ShaktiPeeth - Akhand Ambaji;

ShaktiPeeth - Akhand Ambaji

THE LEGEND AMBAJI

Ya Devi Sarva Bhuteshu Vishnumayeshi Shadbita

Namastasye, Namastasye Namastasye Namo Namah!

The Goddess who is known as Vishnumaya among all living beings….we bow down to her, bow down to her, bow down to her in reverence.

She is the Adhya Shakti, the Mother Goddess, in whom we have tremendous faith.

Situated on the Arasur Hill and often referred to as Arasuri Amba, lies the beautiful Ambaji Temple. This holy shrine of Amba Mata has been the centre of Shakti Pooja since centuries. It is one of the 51 Shaktipeets and the most important one in #GoldenGujarat. Millions of pilgrims visit this shrine to pay their obeisance and feel fulfilled.

This is the principal Shrine of a Goddess who has been worshipped since the Pre-Vedic period. The Markandeya Purana tells us the legend behind the temple.

Sati was the beautiful daughter of the lustrous King Daksha Prajapati. She was a devout Shiva Worshipper and did intense penance to please the Lord. He finally rewarded her by accepting her hand in marriage. But this union was not acceptable to Sati’s father, the King. In the act of defiance, the King held an elaborate Yagna. Every person and God of importance was invited except Sati and Shiva. Sati was enraged at this insult to her husband and decided to confront her father at the Yagna. God Shiva tried to set her against the idea but she went to yagna nevertheless. Once there, she was not welcomed by her father. Infact he used the occasion to insult her and her husband. Unable to bear this humiliation. Sati jumped in the holy pyre of the Yagna. Shiva Learnt of this and was grieved and infuriated beyond reason.

He picked up her burning body from the pyre and unleashed his fury in the form of the legendary Tandav, Shiva’s dance of destruction. The other Gods who were present began to worry for the safety of the planet and life itself. In order to protect the world from Shiva’s rage, Lord Vishnu, the supreme Hindu deity, sent forth his divine Sudharshan Chakra (circular weapon). The Chakra cut Sati’s body in pieces which fell all over India, dissolving Shiva’s wrath into grief. The legend states that Sati’s heart fell over the spot marked by the Amba temple, making it a Siddhapeeth.

The temple built of marble does not have an idol but it has a Yantra. There is a gokh, a niche, in the wall on which a gold-plated marble inscription of a triangular Vishwa Yantra is fixed. It is a copper plate which has Vedic text on sacred geometry inscribed on it with figures and the syllable ‘Shree’ written in the centre. The peculiar Vishwa Yantra represents the deity. There is no idol of the Goddess, perhaps because the temple is so ancient that it predates idol-worship.

Every year on the full moon night of Bhadrapad, which is one of the four most important festival days of the year, devotees visit Ambaji to receive her blessings. There is a four-day fair that’s specially arranged for this occasion.

During the Navratri of Aswin “the longest festival of Dance” the Garba is celebrated, devotees dressed in their best attire dance through the night.

There is also an Akhand Divo – a holy lamp that is placed in the Chachar Chowk and has been burning for many years. The same holy lamp still burns on this day in front of the deity and devotees make offerings of Ghee which keeps the lamp always alit.

4 kms away from the temple is the Gabbar hill, on top of which there is another Amba Mata Temple. The climb to the hill being arduous, a ropeway has been provided, and the staunch devout climb the hill to pay their respects. This small hillock is believed to have been the site of Lord Krishna’s tonsorial ceremony (head-shaving ritual).

51 Shakti Peethas

To give devotees of Goddess Shakti a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to get the blessings of all the forms of the Goddess, a unique project has been created here. The Shakti Peethas bestow holy achievements and spiritual welfare on the devotees.