Ramesh Sarraf Dhamora
An ancient temple of Devi Swaroopa Jeen Mata is built in Jeenmata village near Goria on Sikar-Jaipur road in Rajasthan. The real name of Jeen Mata is Jayanti Mata. She is the incarnation of Maa Durga. This temple is dedicated to the goddess of power. Surrounded by dense forest, this temple is situated at the confluence of three small hills. This temple of Jeen Mata is a very ancient Shakti Peeth. The temple of Jeen Mata faces south. But the entrance of the temple is in the east. There are statues of Tantrikas and Vama Margis on the walls of the temple. Which also proves that the followers of the above mentioned principle have once had control over this temple or this has been their place of worship.
The door of the temple’s shrine is towards the west in the Sabha Mandap. Here the life-size statue of eight-armed Jeen Bhagwati is installed. The Sabha Mandap is at the foot of the mountain. There is another temple in the temple itself which is called Gufa. Where there is a brass head of Jagdev Panwar and a statue of Kankali Mata. To the west of the temple is the tapasya sthan of Mahatma which is famous by the name of Dhuna. People believe that this temple is a thousand years old. But many historians believe that the construction period of Jeen Mata temple was 8th century. There are eight different inscriptions in the temple which are strong evidence of the antiquity of the temple. The oldest inscription among the above inscriptions is of Samvat 1029. On which the time of construction of the temple is not mentioned. Therefore, this temple is even more ancient than that. In a book named Chauhan Chandrika, the basis of this temple is found before the 9th century.
According to a legend, Devi Jeen Mata had shown the biggest miracle to Mughal emperor Aurangzeb. Aurangzeb had sent a huge army to destroy the temples of Shekhawati. This army broke the temple of Shiva and Harshnath Bhairav on Harsh Parvat and proceeded to break the Jeen temple. It is said that when the priests of the temple prayed to the mother in a sad voice, mother Jeen released bumble bees (big bees) whose attack made Aurangzeb’s royal army run away bleeding. It is said that the condition of the king himself became very serious. Then the king folded his hands and apologized to mother Jeen and promised to send 1.25 kg of oil from Delhi for the eternal lamp in the mother’s temple. For many years, oil for the lamp in the mother’s temple kept coming from Delhi, then instead of Delhi, it started coming from Jaipur. Later, the Jaipur Maharaja started sending this oil twice a year during Navratri instead of monthly. And during the time of Maharaja Man Singh ji, instead of oil, cash of Rs. 20 and 3 annas were sent per month. Which kept coming continuously. After showing the miracle to Aurangzeb, Jeen Mata also came to be known as the goddess of bumble bees.
In our country, Durga Maa is worshipped as the goddess of power. Durga Maa has many forms and incarnations. On the occasion of Navratra, a huge crowd of devotees gather in the temples of Maa all over India. In this country full of faith, Maa has the highest place. Jeen Mata is Devi Shakti who is worshipped as the deity of worship for centuries. Two huge fairs are held every year in Jeen Mata temple from Chaitra Sudi Ekam to Navami (in Navaratri) and Asoj Sudi Ekam to Navami. In which lakhs of devotees from all over the country come. On the occasion of Jeen Mata fair, many people from the outer regions of Rajasthan also come. Akhand Deep keeps burning in the temple for twelve months. The doors of every temple remain closed during lunar eclipse. The reason for this is that during lunar eclipse, negative powers increase and positive powers become weak. Therefore, it is believed that if the doors of the temple are kept open, then evil powers will reside in the temple. But the doors of Shaktipeeth Jeen Mata temple are always open. The doors of this temple are never closed. This is the only temple in Rajasthan where devotees visit Maa Jeen Bhavani 24 hours a day.
According to folk tales, Jeen Mata was born in the house of King Ghangh of Chauhan dynasty, the ruler of Ghanghu village in Churu district of Rajasthan. Jeen Mata’s elder brother’s name was Harsh. Mata Jeen is considered to be the incarnation of Shakti and Harsh is considered to be the incarnation of Lord Shiva. It is said that there was a lot of love between the two siblings. But they had a tiff on some issue. Then Jeen Mata came here and started doing penance. Harshnath also followed him to convince his beloved sister. But Jeen Mata stubbornly refused to go with him. Harshnath became very sad and he too went some distance away from there and started doing penance. A simple description of the conversation between the two siblings is still found in the folk songs of Rajasthan. The grand temple of Lord Harshnath is still situated in the Aravalli mountain range of Rajasthan. Mangala Aarti of Jeen Bhawani is performed at 4 am in the morning. Aarti is performed after Shringar at 8 am and Aarti at 7 pm. Bhog (rice) is distributed after both Aartis. Aarti is performed on time every day in the temple of Mata. Aarti is performed on time even during lunar and solar eclipses. Special Aarti and distribution of Prasad is done on Ashtami of Shukla Paksha every month. The doors of the sanctum sanctorum of the temple of Mata remain open for 24 hours. The curtain is put up only during Shringar. Every year, a special festival is celebrated in the temple on Sharad Purnima. Kajal peak is at a height of 300 feet from the Jeen Mata temple. It was difficult for the elderly, handicapped, women, children to reach here. Now a ropeway has been started for the convenience of all these. Till now it used to take 2 hours to reach the peak. But this distance is covered in 5 minutes by ropeway.
(The author is a freelance journalist recognized by the Rajasthan Government)