Maa JivDani Temple : JivDani Mata

The goddess Jivdani Mata is an avatar of Adi Shakti Devi. Jivdani Mata’s temple is situated on a hill that has around 1375 steps.The 150-year-old Jivdani Temple at Virar, which attracts thousands of devotees on Sundays and during festivals, is getting a facelift. And the man entrusted with the job is the Mumbai-based traditional temple architect, Hariprasad H. Sompura.This hill also offers a very picturesque view of Virar and its vicinity. During the nine days of the Navratri festival many followers visit the shrine, and devotees also tend to visit on Tuesdays and Sundays.

The legendary story of Jivdani Devi is as follows: During their forest journey, Pandavas came to Shurparaka. They visited the holy temple of Vimaleshwar consecrated by Lord Parashuram and on their journey to Prabhas halted on the banks of Vaitarni river. There they worshipped the Bhagavati Ekaveera on the banks of Viraar Tirtha and seeing the serenity and lofty nature decided to carve caves in the nearby mountains. They did so on the hills nearby and installed and worshipped the Yoga Linga of Ekaveera devi in one of the caves. They called her Bhagavati Jeevadhani (That is Goddess, who is the real wealth of life). Doing so Pandavas also made a set of small caves now known as “Pandav Dongri” about a mile from Shrigaon for the hermits.Many yogis used to stay in Pandav Dongri and have darshan of Jeevdhani De