Without even visiting Mirzapur, we all have a vivid picture of this place, filled with guns, violence, drugs, thanks to the T.V series of Amazon specials. As a place, Uttar Pradesh, where the mighty Ganga flows, is filled with many pilgrim spots like Varanasi, Mathura, Chitrakoot, Ayodhya. India is the land of temples, worshiping millions of gods and goddesses. Still, Vindhyachal captivates the holiness as it hosts the temples of all the three shaktis(goddesses) –Khali, Saraswati, and Durga (Trikona Parikrama).

Trikona Parikrama

The most famous mythological story of Lord Krishna is well known to everyone. King Kamsa, ruler of Mathura city, claimed the throne by imposing his own father, King Ugrasen. Man with evilness to the core had a soft heart towards her sister Devaki, striving to make all her dreams come true. After getting her married to Vasudev, the prophecy came out that their eighth born would be a threat to King Kamsa. His love for his sister held his hand tight, restraining him from killing her, so he imprisoned them. Eventually, when the eighth kid, Lord Krishna, was born, he was immediately rescued to the village Gokul and replaced with the kid of Yashodhara.

On the same night, Yashodhara gave birth to a girl, who was brought back to the jail cell and represented as the eighth child of Devaki. When Kamsa tried to kill her by throwing her onto stones, she was resurrected as Maa Vidhyavasini. She announced that Lord Krishna was already born, and his death was inevitable. After slaughtering Rakhtbeej and Mahishasur, she forever rested on the mountain ranges of Vindhya in three forms(Kali Khoh, Ashtabuja, Vindhyavasini), thereby forming Trikona Parikrama.

Kali Khoh temple of Kali(Parvati)

The folklore goes this way – Long ago, a demon named Rakthbeej caused terror and havoc on the land. His boon that turns every splash of blood(Rakth) shed on earth could create millions of demons, making him challenging to avenge. Finally, goddess kali, the divine destructor, holding a sword in hand and a bowl to hold the dripping blood of Rakthbeej, put an end to his wickedness.

The goddess rests in a cave-like structure decorated with lemon garlands. The uniqueness of the idol here is said to be that the goddess faces the sky with mouth open. Outside the temple, several red ties are knotted. It is believed that the red linen is tied for our particular wish when granted a comeback here to untie it.

This temple is at the base; to the top of the hill, Ashtabhuja Temple, pilgrims can reach it through climbing steps, rope-way, or by road.

Idol of Kali inside Kalikhoh temple decorated with lemon and flower garland

Ashtabhuja Temple of Lord Saraswati

It is believed that this girl, sister of Krishna, an avatar of Saraswati, escaped the wrath of Kamsa and reached the Vindhyachal. This Ashtabhuja temple commemorates her presence. The mountain’s greenery brings a serene essence to this place.

Vindhyavasini Temple of Lord Durga:

About 70 km from Varanasi, on the banks of river Ganga and mountain ranges of Vindhya, rests the goddess Vindhyavasini. After having a holy bath in the river Ganga, cleansing all their sins, tourists walk up to this Shaktipeeth(total 51) for the blessings of Vindyavasini Devi.

During Navratri–an auspicious nine days– to celebrate the goddess Durga in nine different forms, crowds will be huge here, as people come visiting from all over.

Idol of Vindhyavasini Devi decorated with flower garlands

As mentioned, this place is filled with divinity, one can also visit some other sites such as:

Sita Kund: Lord Rama, along with his wife Sita and brother Lakshmana, was in exile and moved along different areas of Uttarpradesh. The story says that this Kund(pond) was made by Lakshmana to fetch water for his mighty sister-in-law. People come here to get blessed with holy water, and an idol of Sita is placed here.

Beautiful idol of Sita Maa at Sita Kund

RamGaya Ghat: During the exile of Rama, when he came to know about the death of his father, he paid his respects in this place under his guru Vashista. Accordingly, a shiva linga was established, which turned out to be the Rameshwar Mahadev temple.