Shri Bharadi Devi Temple- Anganewadi

Shri Bharadi Devi temple is situated in Masure village of Malvan Taluk in Sindhudurg district -Maharastra.Shri Bharadi Devi of Anganewadi is most popular temple and very awakened goddess in Konkan region of Maharashtra.

Anganewadi is known as the Pandharpur of Konkan.The name Anganewadi indicates a dominance of people with the surname Angane. According to a legend a Goddess materialized in the village in the form of a stone plaque, 400 years ago. Since then people have been flocking to this village for ‘Darshan’, every year.

Legend
A man from the village of Anganewadi, was working as an Intelligence officer/spy for the Maratha Empire during the reign of Shahu Maharaj and the Peshwas (Baji Rao I & Chimaji Appa) and had single handed-ly helped them achieve tremendous success during their campaigns in North India, when the Marathas were expanding their empire & had planted the Maratha flag in Attock. When he came back after fulfilling his duty, one of his cows would discharge milk on the green wood which turned into a stone plaque (Swayambhu Idol). When the owner went out to look for the cow, he found the stone plaque. On the same night, he got a divine message in his dream from the Goddess, who believed is to be an incarnation of Sita Mata, the daughter of Bhoodevi & the Warrior Goddess Bhavani herself and the village started to worship the stone plaque. The word soon spread and people from all over Maharashtra & India have since visited the place annually.The Marathas and Peshwas, Baji Rao I & Chimaji Appa themselves had come to worship the Goddess.

The highlight of Anganewadi is an annual fair. [held some time in February/March, the date is declared after getting approval from the goddess herself], that’s when lakhs of people visit this temple.

The consensus for the day of the fair is achieved via a hunt for a wild animal, usually a Wild Boar. The men of Anganewadi go on a hunt and do not return before hunting the wild animal(Wild Boar). It is believed that this hunt provides food to all the good and evil spirits of Konkan & makes all the existing evil powers in Konkan inactive (shanti).

On the day of the fair, the stone plaque is adorned by mask, ornaments and apparels. The village’s barber then stands outside the temple and after sunrise releases the reflected sunrays over the sacred plaque.