Country India Locale Gurgaon Village Primary deity Sheetla Mata District Gurgaon | State/province Haryana Elevation 217 m (712 ft) Phone 078400 70002 Number of temples 1 | |
 | ||
Devanagari गुरुग्राम शीतला माता मंदिर Address Sheetla Mata Road, Sector 6, Gurugram, Haryana 122001 Similar Sai Ka Angan, Leisure Valley Park, Oysters Beach Water Park, Sultanpur National Park, Damdama Lake | ||
Sheetla Mata temple, Gurugram (Hindi: शीतला माता मंदिर, गुरुग्राम) is a temple dedicated to the Mata Sheetla Devi, she is Kripi/Kripai/Lalitha wife of Guru Dronacharya who was the teacher of the Pandavas and Kauravas according to Indian epic Mahabharata. The district Gurgaon, now renamed as Gurugam derives it name from Guru + Gram or the village of the guru. The temple is located on Sheetla mata Road in Gurgaon city of Gurgaon district in the state of Haryana in India.
Contents
The shrine is very famous and is visited by large number of people.
History
The Sheetla Mata temple is dedicated to the wife of Guru Dronacharya, Kripi/Kirpai, also called Lalitha.
Kirpai, also called Lalita and later Mata Sheetla, used to live in Keshopur village located in the nearby Union Territory of Delhi. Dronacharya her husband used to visit her daily at Keshopur from his Gurugram ashram.
She devoted herself to look after the sick children, specially those suffering from the smallpox. People called her Mata (Mother) out of affection and respect. After her death a temple was built in her honour by the villagers and she began to be remembered as Mata Sitla or Mata Masani, i.e. 'the goddess of smallpox'.
It is said that more than three centuries ago, Masani Mother appeared in a dream to Chaudhri Singh Ram alias Singha, a fief-holder of village Gurgaon. She expressed her desire to leave Keshopur and come to Gurgaon. She made him build a place for her.
Towards the south of Gurugram village lies Gurugram Bhim Kund near the temple of Dronacharya. Sheetla mata temple lies to the north of Gurugram village.
The legend goes that even after Singha had brought and installed the goddess Masani, after her own heart's desire, at village Gurgaon, the residents of Keshopur continued to dispute the claims of Gurgaon folks. This controversy was put at rest during the time of Begum Samru, the Governor of Jharsa under the Mughals. Her child who had contracted smallpox was cured after being consecrated in the prescribed manner before the goddess Masani at Gurgaon. It was then finally established that the goddess had begun to live at village Gurgaon.
The current temple was built in the 18th century by the Hindu Jat king Jawahar Singh of Bharatpur, in memory of his victory over the Mughals, for which he had invoked the blessings of Sheetla Mata.
Reaching the shrine in Gurgaon
Gurgaon is one of the districts in the state of Haryana which is located in the Northern part of India. The district is located south west of national capital Delhi. The city of Gurgaon is well connected by Road, rail and air transport. The Sheetla Mata Shrine is located 2 km from the Gurgaon bus stand, 3.5 km from Gurgaon Railway station, and 7 km from Huda city centre Metro Station. Public transport is available from all these places to the Shrine.
By Road
Gurgaon is located on the National Highway No. 8 linking Delhi to Mumbai. The Haryana Roadways runs both intercity and interstate buses. Also Delhi Transport Corporation runs buses connecting Delhi and Gurgaon. Many other state transport corporations also run interstate buses to and from Gurgaon.
By Rail
Delhi metro Yellow line connects Gurgaon with Delhi. Currently there are 5 metro stations in Gurgaon. The stations are connected to interior of the city by city bus service of Haryana Roadways, Three wheelers, private buses etc.
Located at the western end of the old city, the Gurgaon Railway Station connects Rewari in the South and Delhi Cantt in the North.
By Air
The nearest airport is Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGI) at New Delhi, which is about 15 km from Gurgaon.
Gurugram Bhim Kund
Gurugram Bhim Kund (Hindi: गुरुग्राम भीम कुंड), also known as Pinchokhda Jhod (Hindi: पिंचोखड़ा जोहड़), is a 10-acre wetland in Bhim Nagar locality of Gurgaon city of Gurgaon district in the state of Haryana in India. It lies between sector 4, 6 and 8 about 3 km from Rajiv Chowk.
Eklavya temple
There is a Eklavya temple (Hindi: एकलव्य मंदिर) temple in honor of Mahabharata fame Eklavya in Khandsa village in Sector 37 of Gurugram city in Haryana state of India. As per folklore, this is the only temple of Eklavya and it is the place where Eklavya cut his thumb and offered to guru Drona. Locals want the government to develop a tourism circuit in honour of Drona and Eklavya