Shakambhari
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Shakambhari (Sanskrit: शाकम्भरी, IAST: Śākambharī), also referred to as Shatakshi, is a goddess of nourishment. She is regarded to be an incarnation of Mahadevi, and identified with Durga in Hinduism.<ref>SINHA, N. (1991). A STUDY OF THE ORIGIN MYTHS: SITUATING THE GUHILAS IN THE HISTORY OF MEWAR (A.D. SEVENTH TO THIRTEENTH CENTURIES). Proceedings of the Indian History Congress, 52, 63–71. http://www.jstor.org/stable/44142569</ref> After the malevolent asura Durgamasura deprived the earth of nourishment by causing the sages to forget the Vedas, the goddess appeared to offer human beings and devas sufficient fruits and vegetables to restore their strength.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
EtymologyEdit
The word śākaṃbharī means 'she who bears vegetables'. The word is derived from two words- śāka (Sanskrit: शाक) which means 'vegetable/vegan food' and bharī (Sanskrit: भरी) which means 'holder/bearer/wearer' which is ultimately derived from the root word bhṛ (Sanskrit: भृ) which means 'to bear/to wear/to nourish'.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
LegendEdit
After the asura Durgamasura sought to plunge the earth in drought and scarcity, a century of suffering endured on earth, when the sages finally remembered the goddess Parvati 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 of Ishvari, the four-handed goddess appeared bearing a lotus, arrows, a great bow, and vegetables, fruits, flower, and roots. According to the Devi Bhagavata Purana, seeing the misery of the people, she showered incessant tears from her eyes, streaming into rivers, and offering medicines.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation
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Lakshmi shares her deed with Indra in the Lakshmi Tantra:<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
O Sakra, men will then extol me as the hundred-eyed (deity) and I shall nourish the whole world with wonderful life-sustaining plants issuing from my own body and filled with (my essence: dvistaih). Then, Vasava, the gods will worship me as Sakambhari (the embodiment of vegetation).
— Lakshmi Tantra, Chapter 9
TempleEdit
There is the main temple in Saharanpur ,Uttar pradesh .There are many various temples of Shakambhari Devi including one of the ancient temples in Saharanpur, Uttar Pradesh among the mountain range as it is most famous and visited by devotees after Vaishno Devi apart from that there is another major temple which is situated in Rajasthan near at Sambhar Lake Town jheel, a huge ground of dry salt lake. Shakambhari is worshiped as the ninth number among the nine deities in Navaratri after the beginning of Vaishno Devi.