Ekaveerika Sakthipeeth Maharashtra

Legends Associated with This Shrine

Renuka was the daughter of the king Renu of Kubaj country and the wife of the sage Jamadagni. When the king Sahastrarjuna paid a visit to Jamadagni in his abode, he was taken by surprise by the hospitality of the sage. When asked about the same, the sage told him that it is all because of the Kamadhenu, i.e., cow that fulfils the desires of the owner given to him by Indra, the king of the Gods. Thinking that if the Kamadhenu was in his possession he would be able to maintain his vast army easily, the king Sahastrarjuna tried to seize the Kamadhenu from the sage by farce when his request to hand over the Kamadhenu to him was turned down by the sage. In the scuffle that ensued the sage died and his wife Renuka was injured due to 21 wounds she had received at the hands of the king. At this juncture many soldiers appeared on the scene from the body of the Kamadhenu by divine magic and farced the king to retreat. On coming to know of the above incident Parasuram, the son of Jamadagni who rushed there vowed to defeat and punish the king 21 times. His mother asked him to cremate his father. He carried his father and mother to Mahur and cremated his father there. His mother became a sati. The religious rites were conducted on this occasion by the God Sri Dattatreya himself. However, after everything was over Parasuram was stricken by grief and at this time a voice from the heavens told him that his mother would came out from the earth but he should not look behind. Being eager to see his mother, Parasuram just saw behind far a fraction of a second to find the mother’s face aver the earth. The upper facet is the present upper facet of the Renukadevi. Renukadevi is adorned with various gold ornaments such as the golden flowers to be used as earrings, gold garlands (putal mal candrahar, jaymal, etc.), nose-ring (nath), etc

Architectural Relevance of This Shrine

The temple is very small. We will see only the head of Goddess here. Goddess Renuka is associated with the Goddess Yellamma worship in Karnataka and parts of Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu. Goddess Renuka is believed to be an incarnation of Goddess Durga and is popular in rural culture as the Mother Goddess and is worshipped as Amma, Yellamma, Duggavva, Dyaamavva and Marikamba. Her name and attributes changes from region to region.

Goddess Renuka performs the role of Mother Goddess and is responsible for the welfare of her devotees, for curing diseases and protecting the cattle. A large number of Goddesses worshipped in rural culture are forms of Goddess Durga. She is given different rural names and characteristics but her role remains the same that of the Mother Goddess.

Shrine’s Map Location and How to Go There

By Road

There are Maharashtra state transport buses that go from Nanded, Kinwat or Pusad to Mahur Buses are also available from Adilabad, Telangana. Need to take local transport from Mahur to reach Ekaveerika temple.

By Rail

Kinwat and Nanded are on the rail network and trains from Mumbai make a stop here.

By Air

Nanded is the nearest airport . There are daily flights from Mumbai to Nanded.

Shrine Timings

Temple is open but it’s difficult to find a priest here.

Events Celebrated at This Shrine

Navaratri or Vijayadasami and Datta Pournima are celebrated well in all these temples in Mahur.

Extra Information About this Shrine

There is Renuka Devi on hilltop of Mahur for which the town is famous and most of them consider that as main God and Shaktipeeth. There is Ekaveera Devi Temple 8 kms on Mahur ? Nanded highway road, you need to take a 300 meters turn from the main highway road and this temple is in between fields and a river called Wain Ganga and they say there is a Sangam of another River nearby. You should note that locals do not go to that temple and it’s only people from Andhra, Telangana and Southern states who consider thi as Sakthi peeth. Locals do not visit and its said only people from Andhra visit this place. Some name board signs in Telugu and it appears someone from Andhra either had donated or taken personal interest in getting it done. Now one important point to be noted though the EkVeera Devi Shakthi Peeth is supposed to be Mahur / Nanded District surprisingly this particular temple though 8kms away from Mahur actually is known as Hivara Village under Yavatmal District and not Nanded District (though Mahur is in Nanded District). Surprisingly the Image of the God at EkVeera Devi & Renuka Devi are almost same (only the large face without body).