There's the usual calm in the Marubai Gavdevi temple located opposite Don Bosco school in Matunga. Navratri decoration and shimmery paint lie outside, where the Pandal and banner are being set up. Goddess Marubai sits peacefully at the centre of the temple – just as she has for more than 400 years. As the 1st day of Navratri arrives, the temple has started preparing for the daily footfall of 5,000 people from various walks of life and has kept 2,000 gifts ready for women devotees who will come on Monday.
According to the legend, the goddess appeared below a Neem tree in the 1700s on the then Matunga island. Nearby villagers started praying to her with the materials they gathered from the forest. With the British arrival in Mumbai, the area was taken up in the road scheme for the redevelopment of the city in 1888. They learned from the locals that the Goddess was Durga, Lakshmi and Saraswati and would bring wealth and education in the area. In 1899, the British allotted 100 plots of the nearby area to educational institutes. Fearing backlash of local villagers who thought it would bring the wrath of the goddess, the British made a temple nearby and shifted the idol there in 1901, where the current temple stands. Many believe that the name of the area 'Matunga' was given by the British by joining the first syllables of Marubai Tekdi Gaav.
Anil Gavand, the managing trustee of the temple, still has the documents from 1888, as well as the logbook kept by his ancestors in 1933. "They have mentioned every anna received and spent and what they bought during Navratri – from ornaments to spices and even til, oil, haldi, kumkum," said Gavand whose great grandfather Govind Gavand's signatures are present in the book.
Gavand remembers the story that his grandfather Bikaji, the Matunga village Sarpanch in the bygone days, had told him about the miracles of the goddess. "There was only one sweet water pond in between all the salt pans of the nearby islands, which was near the goddess. During floods, the water got contaminated and diseases spread. Villagers did 'Abhishek' over the idol and drank that water and became healthy. That's why she is called Marubai, because she saves people from death. She's also Gavdevi, the goddess of villages," said Gavand, who renovated the entire temple by the year 2000 in his 30 years as trustee. He also gives credit to the goddess for never letting him get transferred out of the city owing to his job as a CA in Dena Bank.
Bikaji Gavand was responsible in allotting land to villagers and swore that the nearby plots given by the British for education would be used only for future children. Today, the entire stretch from Matunga, Wadala, Sion, Dadar and Mahim boasts of more than 50 premier educational institutes like Don Bosco school, Ruia College, Ruparel College, Khalsa College, VJTI, SNDT and Welingkar.
An architect from Rajasthan was hired for the temple renovation and saw the social work happening in the name of the goddess. When he received the payment for his work, he thought of starting a school in his village in Agra under the same name. Today, Dr Abdul Jabbar has opened an MBD degree and polytechnic college and may open another medical college under the same name.
These nine days at Marubai Gavdevi temple are going to be complete with songs, stories and performances from all devotee associations nearby.
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