The holy temple of Tulja Bhavani is the home of Kulaswamini, the patron deity of Maharashtra.
Before delving into the meaning of Tulja Bhavani, it should be mentioned that the MAHIMA (divine importance) of the temple is multiplied due to the legend that Tulja Bhavani herself gifted the sword to Shivaji, who worshiped it as ishta devta (oddly enough, the word Devta is a feminine gender in Sanskrit!). With that sword, Shivaji won all the battles in which he participated.
At the risk of sounding overtly dismissive, this is a mother legend and this never happened. This form (Bhavani) of the goddess is quite fierce. She defeated Mahishasur (Mahish: Buffalo/Asur: Demon) and killed him. The temple now stands where the demon’s head is believed to have fallen. This is also a legend. But astha asthim mithyam na sarvate (when faith reigns supreme, falsehood is believed to be truth).
Another legend associated with the place is that Shivaji’s arch-rival Afzal Khan planned to destroy and desecrate the temple and mata idol. She came to the priest’s dream and advised him to change her idol. So this rare ‘chala moorti’ (moving idol) is not fixed in one place.
Now comes the philosophical interpretation of Tulja Bhavani and her raudra roop avtar (fierce form). Hinduism, in its deity worship, believes that the god/goddess can serve all purposes and come in benevolent, benign, as well as harsh, harsh and distressing forms. Hindu dharmshastra believes that depending on the situation, the deity takes the avatar. Dushtaam nighranam devi asitu raudram (To defeat and punish the misguided, the god/goddess takes a fearful avatar) and ‘Madhuram prrtyarthe devam asitu maardav’ (To bless the good and pleasant, the god/goddess becomes benign). : in Hindi-jaisa simple des/Vaisa bhes/Jaisa insaan/Vaisa Bhagwaan.
Tulja Bhavani is the ishta devta of Maharashtra. Historical accounts of the third battle of Panipat between the force of Ahmadshah Abdali and the Marathas suggest that the Maratha soldiers were invoking their goddess of battle (Bhavani, especially Tulja Bhavani). Unfortunately, she did not come and Abdali’s marauding army has just finished off the Marathas. It was so one-sided that in Marathi there is still a derogatory phrase, ‘Panipat Jhala’ (Panipat happened) because almost every family in Maharashtra at that time lost at least one male member in that battle which took place in 1761.
Tulja Bhavani somewhere has that image of Benevolent Ma Durga in the consciousness of the Bengalis. When during Shaardiya Durgotsav, the idol of Ma Durga is created, she is seen killing Mahishasur. But in Bengal, this raudra roop is juxtaposed with her daughter’s homecoming. There, she is a daughter coming home.
Religious legends, although always false, add new and interesting dimensions. Religiously minded people when visiting Maharashtra, endeavor to visit Tulja Bhavani and seek her blessings. The visiting hours of the Tuljapur temple are from 4 am to 09:30 pm.
She is also known as the ‘goddess of warriors’ (Veeranchi devi). Professor VS Sukhtankar, who edited the original Vedvyas Mahabharat at the Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute, Poona, opined that the phonetic sound of the word BHAVANI itself evokes images of something related to battle, war and the war cry. It is a combination of beatific and gross, benign and boisterous, bold and beautiful.