{{short description|Hindu goddess}} {{Infobox deity | type = Hindu | image = Khandoba.jpg | caption = Khandoba and Mhalsa killing demons Mani-Malla — a popular oleograph, c.1880. | name = Mhalsa | Devanagari = म्हाळसा, महालसा | Sanskrit_transliteration = Mhāḷasā | god_of = | abode = | mantra = | weapon = Trishula | consort = Khandoba (when identified with Parvati) | children = | mount = | affiliation = {{bulleted list|Avatar of Mohini|Parvati (in Khandoba Sect)}} }} '''Mhalsa''' (Marathi: म्हाळसा IAST: Mhāḷasā), also spelled as '''Mhalasa''' or '''Mahalasa''', महालसा is a Hindu goddess. As an independent goddess, she is worshipped as a form of Mohini, the avatar of Vishnu. Meanwhile in the Khandoba sect of Maharashtra, she is worshipped as the consort of the folk deity Khandoba, a form of Shiva. In this tradition, she is associated with Parvati, Shiva's wife.
Mhalsa's chief temple is at Mardol in Mardol, Goa, where she is worshipped as a form of Vishnu revered as Mahalasa Narayani. She is worshipped as the Kuladevi (family goddess) of different castes and communities in the region.
==Iconography== In the Mahalasa Narayani form, Mahalasa has four hands, carrying a trishula, a sword, a severed head, and a drinking bowl. She also wears the yajnopavita (sacred thread), which is generally dedicated to male deities. She stands on a prostrate man or demon, as a tiger or lion licks blood dripping from the severed head. Goud Saraswat Brahmins and Daivajnya Brahmins as well as Vaishnavas from Goa and Tulunadu identify her with Mohini and call her Narayani and Rahu-matthani, the slayer of Rahu, as told in the ''Bhavishya Purana''.<ref>{{cite book|last=V. P. Chavan|title=Vaishnavism of the Gowd Saraswat Brahmins and a few Konkani folklore tales|publisher=Asian Educational Services. |pages=26–7|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SBWQIDwNWx4C&q=mahalsa&pg=PA26|isbn=978-81-206-0645-6|year=1991}}</ref>
Mhalsa is often depicted with two arms and accompanying Khandoba on his horse or standing beside him.
==Legends==
According to a folk legend, Mhalsa is considered to be a form of Shiva's wife, Parvati. As per this legend, Mhalsa was born as the daughter of a rich Lingayat merchant called Timmaseth.<ref name="Dehejia1999">{{cite book|author=Harsha V. Dehejia|title=Parvati: Goddess of Love|date=1 January 1999|publisher=Mapin Publishing Pvt Ltd|isbn=978-81-85822-59-4|pages=36–7}}</ref> On the divine orders of Khandoba in a dream to her father, Mhalsa was married to Khandoba on Pausha Pournima (the full moon day of the Hindu calendar month of Pausha) in Pali (Pembar). Two shiva lingams appeared on this occasion. An annual festival marking this event is celebrated in Pali every Pausha Pournima.
== Worship == [[Image:mahalasatemple.jpg|thumb|Mardol Temple in Goa]] Mahalasa/Mhalsa is worshipped as an independent goddess or ''gramadevata'' (village guardian deity). Her chief temples stand in Mardol in Goa.<ref name="Dehejia1999"/><ref name="dhere">{{cite web|url=http://www.rcdhere.com/RCD_Khandoba/khandoba_3.html|title=Chapter 2: MHAALSA|last=Dhere|first=R C|work=Summary of Book "FOLK GOD OF THE SOUTH: KHANDOBA"|publisher=R C Dhere|accessdate=14 March 2010}}</ref> Her temples also exist in the states of Karnataka, Kerala, and Gujarat.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.navhindtimes.in/buzz/8566-music-concert-to-be-held-at-mardol |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220616055809/https://www.navhindtimes.in/buzz/8566-music-concert-to-be-held-at-mardol |url-status=dead |archive-date=June 16, 2022 |title=Music concert to be held at Mardol |last=NT Network |date=11 February 2010 |work=Navhind Times |accessdate=12 March 2010 }}</ref> She is the Kuldevi (family goddess) of many Hindus from western and southern India, including Goud Saraswat Brahmins, Karhade Brahmins, Padye Brahmin, Daivajna Brahmin, Kalavant, Bhandaris and many other communities.
Due to the migration of followers of the goddess, new temples have been established in recent years in Verna, Karwar, Kumta, Mudgeri, Kundapura, Basruru, Shirva, Mangaluru, Kasargod, Harikhandige, Malpe, Madangeri (a small town near Gokarna) and other places along India's west coast.
Mhalsa is also worshipped as the consort of Khandoba in Maharashtra and the reincarnation of Goddess Parvati.<ref name="Dehejia1999"/> She is worshipped with Khandoba in all centres of Khandoba's worship, including Jejuri in Maharashtra. <ref name="Dehejia1999"/>
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== *[http://www.mahalasa.org Kuladevata Shri Mahalasa Narayani's Temple on the Internet]
Category:Forms of Vishnu Category:Hindu goddesses Category:Forms of Parvati