Annada's household worshipped her in the traditional manner, offering flower garlands, fruit, cheese, sweets, sandal paste, and incense. As word of Her miraculous appearance spread, devotees came from all over the city to make offerings. Her very presence seemed to inspire the deepest devotion. Even prostitutes wept when they offered flowers to Her.
Adya Ma
Adya Ma
Three men from a Calcutta museum came also. Judging the image to be very ancient, from the Bhuddistic period, they offered a large sum of money for it, which Annada refused. A later encounter with a sadhu confirmed that the image had indeed originated in antiquity, in a temple in the district of Gaya."I do not want to be worshipped only in one place," She said. "On the contrary, it is my wish to be worshipped in the home of every devotee, not merely according to scriptural rites. . . . If anyone pays homage and gives offerings to me in the simple and sincere language of the heart, such as 'O My Mother! Take this food, wear this garment,' and then uses those things himself, it will be regarded as good an act as worship. The prayer of a simple and sincere heart constitutes my worship."
Finally, She enumerated sixteen reasons for the immersion, and Annada, his reasoning mind appeased, could resist no longer.
According to Her command, the image was photographed the following morning and copies circulated to any devotees who wanted them. Then, with a few companions, Annada hired a boat, rowed out into the middle of the Ganges, and plunged Her into the water. There, as far as anyone knows, She remains today.
The Divine Mother continued to appear to Annada in dreams. "I am Adyashakti ('Primordial Force'), and I am to be worshipped as Adya Ma," She said. She dictated to him a Sanskrit hymn in Her honor, the Adyastotram, promising that anyone who sang it with devotion would find favor with her.
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