festival. This is the Vindhyachal, where mythological war between Ma Durga and Mahishasur had occurred. After killing demon Mahishasur, Ma Durga continued to stay at Vindhyachal, in the form of idol of Ma Vindhyavasini.
In Vindhyachal, Vindhya is the initial name of Goddess Vindhyavasini (Vindhyachal Mata) and Achal means mountain. Vindhyachal is a mythological place that gains its honours from the great epics, myths and scriptures. As per them, Vindhyachal is considered to be the residence of Goddess Amba.
Goddess Vindhyavasini has been described in many scriptures, e.g. Mahabharat, Vaaman Puran, Markandeya Puran, Matsya Puran, Devi Bhagavat, Harivansh Puran, Skand Puran, Raja Taranginee, Brihat Katha, Kadambaree and many Tantra scriptures.
Lord Ram had visited this place and surrounding areas, along with wife Sita and brother Lakshman.
This is the only place in the world, associated with ‘Shakti’ cult of Hinduism, where ‘Devi’ is worshipped in ‘Vaam maarg’ as well as ‘Dakshina Maarg’. This is also only place in the world, where all three forms of Goddesses e.g. Lakshmi, Kali and Saraswati, can be worshipped. Temples dedicated to these three Goddesses form spiritually very potent ‘Trikona’ (Trine).