Shri Devi

Buddhism is a religion that can not be easily understood or described in a few words. Its traditions and practices have developed over centuries and the Buddhist regions differ from one another. There are different colors which are considered to bring luck, stories are told in various ways, people worship different gods, and their names might have another form in each area.

The entrance to the temple at Erdene Zuu monastery in Mongolia is protected by two gods and one female protector, the goddess Shri Devi. Her portrait and story are one of the most tragic, but all the more fascinating. Shri has three eyes to see the past, present and future. She sits on a mule, her saddle is made of the Devil’s skin and she holds a dead baby in her mouth. The legend says that when the seven strongest heroes in the World failed in killing the Devil, the goddess Shri was sent to the Earth to finish their task. Shri did not use strength, but female attractivity and deceit. She seduced the Devil and murdered him in an unguarded moment. However, evil persisted in Shri in the form of a child she was carrying. To destroy the last piece of evil on earth, she killed her baby and ate it.