History, Importance, Timings, Festivals, Architecture, Social & Religious Activities, Interesting Facts, Best time to Visit and Travel Guide of Saptashrungi Devi Templ, near Vani, Maharashtra, India
The Saptashrungi Temple is a Hindu temple located almost 60 km away from Nashik in state of Maharashtra. According to Hindu mythology, Saptashrungi Nivasini is the goddess who dwells in the seven mountain crests. The temple is located in Nanduri, a small community near Nashik. There are 510 stairs to climb the shrine. The temple is located at a height of 4659 feet from sea level. People believe that Saptashrungi took the form of Goddess Durga to kill Mahishasura, the famous buffalo demon, who disturbed the universe. After defeating him, the Goddess is believed to be settled in the mountains. The idol holds different weapons in her 18 hands and is 10 feet in height.
The shrine is a part of the 51 Shakti Peethas of the Indian subcontinent. It is said that the right arm and limbs were fallen here, when miserable and disturbed Shiva was transmitting her dead body on his shoulders. On the way, Vishnu incised her body into segments with his weapon (the Sudarshana Chakra). Saptshungi Temple is also famed as three and Half Shakti Peeth Temple of Maharashtra.
The reason behind this incident was, that Prajapati Daksha, the father of Sati had arranged a yajna named Brihaspatirityadi. Sati, the wife of Shiva, attended the function without any summon. Daksha did not like Shiva, so he did not invite him to the ritual, where the rest of the Gods were invited. Sati felt offended by her father’s behavior as she loved Shiva a lot. Although, she decided to attend the ritual even after not being invited. When she reached there, her father aggravated the disrespect by avoiding her and insulting Shiva. Sati was so embarrassed and hurt by the incident that she decided to commit suicide by jumping into the fire of yagna. When Shiva heard the news, he sent his associate to know the truth and take vengeance. Shiva also came to the place and created a disturbance. He was so sad and angry that he took Sati’s body and started moving around the world taking her on his shoulder. Seeing him in such bad condition, Brahma and Vishnu decided to bring him back to normal. Vishnu then followed Shiva and cut Sati’s body into 51 segments. As Shiva was moving, these 51 parts of the body fell into 51 different places in India, which are known as Shakti Peethas.
It is also heard that Devi Saptashrungi took the form of Devi Durga to kill the devil king Mahishasura, who was disturbing the world. Mahishasura was killed in the form of a buffalo. A buffalo head, made of stone is put at the foothill where the devotees start climbing to reach the temple.
The idol is ornamented with a high and graceful tiara and a silver nose stud. Heavy pieces of jewelry are a part of her regular dress-up. A blouse and a dressing gown run decently on the idol. The temple priest changes the attire regularly with brand new clothes, specially chosen for her. The priest arranges a bath with warm water for the idol before she gets ready for worship. The process of bathing is known as Abhishek.
The most celebrated festival is Chaitrotsav or “the Chaitra festival”. The festival starts on the 9th stellar day of the month Chaitra (Ram Navami) and ends on the full moon day of Chaitra. Many infertile women participate in the festival to seek the blessings of the deity for children. Thousands of people attend the festival. The number sometimes crosses a million on the last few days of the festival. The pilgrims from different parts of Gujarat, Rajasthan, and Maharashtra come to visit the temple. The deity is douched with a mixture of ghee, milk, sugar, honey, and yogurt every day during the festival. On the last lunar day, the goddess’ placard is worshipped and then exhibited throughout the village, in presence of the head of the village. The banner is finally upraised on the hilltop at midnight.
The temple remains open from 5 am to 9 pm every day. Visitors can enter anytime in between. It takes almost 45 minutes to reach the shrine from the foothill.
The most suitable time is from October to February.
Visitors can call this number – 02592 253 351 to have more information about the temple.
The Saptashrungi temple is a popular visit for the people around Nashik. It is one of the most popular Shakti Peeths in India.
How to Reach Saptashrungi temple, near Nasik, Maharashtra, India
The closest railway station is the Nashik to reach the temple. There are regular bus services available for the temple. The buses run from the Nashik CBS bus stop. Nashik being one of the major city, district and major pilgrimage center of Maharashtra, India, thus it is very well connected with all major cities of India via road, rail and air network. Ojhar Nashik International airport is located at just 24 kms away from the city. From where you can get flights to various cities like Delhi, Bengalore, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad, Pune etc. Nashik has major railway junction which quite important for the various key railway like like Mumbai to Kalyan or Delhi or Kolkata. Nashik is very well connected with all other cities of the country by roads through national highway or the state highway. The national highway of Mumbai-Agra passes via city Nashik and it is also well connected to city Pune with highway NH-50. Nashik is located at 170 km from Mumbai, 30 km from Ojhar, 30 km from Trimbak, 105 km from Malegaon, 210 km from Pune, 235 km from Surat, 135 km from Kalyan, 195 km from Aurangabad.
