Shila Devi Temple -Jaipur

Shila Devi temple is a famous Devi temple of Jaipur and a temple dedicated to the Goddess Durga. This temple stands within Amer Fort. In 1604, Maharaja Man Singh brought the Goddess Shila Mata’s statue from Jessore, “Bangladesh.”

From folklore it is believed, this idol was carved from the same stone as the Dashabhuja idol of the Susanga Royal Family of Durgapur (now in Bangladesh).

This temple’s main gate is made of silver. A gate door covering all of the numerous characters of “Maa Durga” is present at the entry.

Nav Durga, Brahmacharini, Chandraghanta, Kushmanda, Skandamata, Katyani, Kalratri, Maha Gauri, and Siddhidatri are all depicted on the silver gate. Kali, Tara, Chhinnamasta, Tripura Bhairavi, Dhumavati, Baglamukhi, Sri Matangi, Shodashi, Bhuvneshwari, and Kamala Devi are ten famous idol characters painted in modest size on the main gate.

Legend
Towards the end of sixteenth century, Maharaja Mansingh brought the statue of the goddess Shila Mata from the eastern part of Bengal. In the kingdom of Pratapaditya, Maharaja Mansingh received a defeat at the hands of king Kedar. Humiliated and depressed, the Maharaja worshipped goddess Kali to please her and receive her blessings so as to change his defeat into victory.The goddess also obtained a promise from the Maharaja that he would establish her shrine in his capital.

In Maharaja’s dream Devi instructed him to retrieve her statue, which was floating in the sea near Jessore (now in Bangladesh), and place it in a temple.Raja Man Singh found the idol from the water in the form of a Shila (Slab) and was brought to Amer.When the Shila was cleaned and washed, the current idol appeared, hence the name Shila Mata. Interestingly it took ten years to build the temple.

During the nine-day Navratri celebration, devotees offer special prayers at the Shila Devi temple. Thousands of people gather from Jaipur and the neighbouring areas to make offerings to Shila Devi. The entire area is illuminated with beautiful lights around Navratri.