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This temple built on the Yamunachala by Viswakarma at the
behest of Brahma according to legends has several unique features that bid
instant visitation; for it is this Jaganmata who has been staying here at the
instance of an ardent devotee Anubhuti by name in the dim past; it is this
Mother who played a dominant-role to keep aloft the Maharashtra banner: it is
for this Bhavani, Brahma commissioned Viswakarma to build a shrine; it is for
this Mother, the Kallola thirtha, the repository of the waters of all the rivers
in the Punya Bharat joins it is this Mata that metamorphosed a homely lad into
an empire builder of universal recognition; it is this Mother that has the
unique habit of going to sleep thrice a year, when special prayer services are
suspended in the main temple; it is this Mother who played chess with the pious
Mahant daily; it is this Mother who
assumed
the fiercest form to kill a demon called Matanga; it is this Mother's image that
was smashed to powder by the Muslim bigot Afzal Khan; it is this temple that
enshrines a big boulder sanctified by the sitting of Sri Rama - Lakshmana during
then search for the abducted Sita and it is this temple that set up the practice
of offering
breakfast to the Mother in the morning before the ritualistic offer of Naivedya.
Filling the lap of the Mother, shearing lock offering of
garments etc.,
are very common and popular. And in the past slaughtering of animals and drinking
of liquor
were in vogue. Thanks to the reforms, the authorities stopped all those obnoxious
practices and switched over to Satwika puja. Hence its popularity is winking, as
modernity with sublime piety has introduced several traditions reflecting the
spirit of changing trends. And permissible to all sections of people.
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