INTRODUCTION
Chaya Devi is the shadow goddess, the consort of Lord Surya and the mother of the Justice god Lord Shani Bhagawan. She is formed from the shadow of Goddess Saranyu, the first wife of Lord Surya. Since Saranyu was unable to bear the heat of his consort Lord Surya, she kept Chaya in her place and left suryaloka and went to the earth for doing penance.
Both Shani Dev and Mata Chaya are sincere devotees of Lord Shiva. She is mentioned in the Rigveda, Vishnu Purana and in Markandeya Purana. Mata Chaya contained very good qualities and treated the children of saranyu as her own children. Saranyu’s children are Yama,Yamuna,Revanta and AshwinKumaras, whereas Chaya’s children are Shani, Tapti and Bhadra.
Her appearance is described in various puranas as “beautiful and good looking lady with charming face and contains the features of her creator Saranyu”. She was worshipped as the mother of Lord Shani Dev. She is a good natured goddess and served her husband Lord Surya in a proper manner and acted as a dutiful wife to Lord Surya. Some temples dedicated to her are worshipped mainly by the people of south india such as:
- Chaya Putra Shani Temple, Gandi, Andhra Pradesh,
- Sri Chaya Someshwara temple, Nalgonda, Telangana,
- Chaya Malleswara Swamy Temple, konakondla, Andhra Pradesh.
Let us worship the divine mother Mata Chaya Devi and be blessed.
“OM SREE CHAYA DEVIYE NAMAHA”
“OM SREE SHANI BHAGAWANE NAMAHA”
“OM SREE SURYA BHAGAWANE NAMAHA”
WRITTEN BY R.HARISHANKAR
