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At this Gujarat temple, a whale bone is God!

Macchi Mata temple has no idol and no priest; fishermen offer puja to the bone before going fishing.

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Faith is something inexplicable. Take the case of Macchi Mata temple located at Magod Dungri village in Valsad district. The temple is unique not because of its structure, but because of the God worshiped in it. Devotees worship the centre bone of a whale here!

The temple, located nine km from Valsad, is full of surprises. There is no idol placed inside the temple, neither does it have an official priest. The temple is located on a tiny hill facing the sea. Devotees came to the temple and offer puja themselves.

The history of the temple is also very interesting. “More than 200 years ago, our great grandfather Prabhu Tandel had a dream where a whale told him that she would be lying dead on the village coast. She asked Tandel to place the bone at a particular spot once her body gets decomposed. The very next day a whale was found dead on the village coast,” Vijay Tandel, grandson of Prabhu Tandel, said.

According to him, the body of the whale was buried near the coast for six months. When the body decayed, Tandel pulled the massive bone himself five km from the coast to the present site of the temple.

The temple is very popular among the local fishermen community, who offer puja daily and also before going fishing. Local villagers say that Macchi Mata fulfils all their desires and even cures diseases. Instances have been recorded in the past, where people had to suffer dire consequences for ignoring Machhi Mata.

“Once an epidemic struck Magod Dungri. All the villagers offered puja at the temple and within a week good health returned to the village. A few years ago, a group of fishermen went out to sea without offering puja and they had to face rough weather. More than 50% of fishermen went missing,” said Raman Tandel, a local resident.

A massive mela and puja ceremony is organised each year during Navratri. Thousands of people gather at the temple and worship their deity. Till today, a newborn is first brought to the temple and then community rituals are performed.

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