One of the most heavenly places in Kutch is 360 year old Maa Ashapura’s temple in Abdasa Kothara.
Kutch is a place in India that one cannot miss visiting, especially when it comes to visiting the ever so famous White Rann of Kutch. And, while we talk about this beautiful place, all those who are well aware of the number of temples the place has also know the kind of divinity each of its temples possesses. One of its famous temples that are believed to have been created miraculously is Maa Ashapura’s MatanaMadh. Another temple that is quite unknown by many is believed to have a similar miraculous story behind its inception & that is Maa Ashapura’s temple located at Abdasa in Kothara, (initially known as Kothaar), Kutch.
This place is quite an underrated one, but it also offers some great tourist attractions that people must plan to visit. There are many popular places that tourists must visit to know the rich culture of the old towns & the sense of serenity they may receive as tourists.
Kothara is one of the villages that is located in Abdasa & remains to be one of the most ancient villages of Kutch. What is interesting about this place is that it is only 20 km from the Arabian Sea & also happens to be closer to the borders of India-Pakistan.
Kothara is surrounded by several prominent temples like Pingleshwar Mahadev's temple, Vadapadhar, Jain Derasar of Kothara which is said to be more than 160 years old & also is a part of panch tirth of the Jain community, Kameshwar Mahadev Temple & Pathaaper, among many other ancient holy temples.
Maa Ashapura's temple in Kothara is more than 360 years old. The story connected to the foundation of the temple is also an interesting one.
It is said that many years ago, a bunch of families lived in villages around 2 to 5km from the village of Kothaar (now Kothara) & may be due to the shortage of water; a few families decided to leave the village to settle in other villages in the quest for sufficient supply of water. They also decided to take the idol of Maa Ashapura along with them but, unfortunately, nobody could pick or hold the idol in order to do that.
First Story: Looking at the dilemma of the villagers, Maa Ashapura blessed a ‘Kshatriya’ & asked him to first touch the idol with his little finger, then pick the idol up & settle it in a trunk. Following the instructions given by the Goddess, the Kshatriya and few other people managed to do the same.
The Goddess then warned the Kshatriya that he must follow her instructions to wherever she asks him to take her & not look back once. After a while, the Kaapdi out of curiosity look behind & the trunk, and he heard the voice saying I told you don't look back.
Then when they took the idol of Maa Ashapura to the room, Maa Ashapura told them not to open the door for six months. But again, out of curiosity, Haribapa Kapdi open the door in just three month time, and he Found Maa Ashapura seated but not in full Avtar. So Kothara's Maa Ashapura idol is half avtar or says Idol in Kothara.
Second story: There is another astounding incident where once Maa Ashapura blessed a villager named Haribapa Kapdi who lived in the Saayra village of Kutch by coming in his dream.
Haribapa Kapdi filled his cotton turban with water & reached the place where Maa Ashapura had asked him to. And, as soon as the water touched the ground of Kothara village, Maa Ashapura's statue emerged miraculously.
It is believed that the very point the water touched the ground in the village, it temple’s bell rang as if they were offering their prayers to the Goddess & the land of Kutch that is said to have salty waters, inexplicably gave pure drinkable water to the people of the villages wherever the sounds of the bell were heard.
These two stories we found from Kothara village regarding Goddess Ashapura, whatever is the story but one thing is sure Maa Ashpura blessings are there on the people of Abdasa Kothara.
Such is the rich heritage of the temples at Kothara & when one decides to offer prayers to Maa Ashapura at Matanamadh, one must also visit Maa Ashapura's temple at Abdasa in Kothara, Kutch as one cannot miss the divinity the temple offers.
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