Anant Ambani, son of businessman Mukesh Ambani, has donated Rs 27.5 crore to Ambaji Temple for ‘Jai Ambe Tithi Bhojan Yojana’. Even before this, the Ambani family has donated to the temple. With this new contribution, thousands of pilgrims coming to the temple will be fed free food i.e. donations have been made for the Bhandara. It is said that the glory of this temple is immense. This is one of the 51 Shakti Peethas, where there is a constant flow of devotees.
The Jai Ambe Tithi food scheme to which Anant Ambani has donated has been started with the aim that no devotee coming to Ambaji should remain hungry. On the very first day, on 18th February, this scheme got a tremendous response from the people and the total contribution was more than Rs 30 crore. Anant Ambani’s donation has been earmarked to cover the cost of the food service for the next five years. During the launch, the District Collector, on behalf of Ambaji Devasthan Trust, thanked Anant Ambani and Reliance Foundation for their great support.
Where is Ambaji Temple located?
The temple of Maa Ambaji is located in Banaskantha district of Gujarat. It is adjacent to the Rajasthan border and is near Abu Road. The famous Vedic river Saraswati originates from here. The beauty of the temple is that it is built on the hills of Arsur mountain in Ambika forest at a height of about 1600 feet above sea level. Its total area is 8.33 square kilometers.
There is no idol in the temple
Ambaji Mata Temple, one of the 51 Shakti Peethas, is about 65 kilometers from Palanpur, 45 kilometers from Mount Abu, 20 kilometers from Abu Road and 185 kilometers from Ahmedabad. There is no idol of the goddess in the temple here. Sri Visa Yantra is worshiped as the main deity within the temple. It is forbidden to look at this device with open eyes. Devotees prostrate before this instrument with their eyes closed.
Every year devotees visit the temple especially during the full moon days. A huge fair is organized here on Bhadravi Purnima. Here in September, devotees come on foot from their native places to worship Maa Ambe. Also, during the festival of Diwali, the entire Ambaji town remains immersed in lights.
Prasad of Ambaji Temple
Ambaji’s Mohanthal Prasad is known for its distinctive sweet and aromatic taste. This sweet is offered to the Mother Goddess as ‘Raj Bhog’. A special traditional method of making Mohanthal sweets has been passed down for generations. It gives it mustard-yellow colour, granular texture, unique aroma and distinct sweet taste.
How to reach Ambaji Temple?
One can go to see Maa Ambaji by air, road and rail. The nearest airport to reach by air is Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport of Ahmedabad, which is 179 kilometers away from Ambaji Temple. Apart from this, the nearest Barelway station to reach by train is Abu Road. This station is directly connected by broad gauge rail to cities like Ajmer, Chennai, Thiruvananthapuram, Mysore, Bengaluru, Pune, Mumbai, Jaipur, Jodhpur, Delhi, Dehradun, Muzaffarpur, Bareilly and Jammu. Also, it can be easily reached by road. To reach Ambaji, one can use Himmatnagar Road, which is connected to National Highway No. 8 (Mumbai to Delhi). The second route connects to State Highway SH 56 via Palanpur and Danta and leads to Ambaji.
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