Saibini is the appellation for the mother Goddess

Goddess

A goddess is a female deity. In some cultures goddesses are associated with Earth, motherhood, love, and the household. In other cultures, goddesses also rule over war, death, and destruction as well as healing....

 in Goa

Goa

Goa , a former Portuguese colony, is India's smallest state by area and the fourth smallest by population. Located in South West India in the region known as the Konkan, it is bounded by the state of Maharashtra to the north, and by Karnataka to the east and south, while the Arabian Sea forms its...

, India

India

India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

. It is also used by the konkani

Konkani language

KonkaniKonkani is a name given to a group of several cognate dialects spoken along the narrow strip of land called Konkan, on the west coast of India. This is, however, somewhat an over-generalisation. Geographically, Konkan is defined roughly as the area between the river Damanganga to the north...

 speaking diaspora all along the west coast of India. The word can be translated as "Dame

Dame (title)

The title of Dame is the female equivalent of the honour of knighthood in the British honours system . It is also the equivalent form address to 'Sir' for a knight...

" in the English

English language

English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...

 titular sense.
In early times, the word was only used for the Goddess Shantadurga

Shantadurga

Shantadurga also known as Shanteri/Santeri is the form of the Goddess Durga, commonly worshipped in Goa, India .She is also called Saibini in Konkani as a mark of reverence....

 or Santeri. The beginnings of Goddess worship predates the coming of the Aryan

Aryan

Aryan is an English language loanword derived from Sanskrit ārya and denoting variously*In scholarly usage:**Indo-Iranian languages *in dated usage:**the Indo-European languages more generally and their speakers...

s in Goa and when the Saraswat Brahmin

Saraswat Brahmin

The Saraswats are a Brahmin caste of India.- History :According to the legend, Saraswat Brahmins are Brahmins who lived on the banks of the former Saraswati River that once flowed in northern India. Although it is said that at Prayag the three rivers meet or met.the fact is that the Saraswati never...

s settled in Goa they adopted the tradition of worshipping the Mother Goddess by incorporating the Shakti

Shakti

Shakti from Sanskrit shak - "to be able," meaning sacred force or empowerment, is the primordial cosmic energy and represents the dynamic forces that are thought to move through the entire universe in Hinduism. Shakti is the concept, or personification, of divine feminine creative power, sometimes...

 tradition. The original tradition of worshipping the Earth Goddess Santeri at the site of Ant hills continued along with the Aryan traditions of building temples. Thus the Goddess Shantadurga and Santeri were worshipped by all the sections of the Konkani people.

The Goddess Mhalsa

Mahalasa

Mahalasa is the Mohini avatar of the Hindu god Vishnu. She is also known as Mhalshi and Mahalasa. In Goa and elsewhere, Mahalasa is considered as the Mohini form of Lord Vishnu and hence she is referred to as "Mahalasa Narayani". The deity, it may particularly be noted, also wears the holy thread,...

 of Mardol

Mardol

Mardol may refer to:* Mardol , a Mexican engineering of UNAM in Mexico City, Mexico* Mardol , a street in Shrewsbury, Shropshire, England* Mardol, Goa, a locality in Goa, India...

 is also commonly referred to Saibini.

With the coming of the Portuguese

Portugal

Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...

 to Goa, India in the early 16th Century and the forced Christianization of the Old conquests of Salcette

Salcette

Salcette , is a taluka of South Goa District in the Indian state of Goa. Its administrative and economic headquarters is Margao. It is largely coterminous with a region called Sashti , which comprised, by local tradition, sixty-six villages, hence the name. However, it also includes the taluka of...

 and Bardez

Bardez

Bardez is the name of a region and taluka in North Goa. The name is credited to the Brahmin immigrants who migrated to the Konkan via Magadha in Gangetic India from Aryavarta, in the north-western part of the Indian sub-continent. Bardez or more properly Bara desh means "twelve countries"...

, the temples of Santeri were destroyed. The deep rooted traditions of woshipping the mother Goddess continued in her Christian avtaar of Mother Mary. Thus the Virgin Mary was called Saibini.

Our Lady of Milagres(Miracles) at Mapusa

Mapusa

Mapusa also spelt at Mapuca, Mhapsa or Mapsa is a town in North Goa, India. It is situated 13 km north of the capital Panaji. The town is the headquarters of Bardez Taluka. It is located on the main highway NH-17, linking Mumbai to Trivandrum...

 is called Saibini by Goan Christians

Christianity in Goa

Christianity is the second largest religious grouping in Goa, India. According to the 2001 census, 27% of the population are Christian, while 66% are Hindu...

 today. As Hindu

Hindu

Hindu refers to an identity associated with the philosophical, religious and cultural systems that are indigenous to the Indian subcontinent. As used in the Constitution of India, the word "Hindu" is also attributed to all persons professing any Indian religion...

s and Christian

Christian

A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...

s commonly worship together in many Goan Churches and Temples, sometimes the distinction between Santeri and Mother Mary are lost.

The word is also commonly used for Mother Mary by the East Indian

Indian people

Indian people or Indisians constitute the Asian nation and pan-ethnic group native to India, which forms the south of Asia, containing 17.31% of the world's population. The Indian nationality is in essence made up of regional nationalities, reflecting the rich and complex history of India...

 Marathi

Marathi people

The Marathi people or Maharashtrians are an Indo-Aryan ethnic group, that inhabit the Maharashtra region and state of western India. Their language Marathi is part of the southern group of Indo-Aryan languages...

Christian Community.

All of Goan female deities are addresed as Saibinis. Even the Christians Mary is an example of motherhood and compassion and is referred to Saibini. Predominantly the word is associated with Mother Mary and the Konkani Goddesses.