Harsiddhi

Harsiddhi is a goddess of the Śākta tradition worshipped principally at two poles: the ancient city of Ujjain in Malwa, and the Saurashtra coast of Gujarat. At Ujjain her temple stands near the Mahakaleshwar shrine, and the site is counted in tradition among the Shakti pithas, the seats of the Goddess scattered across the subcontinent. Legend makes her the patron deity of Vikramaditya, the exemplary king of Ujjain, whose devotion to her is a fixture of the story cycles that bear his name.

Ujjain

The present temple at Ujjain reflects rebuilding under Maratha patronage in the eighteenth century. Its most distinctive feature is the pair of tall lamp pillars, deepstambhas, studded with hundreds of oil lamps that are lit on festival evenings, most spectacularly during Navratri, when the burning towers become the temple's signature image. The goddess here is worshipped as a giver of siddhi, accomplishment, from which her name is popularly derived.

The Gujarat coast

In Saurashtra, Harsiddhi is worshipped at a hill shrine on the coast between Porbandar and Dwarka, near Miyani, with an associated temple below. Local tradition connects the coastal cult with Krishna and with the Jethwa Rajputs of the region, and for centuries she has been invoked by sailors and fishing communities as a protectress of those who go to sea. The two centres, inland and coastal, are linked in popular legend, which holds that the goddess is present at both.