The Mahalakshmi temple, or Mahalaxmi Temple, is one of the most famous temples of

Dahanu Dahanu (Pronunciation: �əɦaːɳuː is a coastal town and a municipal council in Palghar district of Maharashtra state in Konkan division. It is located 110 km from Mumbai city and hosts Adani Power’s thermal power station. It is the ...

situated on

Mumbai Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — List of renamed Indian cities and states#Maharashtra, the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' fin ...

– Ahmedabad Highway in

area. It is dedicated to

Mahalakshmi Lakshmi (; , sometimes spelled Laxmi, ), also known as Shri (, ), is one of the principal goddesses in Hinduism. She is the goddess of wealth, fortune, power, beauty, fertility and prosperity, and associated with '' Maya'' ("Illusion"). Al ...

. This temple was built by

Koli Koli may refer to: Places * Koli, Finland, a hill in Finland * Koli National Park, a national park in Finland * Koli, Iran (disambiguation), several places in Iran * Koli Airfield, a former airfield in the South Pacific Other uses * Koli peopl ...

king Jayabha Mukne of

Jawhar State The Jawhar State was a princely state A princely state (also called native state or Indian state) was a nominally sovereign entity of the British Indian Empire that was not directly governed by the British, but rather by an Indian ...

in 1306 at the establishment of

Jawhar Jawhar is a city and a municipal council in Palghar district of Maharashtra state in Konkan division of India. Jawhar was a capital city of the erstwhile Koli princely state of Jawhar. Situated in the ranges of the Western Ghats, Jawhar is ...

. During the worship The flag of the present

Raja ''Raja'' (; from , IAST ') is a royal title used for South Asian monarchs. The title is equivalent to king or princely ruler in South Asia and Southeast Asia. The title has a long history in South Asia and Southeast Asia, being attested f ...

of Mukne Dynasty of Jawhar is offered to the mother's temple. The flag is presented by Narayan Satava, the priest of the village of Vaghadi. The duty or responsibility of managing the temple, its activities including presiding over its rituals was bestowed upon a clan called Satav of the Malhar Koli tribe by Koli rulers of

. The current high priest of the Mahalaxmi temple is a Satav, from the Satav clan of Malhar Koli tribe. Mahalaxmi goddess is goddess of the mountains is the clan goddess of the Satav clan. Members of Satva clan are hence looked upon with respect by other clans of Malhar koli tribe and even other tribal groups as well.

Navratri Festival

During Navaratri celebrations, devotees from distant places throng to the temple, which is decorated for this occasion, to pay obeisance. They have to stand for hours in long queues holding coconuts, flowers and sweets which they offer to the goddess.

References

External links

External website
Temples in India Lakshmi temples Hindu temples in Maharashtra Palghar district {{Hindu-temple-stub