Located at the seashore on the northern side of Malabar hills,
Mahalakshmi temple is one of the most sacred temples in Mumbai. The
temple enshrines three dieties namely Lakshmi, Kali and Saraswati.
However, the principal diety is goddess lakshmi and hence the name
Mahalakshmi temple.
History
Built around 1785, the history of this temple is supposedly
connected with the building of the Hornby Vellard. It is said that
when Britishers failed in their repeated attempts to connect
Mahalakshmi area to Worli by building Breach Candy on account of
ferocious tides, they had almost surrendered. The problem was fixed
only by divine intervention when the goddess Lakshmi appeared in the
dream of chief engineer and asked him to remove the three statues
from the sea bed and establish them in a proper shrine. A search
operation was launched to recover the statues and a temple was
built. After this, the work on the vellard could be completed
without a hitch. .
Inside
The Temple contains images of Goddess Mahalakshmi, Mahakali and
Mahasaraswathi. All three images are adorned with nose rings, gold
bangles and pearl necklaces. The image of Mahalakshmi is shown
riding a tiger and a demon (Mahishasur) in a tandem. Beyond the
ornate gate is the shrine wherein resides the buxom goddess of Lucre
-- Laxmi. The compound of this temple is abuzz with stalls selling
flower garlands and pious paraphernalia.
Navaratri Festival
During Navarathri celebrations, the temple gets special looks.
Devotees from distant places throng to temple to pay their
obeisance. They have to stand for hours in long queues holding
coconuts, flowers and sweets which they offer to the goddess.
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