History of Ashapura Mataji
Ashapura Maa is an aspect of Devi and one of the principle deity of Kutch. The main temple is located at Mata no Madh in Kutch; Bhuj a district of Gujarat State. Ashapura Maa, as the name indicates is a Goddess who fulfils wishes & desires of all her followers. Current location of the temple is replaced with a tent of a trader – Shri Devchand Shah who migrated from Marvad to Kutchh along with his tribe because of abundance of water and fodder for the cattles.
Shri Devchand was a true devotee of the Goddess, Adishakti and during Narvratri he had grown wheat germ and had enshrined the holy Garba in his tent. He wholeheartedly celebrated Navaratri and followed all rituals to be followed during the festival right from fasting to singing mataji’s bhajans and garbas
On the 14th day of Shukla Paksha of Ashwin month he prayed by his heart and pleaded to mataji
“Dear mataji, I am your true devotee and I am really happy and satisfied with whatever you have given me. Mataji today I am praying you from the bottom of my heart for a child. Mataji you are the known to fulfill all the dreams and desires of your devotees; I am your true follower and I humbly request you to please fulfill my desire of becoming a parent.
Saying this he went off to sleep and Mataji appeared in his dreams and told him;
“Dear child, I like the corner of the road where you have set up your tent and I suggest that you build my temple on that land. After the temple is ready, you are supposed to keep the doors of the temple closed for 6 months. After 6 months when you open the door, you will find my idol ensconced there. When you get up from sleep you will find a coconut and a dupatta kept besides your bed and that is to assure you that I had come.”
When he got up the next morning, he was astonished to see coconut and dupatta lying besides his bed as indicated by mataji in his dreams. He then made up his mind to follow what mataji had told him to do and decides to make the temple. He calls the Sompura Shilpa Shastri and starts the construction of temple. Once the temple was ready, he consulted the Brahmins and after seeing a good muhurat he closed the doors as directed by mataji.
During the 6 months of closure of temple Shri Devchand used to daily stand outside the door and pray to the deity. Whenever he came for his prayers, he used to hear melodious and exhilarating music from inside the doors. One day while listening to the music he got engrossed and got tempted to worship Mataji, he then opened the doors of the temple and was shocked to see that there was only Mataji’s idol and nothing around it
He then heard a celestial announcement which said;
“Dear child, I had asked you to open the doors after 6 months but you got lost in the music and opened the door one month prior to the said date and because of this insufficient time my idol could not emerge beyond the knee level and the part below it is still inside mother earth. Hence from now onwards all the devotees will take my darshan in this form of me only. But dear child you haven’t done it intentionally or with any doubts in your mind and heart, but you did it because of your feelings and temptations, hence I grant you forgiveness.
The idol being a part of Adishakti will be known to all as “MAA ASHAPURA” and even though the emergence of the idol is incomplete, your wishes will be fully granted.
Dear child ask for whatever you wish for…??
Shri Devchand replied: Dear mataji, I sincerely apologize for the mistake I did and I by my heart thank you for forgiving me. Mataji I have a strong desire to become a parent and I pray from the bottom of my heart to grant us a child
Maa Ashapura granted his wish and blessed them with a child
Even today we can take the darshan of the Adishakti in this form at Shri Ashapura Maa at Madh. Devotees continue to believe in mataji and people from world over worship mataji to seek her blessings. No prayers have gone unanswered. People vow to go walking, cycling & travel from different parts of the country to seek Mataji’s darshan during Navratri and otherwise as well. Navratri being an auspicious occasion and there are many tents across entire bhuj which provide the devotees with different types of SEVA such as food, water, resting beds, medical aid etc.