Tired of household quarrels, Shiva abandons Mansa but gives her a companion called Neta. Later, when Mansa gets married, Chandi tells her to go into the bridal chamber wearing snakes as ornaments, frightening her husband, Jaratkaru, who runs away. Abandoned by father and husband, the unhappy Mansa becomes a bitter angry goddess who has to be appeased if one wants to escape death by snakebite.
The idea of devotees ‘creating’ gods and goddess is not unknown to Hinduism. Few realise that Santoshi-maa did not exist in the Hindu landscape before the famous film in the 1970s. Is Ashok Sundari the next of our 330 million gods?