Bhuvaneshvari


Bhuvaneshvari is a Hindu goddess. She is the fourth amongst the ten Mahavidya goddesses in Shaktism, and one of the highest aspects of Mahadevi. She is identified as form of Adi Parashakti in the Devi Bhagavata Purana.

Etymology

The word Bhuvaneshvari is a compound of the words Bhuvana Ishwari, meaning "Goddess of the world" or "Queen of the universe", where the worlds are the tri-bhuvana or three regions of bhooḥ, bhoovaḥ and svaḥ.

Legends

According to David Kinsley, there is an origin myth from a contemporary Hindi-language source that states that Surya created the three worlds after being offered Soma by Rishis and being empowered by Tripura Sundari, the main Shakti of that time. After having empowered Surya to create the worlds, the goddess "assumed an appropriate form and pervaded and directed the triple world". This form of her became known as Bhuvaneshwari, meaning goddess of the world". This myth emphasises that Bhuvaneshwari is a form of Tripura Sundari.

Temples

There are several temples dedicated to Bhuvaneshvari.
Bhuvaneshwari is revered as the state goddess of Karnataka. This temple is a historical place and known as Bhuvaneshwari temple. It is in Bhuvanagiri, Siddapur taluka, Uttara Kannada district, Karnataka.