Ambaji Temple - Importance, History, Architecture, Bhadrapad Purnima Mela

        Although there are many temples in our country, but there are some temples which are famous worldwide for their special things. Today we are going to talk about one such temple which has become the subject of discussion around the world due to the 357 gold urn. This temple is the Ambaji Shaktipeeth of Gujarat. Ambaji Mata Temple is the main Shaktipeeth in Shakti Peetha of Maa Ambe in India, which is 200 km from Ahmedabad and 20 km from Palanpur.

         This temple, made of stone gems, is a center of faith for thousands of devotees. This temple was built by the ruling king Arunsen in the 6th century. The renovation of the Ambaji temple has been going on since 1975. Mother's Shri Yantra is worshiped in this temple. No one can see this instrument with a straight eye, even the priest blindfolded and worship this machine.

       

      

        As interesting as this temple is, its grand history too. According to a legend of the 51 Shakti Peethas of the mother, Mata Durga was born as a daughter, and she was married to Lord Shiva as the daughter of King Prajapati Daksha. Once a group of sages conducted a yajna, all the deities were invoked in the yajna. When King Daksha came, all the people stood up but Lord Shiva could not stand.

        Seeing this, King Daksha was very angry, to avenge his humiliation, Sati's father Raja Prajapati Daksha also conducted a yagna. Brahma, Vishnu, Indra and other gods and goddesses were invited to that yagna, but they deliberately did not send the invitation of this yajna to their gathering Lord Shiva. Lord Shiva did not participate in this yagna and when Sati came to know from Narada ji that his father was having a yagna but he was not invited.She was enraged after knowing that Narada advised her that there was no need to invite the father to go here. When Sati started going to her father's house, Lord Shiva explained to her but she did not listen, so Lord herself refused to go.

        Even after Shankar Ji's insistence, Sati went to join the yagna, at the place of sacrifice, Sati asked her father Daksha the reason for not inviting Shankar ji and expressed fierce opposition from the father.On this, Daksha started talking abusive things about Lord Shankar in front of Sati, suffering from this insult Sati jumped into the sacrificial fire and sacrificed her life.

        When Lord Shankar came to know about this, his third eye opened with anger, there was a catastrophe in the universe. On Shiva's orders, Virbhadra cut off Daksha's head and also punished the other gods for hearing Shiva's condemnation. Lord Shankar took out the body of Sati from Yajnakund and lifted it on his shoulder and grieved and started roaming all over the planet.

        Bhagwati Sati appeared to Shiva and said that wherever the parts of his body fall apart, a superpower will arise. With the corpse of Sati, Shiva also started wandering on the earth doing Tandava, which caused a situation of holocaust to occur on the earth, seeing the three worlds, including Earth, distraught, Lord Vishnu broke the body of Sati with his Sudarshan Chakra and dropped Sati. Whenever Shiva slammed into the dance posture, Vishnu would cut off any part of the mother's body from its cycle and drop its pieces on the earth.

        According to scriptures, wherever the pieces of Sati's limbs or their clothes or jewelery fell, there emerged Shaktipeeth. In this way, Shaktipeeths of Mother were built in 51 places. It is said that at the same time, the mother's heart fell on this place and Ambaji Shaktipeeth emerged from it.

        According to another legend, in the Ramayana yesterday, Lord Rama and his brother Lakshman worshiped the goddess in the forest of Arbuda and this is where the goddess Ambe gave them a prayer, going forward, Lord Rama killed Ravana with the same arrow. It is also mentioned in the scriptures that Nanda and Yashoda had performed the Mundan rites of Lord Krishna at this place, even today that peepal tree is present on Mount Gabbar.

            During his exile in the Mahabharata period, Pandava prayed to Mother Amba at this place. Mother Ambe gave Ajayamala to Bhima which would ensure her victory in the war and gave Arjuna the divine costumes to stay in Viratnagar, which made Arjuna Brihanla.

            The architecture of Ambaji Temple is very artistic and amazing, which reflects Indian tradition and culture. The temple has a huge pavilion and a smaller sanctum sanctorum in which there is Shri Yantra of Maa Amba. There is a big square in front of the temple, which is also called Chahar or Chachar ka Chowk. The devotees garland in this square and enjoy the devotion of the mother.

               There is a mountain named Gabbar in the north-west direction, 3 kilometers from the main temple. According to the legend, the heart of Mother Sati fell on the touch of this Gabbar mountain. There is also the temple of Mother on the mountain, to reach this temple one has to climb 4 stairs and there is also the facility of rope-way. In this temple of Maa Adishakti, the unbroken lamp of Maa Amba remains lit. It is said that Vapari Akheraj of Mandsaur earned immense amount from mother grace and he gave half the amount in this temple of mother.Since then, this monolithic lamp has been lit in this temple of mother and family.

        A big fair is organized on behalf of the temple trust during Bhado Purnima. In terms of population, this fair is the largest pedestrian fair in the world. Lakhs of devotees come from far and wide in this fair. While the rules of worship have been strictly followed in this temple for centuries, Bhado Purnima has great importance in this temple.Because this day begins, the process of inviting the mother to come to her home. On this day, there is a tradition behind walking in the court of Mother Amba, the devotees invite Mother Adishakti to come to their home for Navratras.       Just a few days after Bhadrapada Poornima, the holy festival of Mother is the beginning of Navratri, the intention of the devotees is that this nine nights the mother will be able to visit her home. With this desire, the devotees bring the flag with them and offer it to the temple, inviting the mother to come to their home. Millions of devotees from different regions of the country walk on foot to come to the court of the mother, blisters on the feet, or the fatigue of a long journey, nothing can stop the steps of these devotees.

        All these devotees make their own small pieces, and also bring the chariot of Mother Amba. When these devotees reach the temple after a long padyatra, the atmosphere does not work with any celebration. Chanting on the rhythm of Garba and chanting loud slogans of Jai Jai Ambe, the hymn of the mother on the lips, the devotees reach the court of the mother to make her presence.

        The tradition of Bhoga offered in the temple of Maa Amba is centuries old, the Bhoga which is offered to Maa Amba is prepared in the temple itself. Only pure ghee and wood are used to make this bhog. Apart from this, mother's adornment is done in three different forms - in the morning, in the form of child form, in the afternoon in the form of youth and in the night in the adult form, mother's worship is done.

        Due to the cooperation of the Government of Gujarat, a replica of 51 Shaktipeeths has been constructed on the circumambulation path of Gabbar. The construction of this temple and the priests are so well-trained that their worship method is realized in the real Shaktipeeth. The purpose of this circumambulation path was that devotees could see 51 forms of Mother in one place.

        The queue of devotees coming to the court of mother is long, in which mango and what is special. If someone offers flowers of reverence at the feet of a mother, someone is touching new heights of successes in his life with the blessings of the mother and devotees give full credit for their successes to Maa Amba. If you too have not been able to visit Ambaji temple for any reason, go and visit this abode of Mother Adishakti and see the holy form of Mother Ambe .....!

        Bol maadi ambe jai jai ambe.