Shri Shakumbhari Devi Aarti – Lyrics in Hindi, Meaning & Pooja Vidhi
Shri Shakumbhari Devi Aarti Lyrics (हिंदी में)
हरि ओम श्री शाकुम्भरी अंबा जी की आरती कीजो।
एसी अद्भुत रूप हृदय धर लीजो।
शताक्षी दयालू की आरती कीजो॥
तुम परिपूर्ण आदि भवानी माँ।
सब घट तुम आप भखनी माँ।
शकुंभारी अंबा जी की आरती कीजो॥
तुम्ही हो शाकुम्भर।
तुम ही हो सताक्षी माँ।
शिवमूर्ति माया प्रकाशी माँ।
शाकुम्भरी अंबा जी की आरती कीजो॥
नित जो नर नारी अंबे आरती गावे माँ।
इच्छा पूरण कीजो।
शाकुम्भर दर्शन पावे माँ।
शाकुम्भरी अंबा जी की आरती कीजो॥
जो नर आरती पढ़े पढ़ावे माँ।
जो नर आरती सुनावे माँ।
बस बैकुण्ठ शाकुम्भर दर्शन पावे।
शाकुम्भरी अंबा जी की आरती कीजो॥
Shri Shakumbhari Devi Aarti – Transliteration (English)
Hari Om Shri Shakumbhari Amba Ji Ki Aarti Kijo.
Esi Adbhut Roop Hridaya Dhar Lijo.
Shataakshi Dayalu Ki Aarti Kijo.
Tum Paripurn Aadi Bhawani Maa.
Sab Ghat Tum Aap Bhakhni Maa.
Shakumbhari Amba Ji Ki Aarti Kijo.
Tumhi Ho Shakumbhar.
Tum Hi Ho Sataakshi Maa.
Shivmurti Maya Prakashi Maa.
Shakumbhari Amba Ji Ki Aarti Kijo.
Nit Jo Nar Nari Ambe Aarti Gaave Maa.
Iccha Pooran Kijo.
Shakumbhar Darshan Paave Maa.
Shakumbhari Amba Ji Ki Aarti Kijo.
Jo Nar Aarti Padhe Padhaave Maa.
Jo Nar Aarti Sunaave Maa.
Bas Vaikuntha Shakumbhar Darshan Paave.
Shakumbhari Amba Ji Ki Aarti Kijo.
Meaning & Significance
The Shakumbhari Devi Aarti is an invocation of the primordial goddess who nourishes all life through the gifts of vegetation, rain, and harvest. Her very name comes from shaka (vegetables, greens) and ambari (one who bears), identifying her as the sustainer who fills the earth with food during times of famine and drought. The aarti addresses her by two of her most celebrated epithets - Shataakshi (the thousand-eyed one who perceives every being's need) and Shakumbhari (the bearer of vegetables) - to remind devotees that she is simultaneously omniscient and nurturing. The final verses promise that any person - man or woman - who daily performs, teaches, or simply listens to this aarti will have their deepest wishes fulfilled and ultimately behold her sacred form.
About Devi Shakumbhari
Devi Shakumbhari is a celebrated form of Adi Shakti described in the Devi Bhagavatam and the Devi Mahatmya. When the demon Durgama stole the four Vedas and caused a century-long drought that devastated the earth, the gods and sages prayed to the Great Goddess. She appeared with a thousand eyes weeping compassionate tears that became the rivers, and from her body sprouted vegetables, herbs, and fruits that fed every creature. Through this act she vanquished the demon and restored the Vedas. Her principal shrines are at Saharanpur in Uttar Pradesh, Sambhar in Rajasthan, and Sakhari in Maharashtra, all of which draw millions of pilgrims annually. She is considered the kuldevi (clan goddess) of numerous communities across northern and western India.
Benefits of Reciting the Shri Shakumbhari Devi Aarti
- Draws blessings for agricultural prosperity, timely rains, and abundance of food.
- Fulfils heartfelt wishes and resolves situations of prolonged hardship.
- Strengthens the devotee's connection to natural rhythms and the earth's sustaining power.
- Creates spiritual merit (punya) equivalent to a pilgrimage to her sacred temples.
- Invokes her all-seeing compassion, ensuring that no genuine prayer goes unheard.
How to Perform the Aarti (Pooja Vidhi)
- Cleanse the pooja space and place an image or yantra of Devi Shakumbhari on a fresh green or red cloth.
- Offer a bouquet of mixed vegetables and seasonal fruits alongside flowers - this mirrors her iconographic form adorned with produce.
- Light a ghee lamp and incense and ring the bell at the start of worship.
- Recite the aarti aloud with full devotion; if possible, gather family members so the collective voice amplifies the offering.
- Chant her beej mantra Om Aim Hrim Klim Chamundayai Vichche 108 times after the aarti.
- Distribute the offered vegetables or fruits as prasad to all present.
Best Day & Time to Recite
The Shakumbhari Devi Aarti is recited with greatest fervour during the eight-day Shakumbhari Navratri (Shukla Ashtami to Purnima of Pausha month, roughly December–January), when pilgrims throng her temples. Friday (Shukravar) is considered especially auspicious for her worship throughout the year because of its association with abundance and the feminine divine. The aarti may be performed at sunrise or sunset. Many devotees recite it daily, believing that consistent daily worship invites a steady flow of her nurturing grace into every aspect of life.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the story behind Devi Shakumbhari and the demon Durgama?
According to the Devi Bhagavatam, the demon Durgama performed severe austerities and obtained from Brahma the boon of possessing all four Vedas. Without the Vedas, sacred rituals stopped, rains ceased, and the earth endured a hundred years of drought and famine. The desperate prayers of gods and sages invoked the Great Goddess, who manifested with a thousand eyes weeping tears of compassion. Those tears became streams and lakes, reviving the earth; her body produced every variety of vegetable and fruit; and she then destroyed Durgama and restored the Vedas. This narrative is why she is honoured as the ultimate mother of all food and nourishment.
Where are the main temples of Devi Shakumbhari located in India?
The three most venerated Shakti Peethas associated with Shakumbhari Devi are the Shakambhari Mata Temple near Saharanpur in Uttar Pradesh, the Sambharkher temple in Rajasthan (near Sikar), and the Shakhari Devi temple in Maharashtra. Each draws enormous crowds during Navratri and Shakumbhari Purnima, and the Saharanpur shrine is regarded as the primary seat of the goddess in northern India.
How does Shakumbhari Devi differ from Annapurna Devi?
Both goddesses embody the principle of nourishment, but their emphasis differs. Annapurna presides over cooked food and the gifts of the kitchen, ensuring that every devotee receives the daily meal. Shakumbhari governs the source - the very abundance of the earth, the rain, the vegetation, and the harvest - and is worshipped for sustaining entire ecosystems and communities. Shakumbhari's mythology is specifically tied to drought relief and the restoration of cosmic order, whereas Annapurna's grace is invoked for the sanctity and sufficiency of daily nourishment at home.
Shakumbhari Devi: the Mother who feeds the world
Shakumbhari Devi is one of the most ecologically resonant forms of the Goddess in the Shakta tradition - her name means the one who nourishes with vegetables and plants, and she is understood as the divine power that sustains all living beings through the abundance of the earth. She is associated with the Shakambhari Navratri, a distinct festival observed in the lunar month of Pausha, and her principal shrines are at Saharanpur in Uttar Pradesh and at Sambhar in Rajasthan. The aarti in her honour is sung at these sacred sites and in devotees' homes during her special festival period, as well as at other auspicious occasions when the maternal, life-sustaining aspect of the Goddess is specifically invoked.
There is something deeply grounding about Shakumbhari's iconography and the aarti that celebrates her: while many forms of the Goddess are approached in their fierce or transcendent aspects, Shakumbhari is worshipped as the power that makes ordinary life possible - the intelligence within soil, seed, rain, and harvest. Devotees believe that worshipping her brings abundance, the resolution of food-related difficulties, and a deepening of gratitude for the sustaining gifts of nature. Her tradition also carries an implicit ecological ethic: to honour Shakumbhari is to acknowledge that the earth itself is sacred, that its fertility is a form of divine grace, and that the cultivation of gratitude for simple sustenance is among the most profound of spiritual practices.