Bishahara (Mansa Devi) Puja Geet — Maithili
Significance & Importance
The cult of Mansa Devi is one of North India's oldest pre-Aryan goddess traditions, absorbed into the Hindu Shakta pantheon as a daughter of Shiva. In Mithila, she is universally known by the affectionate vernacular Bishahari (literally 'remover of poison'). Her open-air shrines (Bishahari Sthan) — usually a clay platform with serpent figurines under a sacred tree — dot every village from Madhubani to Bhagalpur. The famous Manasamangal Kavya tradition (15th–17th century) gave her devotional literature its definitive form. Mithila's Bishahari geet are sung antiphonally by women during Naag Panchami (Shravan Shukla Panchami) and on Shravan Sankranti — appealing to the goddess for protection from snakebite during the monsoon flood season when serpents enter homes.
English Transliteration
Jay jay Bishahari Maiya,
Naag-naagin ke maata.
Shiv-suta tu Mansaa,
Bhakatan ke sukh-daata.
Kaalo phan utha-utha,
Bhakti karo prabhu paas.
Bishahari maiya kripa karu,
Samastipur ke aas.
Naag Panchami parba,
Mansaa-than chhauwala phool.
Bishahari humar maiya,
Dur kara sab vyaakul.