Statue of Lakshmi, one of the primary bearers of the epithet Bhagavati
Bhagavatī (Devanagari: भगवती, IAST: Bhagavatī), is an Indian epithet of Sanskrit origin, used as an honorific title for goddesses in Hinduism and Buddhism. In Hinduism, it is primarily used to address the goddesses Sarasvati, Lakshmi and Parvati. In Buddhism, it is used to refer to several Mahayana Buddhist female deities, like Cundā.[1]
The male equivalent of Bhagavatī is Bhagavān.[2][3] The term is an equivalent of Devi and Ishvari.
Many Bhagavati temples are found in Goa, where the deity is mainly worshipped in the form of Mahishasuramardini by the Goud Saraswat Brahmin, Daivadnya Brahmin, Bhandari communities. Bhagavati is also worshipped as one of the Panchayatana deity in most of the Goan temples. Shrines specially dedicated to Bhagavati are:
In the Mithila region of the Indian subcontinent, the temple of the Goddess Bhagawati is known as Maharani Sthan. It is often found in the every villages of the region.
Maharani Sthan Mandir at Basuki Bihari in the Mithila region
↑Gimello, Robert (2004). ″Icon and Incantation: The Goddess Zhunti and the Role of Images in the Occult Buddhism of China." In Images in Asian Religions: Texts and Contexts ed. Phyllis Granoff and Koichi Shinohara: pp. 71-85.
↑Friedhelm Hardy (1990), The World's Religions: The Religions of Asia, Routledge, ISBN978-0415058155, page 84
↑Sarah Caldwell (1998), Bhagavati, in Devi: Goddesses of India (Editors: John Stratton Hawley, Donna Marie Wulff), Motilal Banarsidass, ISBN978-8120814912, pages 195-198