Delving into the world of pious Amba Mata ni Pol

As you put your first step into this sacred lane, your olfactory senses will be elevated with the smell of Kapur. The bright red Chunaris swaying in the stalls and the heap of Kumkum would fill you with love and religious fervour. The sweetest masis would be found sitting at Mataji’s feet selling juicy seasonal fruits varying from Jamuns to tiny mangoes. This is the Amba Mata ni Pol, a part of Ghadiyali Pol which houses the 2000 year old Amba Mata Temple. Pol ni Vaarta explores the Padi Pol (popularly known as Paua waadi gali) and Amba Mata Temple which has historical importance.

Etymology

While the name Amba Mata ni Pol comes from the legendary temple, there is an interesting story behind the name of ‘Padi Pol’. “People living here mostly belonged to the Kayastha caste group who used to sell Paua, Mamra and Chana and had huge bhatthis,” says Bhagwandas Soni, a goldsmith at Padi Pol who has owned a shop since 1942.

“Basically, there used to be a wall which divided people belonging to two different classes,” informs Madhusudan Parshuram Khaire, a photographer whose two generations had been the residents of Padi Pol. While entering from the Amba Mata Temple and taking the left lane, the front portion of the pol used to house people belonging to the upper class while the end of the pol had people who were not stable financially or had lower income. “To divide these two classes, a wall was made and later broken, hence the name Padi Pol,” confirms Khaire.

While the mythological narration of Amba Mata Temple takes a front foot, stories of various residents is worth your time. From a 28 room doctor’s bungalow (almost a haveli), Haribhakti and Amthalal Gandhi’s Haveli to a narrow three storey building that houses the paua- mamra shop in the ground floor, Padi Pol has variation which can never go unnoticed.

Exploring the story of temples

Amba Mata nu Mandir      

This approximately 2000 year old temple is the only temple where the devotees stand outside and worship. It is as old as Vadodara and Vikram Samvat. Like every temple has a story, this temple also weaves an interesting narration.

Long ago, Raja Vikramaditya of Ujjain had got his daughter married to the prince of Rajpipla. He was the devotee of Harsiddhi Mata and had her temple in Ujjain. During the wedding of his daughter, she took Harsiddhi Mata with her to Rajpipla. While Raja Vikramaditya couldn’t live with the goddesses’ absence, he went to Rajpipla to bring her back.

Harsiddhi Mata agreed to accompany him, but only with a promise to test the king’s bhakti. She said that she would stand stagnant the moment he looked back at her. Usually the king walks in front with his warriors and the goddess accompanies his crew at last. Vikramaditya was following the chime of her jhanjhar and was satisfied with her presence. “Suddenly, the chime stopped and he turned back to check if she was still there. That moment he remembers the promise and dies at Mandvi while the stagnant goddess gets a temple in her name at Amba Mata pol,” narrates Durgesh Pandit, a Pujari at the Amba Mata temple.

Along with the idol of Amba Mata, the temple houses the idols of goddess Laxmi and Lord Narayan. “Every day the vahana (vehicle) of the goddess is changed,” says Pandit. The set of vehicles includes the animals like lion, tiger, elephant, nandi, garuda or hans (swan).

The other most unusual activity that happens here is the Harsiddhi Garba where only males are allowed to play garba during Navaratri. “Since garba goes on till late at night, women are restricted. The havelis around the temple had the jharokhas where women used to sit and sing while men used to play garba,” confirms Pandit. Men grove on the beats post considering them as sakhi or jogni of Mataji. A sacred flame is brought from the inner sanctum of the temple and man performs garba around it. The flame is considered to be the stagnant goddess and men go around for attaining mukti.

Hanumanji nu Mandir

Behind the Amba Mata nu mandir, one more temple is famous in the name of Hanuman, though that is Vetaad. Vetaad is considered to be the bodyguard of Harsiddhi Mata. If one closely observes the Vetaad, he is facing opposite to the goddess. Reason being, he was angry and sad with the goddess as she became the reason for his devotee, Vikramaditya’s death.

The nostalgic pol residents

“My great grandfather used to pay 70 paisa as rent in 1942 for this shop. I am paying 20 rupees in 2023,” says Soni. They have been living at the Padi pol for many years. He further informs that post Vikram Raja, it was Harishbhai Pandit who was responsible for the restoration of this temple. While the Haribhakti Haveli, which will be brought down soon, was a perfect example of a 220 year old haveli architecture. Haribhakti was a consultant of the Gaekwad.

While walking through Padi Pol, we found the only two shops and families who still sell paua and mamra, Kailashben Kayasth and Kamleshbhai Kayasth respectively. “This was previously known as Sakhaji Patil no khancho. We had bought this property at 200 rupees during that time,” informs Kamleshbhai Kayastha. The pol culture has gone to the drains as most of them have shifted to the outskirts of the main city.

Few steps ahead, you would find an interesting house painted in blue and a popular man Madhubhai , staying there. Talking to him about his family would be a fascinating experience. He is now 68 year old. His family had shifted from Maharashtra during the reign of Malharao. They belong to the warrior clan. He is the eighth generation member of his family who had shifted during the time of Gujarati Sultanate due to forceful religious conversions.

“There used to be a chaugaan opposite to our house where Sakhaji Patil used to live. Our place is a gift to my great grandfather Ramchandra Vitthoba Khaire who used to serve as shipesalar to the Gaekwads,” says Khaire. They had opened the legendary Veena Restaurant which is now the Café Karnatak. The restaurant used to open at 5 am in the morning serving Sev- Usal and Bhajiya. “Everyone from the station used to get down at our restaurant for breakfast,” concludes Khaire.