Mumbai News: Matunga's 102-Year-Old Asthika Samaj Temple Re-Consecrates Deities In Five-Day Long Rituals

Mumbai: Matunga's 102-year-old Asthika Samaj temple concluded the five-day rituals for the Maha Kumbhabhisheekam or re-consecration of the idols of its presiding deities, Lord Sri Rama and Lord Sri Anjaneya, on Sunday.

About The Ritual

The ritual, done every 12 years, was led by Vidwan Sri Govindaraja Bhattacharya R along with his large team of learned pundits from Madurai in Tamil Nadu. The rituals were performed in accordance with the Agama Shastra, a sacred literature on temple rituals and consecration, meditation, and other traditions.

The temple, also called Kochu Guruvayoor, or 'Little Guruvayoor' after the famous Lord Krishna temple in Kerala, also has a shrine to the deity.

On Sunday, the rituals started at 5.30 am. Rituals during the day included homam, sprinkling of the idols with holy water, and abhishekam of Lord Rama and Lord Anjaneya, another name for Hanuman.

Another ritual, said Parameshwar Iyer, a member of the temple administration, was vimana kumbhabhishekam. The Vedic pandits went to the temple tower and performed abhishekams with holy water on the kumbh - the brass pot - to mark the re-consecration. The Sita–Rama Kalyanam (marriage) was performed on the idols at 11.30 am after the ceremony. 

Maha Kumbhabhishekam is the pinnacle of all the festivals, which will enhance the incessant positive vibes and has to be conducted with utmost devotion and gaiety, said devotee K A Vishwanathan.

About The Asthika Samaj

The Asthika Samaj was set up as a place of public worship in 1923 by installing a portrait of Sri Ramin in the central hall. In 1953, with the blessings of Jagadguru Sree Sankaracharya Swamigal of Kanchi Kamakoti Peetam, the temple attained its full-fledged status by installation of idols of Lord Sri Ram, Sitadevi, Lakshmanan and Hanuaman in a specially created garbhagriha. Over the years, the temple has installed other deities such as Lord Karthikeya in 1965, navagraha idols in 1967, Lord Kochu Guruvayoorappan, or Krishna, in 1974, and Swamy Ayyappan in 1978.

Vishwanathan said that Matunga was the abode of Mathangarishi, who, after performing the Maha Yagnas on the banks of Pampa, acquired the coveted status of Maharishi. As a vestige of the ancient past, the Banyan tree exists even to this date, fulfilling the desires of thousands of devotees.