Sureshvari

Author:Laxman Burdak, IFS (R)

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Sureshvari (सुरेश्वरी) is the name of a Goddess that was once worshipped in ancient Kashmir as mentioned in the Nīlamatapurāṇa.—These Goddesses (e.g., Sureśvarī) form the shining galaxy of female deities worshipped by the people of Kaśmīra. It was at the confluence of the Vitasta and the Sindhu where there were the gods Sureshvari and Amaresha.

Variants

• Sureshwari
• Sureśvarī
• Sura-ishvari

Jat clans

• Sura

History

Dal Lake is mentioned as Mahasarit (महासरित्) in ancient Sanskrit texts. Ancient history records mention that a village named Isabar to the east of Dal was the residence of goddess Durga. This place was known as Sureshwari on the bank of the lake, which was sourced by a spring called the Satadhara.

Sureshvari Mountain

Sureśvarī (सुरेश्वरी) is the name of a sacred mountain range in Kaśmīra, according to in the Kathāsaritsāgara, chapter 51. Accordingly as the Vidyādharī Kāñcanaprabhā said to Naravāhanadatta while in a Svayambhū temple of Śiva: “... after hearing this from the science [Prajñapti] she [Alaṅkāravatī] went with her mother [Kāñcanaprabhā] to Kaśmīra, and worshipped Śiva in all the holy places, in Nandikṣetra, and Mahādevagiri, in Amaraparvata, in the mountains of Sureśvarī, and in Vijaya, and Kapaṭeśvara. After worshipping the husband of Pārvatī in these and other holy places, that princess of the Vidyādharas and her mother returned homeSource: Wisdom Library: Kathāsaritsāgara

In Rajatarangini

Sureshvari god is mentioned in Rajatarangini.

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Rajatarangini mentions....Garga was Sahasramangala's guardian and tried to make him king, but Sussala banished Sahasramangala. When Garga was at Bhadāvakāsha, Sahasramanagala's son Prāsa bribed the Damaras with much gold and conspired with them. Garga did not give up Uchchala's infant son to Sussala when asked by him to do so, but showed his enmity on that occasion. An innumerable army which the king sent against Garga was destroyed by him, as grass is destroyed by the forest fire. Garga's wife's brother, Vijaya, born at Devasarasa, also killed many of the king's soldiers. It was but a month and a day after the king had ascended the throne that this danger caused anxiety in his mind. It was at the confluence of the Vitasta and the Sindhu where there were the gods Sureshvari and Amaresha, that the royal army was annihilated by Garga. In this great battle, the two ministers Shringāra and Kapila were killed, as also the two brothers Karna and Shudraka. They were Tantris. No one could remove their bodies from the field where they lay amongst those of many other good warriors. Many soldiers belonging to Harshamitra, lord of Kampana who was the son of the king's maternal uncle, were killed by Vijaya at Vijayeshvara. There fell Tihla, son of Mangalaraja, of the Kshatriya caste and also the Tantris Tivdākara and others. In the king's army, Sanjapala showed the greatest valor for though he had few soldiers under him yet Garga with a large army could not overcome him.