Yogmaya Temple

Yogmaya Temple situated at New Delhi near Qutub Minar complex is a temple of the goddess Yogmaya or sister of lord Krishna. This temple also attributes itself to the illusionary power of god also known as Maya. This temple has seen numerous generations and is supposedly one of the five temples left which has witnessed the epic Mahabharata.

The Yogmaya or jog maya temple has withstood a lot of destruction and reconstructions.  As narrated by the resident priests, this temple was initially destroyed by the great ruler Mohammed Ghazni and later by invading Mamluks. But this temple has survived its ancient glory and is still in use. The temple was reconstructed by King Hemu, who was a Rajput ruler. During Aurangzeb’s rule, the temple was reconstructed and he emphasized on Mughal architecture, which is seen in a few rooms as well as on the outer wall of the temple.

The present temple is suppose to be built during the 19th century and has been a victim of repetitive deconstruction and reconstruction by the locals. The surroundings of the temple are not very elaborative but a small water body or johad, named as Anangtal after the king Anangpal which is now encircled by lush green trees.

Set up in a place now called Mehrauli, Yogamata Temple was named Yoginipura in the 12th century. The temple dates back its origin to Mahabharata.  It was constructed by Pandav brothers. Mehrauli forms an integral part of seven ancient cities, which contributed to make up original Delhi city. The first renovator of this temple was Lala Sethmal in 1806-37 under the reign of Mughal Emperor Akbar.

The temple is placed inside Lal kot walls of the Citadel, which covered the city of Delhi. It was constructed by King Anangpal I in AD732 and later stretched out by King Anangpal II in the 11th century.

The temple carries a lot of legends. It has also held tremendous significance in the lives of the locals for many years. It is said that Yogmaya is the sister of lord Krishna, the reincarnation of Lord Vishnu. Yogmaya was replaced as Lord Krishna to save him from being brutally killed by his uncle Kansa. Yogmaya transformed into a goddess and foretold Kansa his fatal end by lord Krishna. She vanished cleverly immediately after predicting Kansa’s death.

Another story links the temple to a close association with Mughals. Distressed from the news of Mughal Emperor Akbar II’s son, his wife dreamt goddess Yogmaya and offered pankhas or fans made of flower every year at her temple. The queen prayed at this temple for safe return of her son. She also offered flower fans to the nearby Qutubuddin shrine. Thus, every year it is celebrated as a festival known as the Phoool Walo Ki Sair.

The temple is surrounded by numerous locals who believe that they were descended from a single ancestral origin and are assigned to the task of taking care of the temple. The tradition of cleaning the temple, distributing Prasad, performing daily rituals and others chores of the temple have become a part of their lives.

Built way back in 1827, construction of Yogmaya Temple has a modern outlook to it. This may be due to repeated constructional variances by different builders. There is an entrance hall and a small chamber where the main idol of Yogmaya has been kept. The idol is made of black stone and positioned in a marble well of around 2 ft. A tower is built on the chamber just above the main idol.

The Yogmaya idol is covered with a red cloth and fresh flowers all over. Two small fans are also placed above the idol. Sood mal was a builder who ordered a whooping twenty two towers to be built to enclose the temple. The original temple was built with red stone but has been replaced with white marble. The main tower of the temple which can be seen from outside is 42 ft high and adorns a copper plated tip.

One of the oldest and the ancient Hindu temple situated in the small village of Mehrauli is the ancient Yogmay Temple. Yogmaya temple is also known as the Jogmaya temple which is dedicated to Goddess Yogmaya, sister of Lord Krishna. It is located in New Delhi near the Qutub Complex, this shrine is believed to be amongst one of the five surviving temples from the Mahabharata period in the city. Mehrauli was the first capital of post-Rajput era and all the rulers ruled from here. This is one of the five temples dedicated to Yogmaya, other 4 being in Barmer, Jodhpur, Vrindavan and Multan. The deity is worshipped as the mother of all beings and is considered one of the personal powers of the divine.

Lord Krishna (who was born at midnight on Ashtami, in the Mathura King Kansa’s prison), as the eighth son of Vasudeva and Devaki, was replaced by a baby girl. Who was born at the same time to Nand and Yashoda in the village of Gokul across the Yamuna. As Vasudeva has exchanged the babies at the very night they were born; in the morning, the guards told Kansa that a baby has born in the night. Vasudeva exchanged the babies, he reached Krishna to Yashoda and brought Yogmaya from there to Devaki,in the jail. On hearing of the birth of the child, Kansa arrived at the prison to kill the infant. But the girl child slipped out of the hands of Kansa, as he was about to bang her head against the prison wall, and went up in the sky. There was an Akashvani (celestial broadcast), which said, ‘O foolish Kansa! Your slayer has been born and is safe in Gokul.’

The baby girl was goddess Yogmaya (divine illusion), according to Shvetashvatar Upnishad. God has many divine powers, such as knowledge, almightiness, action and his most important personal power called Yogmaya or ahladini shakti. The Gods derive power from their female companion. As Shiva is nothing without Shakti, so was Krishna without Yogmaya.

·         According to history, Yogmaya Temple has been built by the Pandavas, at the end of Mahabharata. Mehrauli place is also named as Yoginipura after the temple in the 12th-century Jain scriptures. Mehr- auli is one of the seven ancient cities that make up the present state of Delhi. The temple was first renovated during the rule of Mughal Emperor Akbar II (1806–37) by Lala Sethmal.

·         It is also believed that Krishna and Arjun came to pray here during the Mahabharata war after Abhimanyuwas killed by Jayadrath. Arjun took a vow that he would kill him by next evening. Arjun and Krishna came to this temple to pray at such a time to ask for the blessing from the Goddess. With her magical powers or she created an illusionary eclipse that gave Arjuna the opportunity to kill Jayadrath.

·         This temple had been built in early 19th century and is regarded as an aspect of Maya, the illusionary power of God. The temple is located within the Lal Kot walls constructed by the Gurjar Tanwar chief Anangpal I around AD 731. It was later expanded by Anang Pal II in the 11th century.

·         This temple is said to be destroyed by Ghazni who was the most prominent ruler of the Ghaznavid Empire in the beginning and later it was again destroyed by Mamluks. The temple was renovated and reconstructed by Hemu, the Rajput king. The present structure of the temple was built in the early 19th century.

·         There are about 200 people who have been taking care of the Yogmaya temple voluntarily and amicably. It is believed that there had been one common ancestor at a point in time who, hundreds of years ago started the practice of taking care of the temple by offering prayers to the goddess, making and distributing prasad to the devotees, cleaning the temple and doing the shingar of the goddess yogmaya twice a day.

 The Deity of this temple is Goddess Yogmaya is called as the “Pure Goddess” which is made of black stone and was placed in a well, made of marble. The sanctum of Goddess Yogmaya is leaded with a Vimanam which is 42 feet and dome

·         Two small pankhas (fans) of the same materials are seen suspended over the Idol from the roof. The walled enclosure around the temple is 400 ft (121.9 m) square, with towers at the four corners. Twenty-two towers were built within the temple at the orders of the Sood Mal, the builder.

·         In the past, there was an iron cage of 8 ft (2.4 m) square and10 ft (3.0 m) in height in which two stone tigers are exhibited. Now the cage is been placed in the open wall panel. There is a table of 18 inches square and 9 inches height set in front of the idol in the sanctum floor where the devotees offer flowers and their offerings.

·         In this temple, the Shivalinga is placed slightly above the level at which Goddess is placed. As Goddess is Shakti and Shiva is always above Shakti.