Mata Sharada Mai Shakti Peetham At Maihar

Maihar is known for a number of things, including the Shakti Peetham of Goddess Sharada, Sarod Maestro’s Allauddin Khan’s home and home to Maihar Gharana and a beautiful open air art gallery of Art Ichol. This is a municipality in Satna district in Madhya Pradesh.

The temple of Mata Sharda Mai is a crowded place, but going up the hill is a charming experience because of the rope way, which carries four to a box, causing a few tense moments, when the movement is stalled thanks to power cut even as the box creaks in the breeze. And if not keen on taking the ropeway, then there are 1,063 steps to reach the top of the hill.

Once you reach the top, it is a quick walk to the queue for the basic worship of the Goddess. According to the locals of Maihar, the warriors Alha and Udal, famous because they had fought against Prithvi Raj Chauhan, were very strong followers of Sharda Devi. 

They were the first ones to visit the goddess in this remote forest and it is they who called the mother goddess by the name "Sharda Mai", and henceforth she became popular as "Mata Sharda Mai". Alha worshiped for 12 years and got the boon of `Amaratva’  (immortality) with the blessings of Sharda Devi. The people of Maihar believe that Alha is still alive and comes at 4:00 a.m. to worship the Goddess Sharda.

The princely state of Maihar was established in 1778 by the Jogis clan, who were granted land by the ruler of the nearby state of  Orchha.

The Maa Sharda Devi Temple (around of 502 A.D.), is situated at the top of Trikoota hill.It is said that Adi Shankaracharya worshipped Sharada Mai here, she also being another name for Goddess Saraswati. Hence there is puja performed thrice a day as per procedures followed in Sringeri Mutt. 

Therefore it is said that for those unable to visit Sringeri to have the darshan of Mother Goddess Sharadambika, can have a darshan here. Navarathri is celebrated with great pomp here with a Maha Abhishek everyday. Also Sharada Mai is decorated with colour and a lot of jewellery and in various avatars including Brahmmi, Maheswari, Gaumari, Vaishnavi, Indrani, Chamundeeswari and Gajalakshmi. She is also taken around in procession in a golden rath.

The icon of the deity, Sharada Mai is made of five metals and she is Goddess of High Wisdom, holding the honey pot in one hand, showing the Chin Mudra to the devotees and book in the left hand and it is said that the true devotee will become learned at the very look of Mother Goddess.

Mythology has it that Goddess Sati’s father King Daksha was performing an yagna, but he did not invite Lord Shiva for it. When Sati asked her father about not inviting her husband, King Daksha used unparliamentary language, angering Sati. She did penance and self immolated herself. 

Lord Shiva on hearing this opened his third eye and even as he destroyed the Yagna, in sheer agony he carried the body of his beloved Sati across the length and breadth of the country and it is said that wherever her body parts or her jewellery fell, became a Shakti peetham, and thus there are 52 Shakti Peethams in the country. 
And thus Mai’s (mother goddess Sati) necklace or Haar fell at this place and so it was called Maihar, or Mother Goddess’ Necklace.

There is another story about a cowherd who took his cattle to graze on Trikoot hill. One day he saw a golden coloured cow, but soon it vanished and so the next day the boy followed the cow which went into a cave, but as the boy approached the cave closed. 

After some time a very old lady opened the door and asked the cowherd what he wanted and when he asked for some remuneration for grazing her cow, she gave him some grains and advised him not to come here again. The cowherd returned home to find that the grains had turned into costly jewels and gems. Not appreciating the jewels he went to the king and gave him the jewels and related the story to him. 

The King had a dream that night where the old lady told him that she was Adi Shakti ( super power) Maa Sharada and asked him to build a shed over her idol at the top of the hill and arrange the required passage so as to facilitate her devotees to come to her and offer their prayers. The King accordingly made all arrangements. People pray in the temple to achieve high ranks in academic field and for children.
 
Like all temples, this place is also extremely crowded and a narrow chain link passage takes you towards darshan, where all kinds of men, sitting outside, touch you and push you along, though it is not needed. The serpentine queue comes out near the exit gate, which takes you to another huge six deep queue for a return journey on the ropeway.

Finally, you get a box and descend. The usual set of shops are there for you to buy some Prashad on the return, small bandis selling eatables.While the journey upwards towards the temple gives you a certain connect, the actual darshan leaves you feeling disappointed. The priest sitting in front of the deity openly asks for money and gives you Prashad only if you give him money. All this is done blatatantly.

But still this is a Shakti Peetham and the Mother Goddess always gives you a feeling of empowerment and blessings irrespective of the surroundings and that is more so of Mata Sharada Mai of the Trikoota mountains.