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The family I was staying with in Ahmedabad go for a kind of pilgrimage tour of Gujarat, along with other ladies of the society, every six months. In this tour, they visit famous temples of goddesses and I was very fortunate to go along with them on this tour. We hired a mini luxury van and went off to many temples. Each temple has its own legend, and people come there from far-off places. [caption id="attachment_36413" align="aligncenter" width="665"] Shree Gogaji Dham[/caption]
[caption id="attachment_36415" align="aligncenter" width="665"] Ladies praying at the temple[/caption]
Our first stop was at Shree Gogaji Dham Temple, a colourful temple from the outside and inside. This temple is very famous in the Rabari caste of Gujarat. They have a strong belief in this temple and they come here for all their remedies. It is believed that all the prophecies that the priest of this temple makes come true. [caption id="attachment_36416" align="aligncenter" width="665"] Shree Chehar Mataji Temple[/caption]
Next we went to the Shree Chehar Mataji Temple in Martoli. This temple is built of gold from inside. It is 900 years old and I was told that I am very lucky to come here as many people do not get a chance to visit all these places even if they want to. There is a tree inside the temple where it is believed that goddess appeared and a small temple was built at this place. [caption id="attachment_36417" align="aligncenter" width="665"] Sacred Tree[/caption]
[caption id="attachment_36418" align="aligncenter" width="665"] Carving inside Temple[/caption]
It is said that once there was a "bhandara" (feast) in the temple in which people were fed with 'laddus' (a round Indian sweet). However, the laddus prepared on that day were not enough for the very large crowd that had showed up. The priest instructed to cover all the laddus with a piece of cloth of the goddess, and take out laddus from below it and distribute it to people. Even after everyone was well fed, there were laddus left. Five of those laddus were wrapped up and hung above the sculpture of the goddess. This temple also gives food to whoever walks in, three times a day and seven days a week. |
