History
Shri Ramchandra Krishna Kamat Chandgadkar (a.k.a. Anna) and shri Vitthal Krishna Kamat Chandgadkar (a.k.a. Appa) were born in the village of Chandgad, Maharashtra (about 25 km from Belgaum). Their father, Shri. Krishnaji Yashwant Kamat moved the family to Belgaum for the children’s education. Shri. Krishnaji breathed his last in the plague epidemic that infected the city in 1910. Thereafter, the brothers moved to their maternal ancestral place in the village of Assonora, Goa along with their mother and wife.
On a visit to Kavlem to seek the blessings of H. H. Aatmanand Saraswati Swami, Appa received divine initiation from Swamiji. In due course of time, Appa had a divine vision in which H. H. Pantmaharaj Balekundrikar (who once taught Appa in school while in Belgaum) told Appa- “Your kuldevata (family deity) is Shri Shantadurga talulikarin in the village of Marcel. Near her temple, you will find an old Audumbar tree and next to them, you will find some old Padukas (a depiction of holy feet carved into rock). Move there and serve your family goddess and Shri Dattamaharaj. It is divine destiny that you will serve 12 Sahastrabhojans (a ritual of feeding at least 1000 people at a time) there.”
Thereafter, the brothers moved from Assonora to Marcel and lived in the devotee resthouse of the Shantadurga Temple. One fine day, they were visited by H. H. Bramhanand Saraswati Swami from Kashi. It was him that ordered the unique single face, six armed idol seen in the temple today from Jaipur as per the vision had by his contemporary, H.H. Tembe Swamiji from Mangaon. Thereafter, Shri. Anna installed the idol next to the Audumbar tree in the place it is seen today on Maagh Shukla 5 saka 1852 (1930 in Gregorian Calendar). As prophesied, the brothers also managed to serve 12 Sahastrabhojans at the location.
Unique Features about the temple
The Temple is located next to the Shantadurga Talulikarin Temple in Marcel. The current building of the temple was renovated in 2000. However, the carved, wooden facade of the sanctum Sanctorum is still from the original temple. One can still see the original Audumbar tree and the Padukas seen by Appa in his vision near the temple behind the idol.
On the door of the Sanctum Sanctorum, one finds the 7 Kundalini Chakras from Mooladhar to Sahastradhar carved in such a way that one can see the idol even when the doors are closed. On either side of the door, one even finds carved words summarizing the essence of the 4 vedas.
The idol in the temple is decorated based on the day of the week as either Shankar, Laxmi, Pandurang, Dattamaharaj, Saraswati, Manikprabhu and Gnyaneshwar. It is in this very temple that Shri Anna did a bulk of his nearly 20 year research on Shri Gurucharitra, the first edition of which was published by Dhavle Publications on Vijayadashmi of Saka 1862 (Year 1940 of Gregorian calendar). Anna went on to write/edit other revered books such as Eknathi Bhagwat, Naamjapache Mahatva and Naamchintamani.