Khodiyar Mata Mandir Rajpara, Bhavnagar

Khodiyar Mata Mandir- Rajpara, Bhavnagar

Khodiyar Mata Temple is located on the Bhavnagar-Rajkot highway in the small village of Rajpara in the Shihore taluka of the Bhavnagar district of Gujarat.Khodiyar Maa is a form of Adi Shakti Devi and is situated on the banks of the Tataniya Wali Lake, it is one of the important places of pilgrimage in Saurashtra.

Khodiyar Mata is believed to be a warrior Hindu goddess born as a member of the Charan caste around 700 AD. She is said to be the daughter of Mamad Ji Charan, who was blessed by Lord Shiva and Nagdev with seven daughters and a son. One of the daughters was Khodiyar Mata, who has temples all over Gujarat, Rajasthan and Mumbai.

A small temple established by Maharaja Wakhatsinhji and built as it is today, by Maharaja Krishnakumarsinhji , the temple has grown to become a symbol of faith, belief, hope and certitude for millions of devotees in present times.

Temple Legend

Maharaja Wakhatsinhji Gohil was a great devotee of Maa Khodiyar and often visited the distant temple Galdhara (Matel Temple) of Maa Khodiyar for darshan and blessings. One day Wakhatsinhji urged Maa Khodiyar to come down to Shihor (at that time the capital of Bhavnagar) from Galdhara temple.

Maa Khodiyar agreed to go along with them, with the condition that the Maharaja Wakhatsinhji would not turn around the entire way. Maharaja agrees with the condition of Maa Khodiyar.

To see whether Maharaja Wakhatsinhji could trust Khodiyar Maa’s words. When Shihore was nearby, he could not hear Mataji’s footsteps or the tinkling sound of Devi’s anklets. He turned back and broke the promise to see whether Mataji was following him or not.

Mataji decided to end her journey because Maharaja Wakhatsinhji broke the condition (Vachan). Thus, at this place, Mother Khodiyar and her seven sisters decided to end their journey and this place was Rajpara, which became the shrine of Khodiyar Mata.