Badri Bhagat Jhandewala Devi Mandir
The entire management of Badri Bhagat Jhandewala Devi Temple is done by “Badri Bhagat Jhandewala Temple Society” established in 1944. At that time, the work of the head of the society started under the supervision of Brahmin Shri Naveen Kapoor ji, who is a descendant of Badri Bhagat ji. The other Trustees of the Society are eminent persons nominated from various sections of the society. Who have successful experience in religious and social work. The management of the temple is under the supervision of an honorable officer holding the rank of a minister, who is assisted by an additional minister, a treasurer and an additional manager, who is also a trustee of the temple trust. To assist them, there is also an office in the temple premises which has accounts department, public relations officer, office personnel, many archakas and other employees.
Vasantik Navratri and Shardiya Navratri are two major festivals celebrated in the temple in which lakhs of devotees come to the temple to get the darshan and blessings of Jhandawali Maa. Keeping in mind the convenience and safety of the visiting devotees, the temple management has divided all the works into various departments and teams, which are managed by the 40 member Utsav Committee. The service work of each department and group is carried out under the supervision of one or more members of the Utsav Committee. All the members of the Utsav Committee are from different sections of the society who are serving the temple selflessly. Hundreds of workers in every department are providing their selfless service.Presently 2000 workers are serving. Apart from these, 300 women servants also provide their selfless services. All the sevadars render their services in all the arrangements of the fair under the supervision of their department and group heads as per the guidelines given by the nominated festival committee and honorable trustee officers.
Apart from the main darshan of “Maa Jhandewali Devi” and “Maa Gufawali Devi” in the temple, there is also a charming and beautiful Maa Santoshi Darbar in which the statues of Santoshi Mata, Lakshmi Mata, Ganesh Ji, Gau Mata and Hanuman Ji are installed. Two unbroken lights have been burning in front of the cave Mata Ji for eight decades. There is also a Jyot Stambh in which the unbroken flame is always lit by the devotees.An ancient Shivalinga and Shiva family are present in the cave. There is also a grand and very beautiful Shivalaya on the first pond of the main temple. There is also a temple of Maa Kali at the other end of the temple. 30 Archakas and 100 employees have been appointed by the temple society to properly complete the puja, adornment and aarti in the temple, who look after all the works in the temple reception area day and night.
Initially, the entire care of Jhandewala Temple Estate was taken care of by Badri Bhagat ji and his descendants. In 1944, his great grandson Shri Shyam Sundar ji established a trust named Badri Bhagat Jhandewala Temple Society and appointed the eminent religious leaders of that time as trustees and handed over the entire management to that trust. In this trust, we carried forward our work keeping in mind the religious, social and preaching sentiments of Badri Bhagat ji.
With the passage of time, due to the grace of Mother, the number of devotees started increasing, which has currently reached thousands every day. This number reaches lakhs during Navratri. Due to this increasing number, there was a need to change the form of the temple and necessary work was done for this. Today the appearance of the temple has changed with a beautiful arrangement.
The Society, working as per its responsibility and discretion, has drawn up a blueprint for the development of the entire property and has spent crores of rupees on it. Badri Bhagat Jhandewala Temple Society, apart from taking care of the temple, has also contributed wholeheartedly in natural disasters (in various provinces of the country), the biggest example of which is that even during the huge outbreak of Covid pandemic, the temple system has provided 35,000 meals per day. The packets were distributed at various places in Delhi.Due to which the temple management and servants were greatly honored by the Delhi Police. The society is also running free allopathic and homeopathic dispensaries in the social sector for the general public.The society is also running a training center for poor women, henna training center for girls, Sanskrit Ved Vidyalaya for Sanskrit upliftment, embroidery tailoring and Sanskrit Samvad Shala. Every year blood donation camps are organized with the help of various coordinators. A cow shelter and research center has also been established in Panchgaon.
Presently Mr. Naveen Kapoor ji is working as the President of the Society who is a descendant (fifth generation) of Badri Bhagat ji. To assist them, the senior trustees of the temple are supporting those who are from different sections of the society and who have expertise in social and religious work.
The future plans of the Society have been made keeping in mind the traditions and social values of Hindu religion and keeping in mind the interest of the Hindu society. Spiritual and yoga classes are organized. There is a plan to expand the library keeping in mind our literature and culture. The temple is being expanded as per the needs of the temple. By the grace of Mother Jhandewali, the future dream of Badri Bhagat ji and his family is being fulfilled. The Society is soon launching its website through which one can know about its future work. Today, due to the efficient leadership of the honorable officers of the publicity department of the temple, devotees can also watch the live telecast of all the aartis and other programs happening daily in the temple online through YouTube and Facebook. The registration process to connect the devotees with the online temple has also started.
All the financial needs of the temple are met by donations given by the devotees. The money collected in the donation boxes of the temple is opened after every fifteen days. These donation boxes are opened under the supervision of a commissioner. All the money is deposited in a government bank account. The accounts of the society are audited by a statutory auditor.
Devotees from all over the world come to Jhandewala to seek blessings of Mother Goddess. Those devotees feel spiritual peace here which inspires them to come to this temple again and again. Jhandewala Devi is considered by all the organizations as one of the best arranged and maintained temples of India. Devotees of Mother Goddess come here and experience mental peace and happiness.
Jhandewala Temple, located in the center of the capital Delhi, is a Siddhapeetha dedicated to Goddess Jhandewali. Due to its religious and historical importance, the state government has also included it among the famous tourist places of Delhi. Throughout the year, without any discrimination, lakhs of devotees from all over the country and abroad come here for darshan.The crowd of devotees gathering here during Navratri becomes a sight in itself. Every devotee who comes to the temple leaves here with a feeling of mental peace and joy. Every devotee gets Prasad from the Goddess in the form of blessings. Jhandewala temple has not only religious but also historical importance.
The history of Jhandewala Temple begins from the second half of the 18th century. At the place where the temple is situated today, there were lush green hills of the Aravalli mountain range, dense forests and gurgling waterfalls. This was the home of many animals and birds. The nearby residents used to come for a walk at this peaceful and pleasant place. Among such people was Shri Badri Das, a famous cloth merchant of Chandni Chowk. Shri Badri Das was a person of religious nature and was a devotee of Vaishno Devi. He would regularly come to this hilly place for a walk and become engrossed in meditation. Once engrossed in meditation, Shri Badri Das had a feeling that there was an ancient temple buried in a cave located near a waterfall. Again one day in his dream he saw a temple in the same area and he felt that some invisible force was motivating him to find this temple.After this unique experience, Shri Badri Das concentrated on finding that place and one day while digging near the waterfall seen in his dream, he saw an idol in a deep cave. It was an idol of a goddess, but during the excavation, the hands of the idol got broken, hence, keeping in mind its historical importance, they left the idol found in the excavation at the same place and by installing a new idol of the goddess right on top of it, it was ritually killed. Got the prestige done. On this occasion, a very big flag was hoisted on top of the temple, which was visible far and wide due to its location on the hill, due to which in time this temple became famous by the name of Jhandewala Temple.
The place where the idol found during excavation is installed became famous by the name of Mother of the Cave. The broken hands of the cave goddess were replaced with silver hands and this idol also started being worshiped with full rituals.A Shivlinga built on a rock found during excavation has also been installed on which a pair of snakes and serpents are carved. This ancient cave of Mata and Shivling is also the center of devotion of the devotees. The lights lit in this cave have been burning continuously for almost eight decades.
With the establishment of the temple, devotees started coming to this place and gradually with time the form of the temple also changed. Badri Das ji, who by now had become famous by the name of Bhagat Badri Das, bought the surrounding land for the expansion of the temple. Bhagat Badri Das dedicated the rest of his life to the service of Mother Jhandewali.
With the passage of time, the form of the temple started changing and gradually buildings started being built at various places on the lush green Aravalli hills. At the time of partition of India, people who came to the capital Delhi as refugees settled everywhere due to which the appearance of this place also changed. Presently this place is surrounded by many famous and very busy business centers located in the center of the capital, among which Pahadganj, Karol Bagh, Sadar Bazaar, Jhandewalan etc. are notable.