An ordinary temple and a unique offering
Temples, mosques, Gurudwaras, churches, etc, are all home to Gods of different religions. And in these temples, devotees try to offer the best things possible to please their God. While some people prefer offering coconuts, flowers, and some money in the donation box, others take a higher route and offer precious things like silver, gold, watches, and much more.
And in between all the precious, auspicious offerings, there is a temple that accepts ‘Footwear’ as an offering. Where is the temple, and what is the logic, read to know more.
The Pahadi mata mandir
Located in Madhya Pradesh, the Pahadi Mata mandir accepts footwear like sandals, shoes, and the likes as an offering. The temple is located at a considerable height and devotees have to climb about 250 stairs in order to reach the temple and have Mata’s darshan.
(Image: spritual_unhide/Instagram)
Who is it dedicated to
The temple is dedicated to Maa Siddhidatri, one of the nine forms of Goddess Durga. In Hindu beliefs, Maa Siddhidatri has extraordinary powers (siddhis) and is shown as a compassionate and loving Goddess who grants wishes and protects her devotees.
Maa Siddhidatri is the 9th form of Maa Durga, and is portrayed sitting on a lotus, with 4 hands, holding a conch, gada, chakra, and a lotus.
Worshipping Maa Siddhidatri as a child
In the Pahadi Mata Mandir, Maa Siddhidatri is not just worshipped as a powerful goddess but as a child. And just like a child is full of purity, innocence, and divinity, so is Maa Siddhidatri for her devotees. And by offering her sandals and footwear, like people would gift to little children, they express their love, adoration, and devotion for the Goddess.
It is believed that the act of offering slippers is a simple gesture of ensuring the comfort and well-being of the child goddess. Just as parents would protect their children by providing them with footwear to walk on rough roads, the devotees offer slippers to Maa Siddhidatri, to protect her feet from harm when she treads down from the ‘Pahadi’ to bless her devotees.
(Image: spritual_unhide/Instagram)
Further donations
Although most of the slippers, sandals, and footwear are for Maa Siddhidatri, it is said that often, the footwear is also donated to orphanages and to little kids who are walking barefoot, and are in need of them.
Some devotees also buy two pairs of footwear, one to offer Maa Siddhidatri, and another one to be blessed by her and then donated to someone else.
(Image: spritual_unhide/Instagram)
The love and devotion
The practice of offering slippers and mirrors is because of the bond that the devotees have with Maa Siddhidatri in a child-like form. It is said that the priest of the temple set up Mandir about 30-32 years ago and prayed to and played with Maa Siddhidatri as if she were his child.
It is also reported that there are days when Maa Siddhidatri’s clothes are changed 5-10 times in a day because she does not like what she is wearing and the priest always gets an idea when it happens.
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