| Maheshwaridevi Temple (Navi-Wadi) |
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| Approximately
since 1848 the place where the Maheshwaridevi temple stands today and the area
behind it belonged to Shri Ramchandra
Raghunathji Trilokekar. The temple was not present then, which can be proved
from the old documents found. In 1874 when Shri Pandurang Dinanathji Velkar
bought the place along with the house there is no conclusive evidence to prove
that the temple existed then but in 1878 i.e. the year when Shri Gajananrao Velkar was
born it surely existed. Thus we can conclude that the
temple was built somewhere between 1874 and 1878. |
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| The northern corner of the temple contains a
phallus shaped mound which is supposed to be the self-raised
idol of the Maheshwaridevi. |
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| One of the legends says that the place where
the idol of the goddess exists today, stood a Green Champaka (Chapha)
tree. The then owner of the house wished to extend the small house which existed
behind the tree by removing the tree and cleaning the place surrounding the
tree. When he was about to chop the tree, a voice came from the tree saying
"Me Aahe, Me Aahe" (I am there, I am there). Since the people then were superstitious,
the owner did not forego with his plan of chopping down the tree and instead
consulted the pundits regarding this matter. He was told that there was an invisible existence
of the Devi. The owner after having debated with other people finally decided to
accept the Devi's existence, carefully remove the Chapha tree and perform a 'Yagna'.
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| When the Chapha tree was removed carefully a
phallus shaped mound appeared under its roots. This was declared as the Devi's
existence and her arrival and various other rituals were performed. Later a temple was
built at that place. |
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| The Silver mask seen of the Devi today did
not exist before. It was later given as an offering by
worshipers. Its history is as follows. |
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| The wife of Shri Keshavrao Khanderao
Gorakshakar's great grandfather of Shri Raghoba Damaji Gorakshakar met with an
accident which left her right hand handicapped. Ms Gorakshakar promised to make a divine
offering ('Navas') that |
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| "Hey Devi. Maazhaa haat baraa houn me
aaplyaa haati veni-phani karoo laaglyaas tar tujhyavar maazhya chehryacha
mukhavtaa chadvin." (O Goddess. If my hand is cured and if I can do my own
toiletries, I will offer you a mask of my own face.) |
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| Her hand was cured and she made the
offering of the mask of her face as she had promised. This mask is now kept at
the residence of the descendants of Shri Raghoba Damaji Gorakshakar. |
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| There is also a second mask which has been
donated by Shri Gajanan Vinayak Velkar. This mask is imaginary and there is no
resemblance to any of the family members. This mask has been donated so that
pious people can worship it on every new moon and Sharadiya Navratra (Hindu
calendar). This mask has a Pearl nose-ring (Nath) and two gold chains. |
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| The first mask is available only during the Margashish Fair (Naviwadichi Jatra). The fair starts on the new moon day of the
Kartik month (Hindu calendar) and continues for a period of ten days. It is
brought in a ceremonial fashion from the Gorakshakar house to the Maheshwari
temple in Naviwadi. |
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| The origin of the fair is also based on
a divine offering by Shri Damodar Sunderji Mankar. It so
happened that once his
nose got swollen and the swelling spread all around. His face was disfigured and
people started mocking him as 'Nakadya'. To get rid of this disfigurement he
tried a number of remedies but in vain. Finally he pleaded to the Goddess
Maheshwari |
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| "Me aata tulaa sharan yet aahe. Malaa
vyadimukt kar. Tujhi krupa faraalaa aalyas me tujhya naave prativarshi jatra
barvin". (O Goddess, I am now surrendering myself to you. Cure me of my
illness. If this materialises I will have a yearly fair in your honour). |
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| He was relieved of his suffering. Seeing the
results, the son of Shri Damodar Sunderji Mankar immediately summoned sweet meat
vendors, vessel vendors, toy vendors and other hawkers and started a fair around
the Goddess' temple. Both father and son used to distribute toys and eatables
to children of their own spending. |
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| This fair has today lost its charm since many
of the Pathare Prabhus have dispersed from the Palav Road (Chira Bazaar).
Mr. Jay Nayak still makes his efforts to carry out the rituals at
the least every year so that
even today people around the place invoke the Goddess's blessings in times of
distress, illnesses or any other major difficulties. |
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Reference:- Pathare Prabhu Charities Smaranika
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