Tulja Bhavani
तुळजा भवानी
Kuldevi, family goddess
Worshipped as Bhavani, a form of Durga, who slew the buffalo demon Mahishasura; the shrine is counted among the Shakti Peethas
At a glance
- Main shrine
- Tulja Bhavani Temple, Tuljapur, Dharashiv (formerly Osmanabad) district, Maharashtra
- Worshipped in
- Maharashtra, Karnataka, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh
- Kept by
- Maratha, Kunbi, Deshastha Brahmin, Sali, Agri
About
Tulja Bhavani is the family goddess of a very large number of Marathi-speaking families. Her main temple is at Tuljapur in Dharashiv district (formerly Osmanabad), Maharashtra. She is best known as the family goddess of the Bhonsle house of Shivaji, and is also kept by Maratha, Kunbi and other families in Maharashtra and in the neighbouring parts of Karnataka, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh. In some places she is also called Ambabai, which can cause her to be mixed up with the Mahalakshmi of Kolhapur. They are separate shrines.
Legend and Origin
The temple's own stories say that the goddess killed the buffalo demon Mahishasura and that the shrine stands where his head fell; priests cite the Skanda Purana for this, and say her name Tulja comes from Tvarita, 'swift' (Swarajya, 2023, reporting the priests' account). Other temple accounts say she destroyed the demon Matanga, and a separate Matangi shrine stands at the back of the main temple (Outlook Traveller, 2017). Wikipedia, citing the Maharashtra State Gazetteers, Osmanabad District (1972), attributes the present stone temple to the 12th century and to a Kadamba mahamandaleshwara named Maradadeva; a travel-site history instead credits the Yadavas. We did not read the 1972 gazetteer, so the builder and date should be taken as unsettled. The image is called swayambhu, self-manifested, by devotees.
How the Deity Is Shown
The image is described as a stone figure about three feet tall with eight arms, holding weapons and the head of Mahishasura (Wikipedia, which cites the Osmanabad gazetteer). Outlook Traveller calls it a rare chala murti, a movable image that is lifted from its seat and returned; Wikipedia says it is moved from its place to the goddess's bed-chamber three times a year. On festive days the image is dressed in saris and jewellery.
How Families Keep the Worship
Families go on pilgrimage to Tuljapur; the 1884 Belgaum gazetteer records Marathi Kunbis doing so. Offering a new sari is common; Swarajya (2023) describes devotees bringing one with drums, and a Gondhal being performed as the offering is carried in. Before darshan pilgrims bathe at the Kallol and Gomukh tirths beside the temple (Outlook Traveller, 2017). The Gondhal is the home rite for her. The Gazetteer of the Bombay Presidency, Belgaum (1884), describes it: among Maratha Brahmans it is held for Bhavani at the thread ceremony, at a wedding, or in the seventh month of a woman's first pregnancy; among other Hindus only at a wedding. It is held at night. The Gondhali head and the head of the family worship a copper pot, filled with milk and water and topped with betel leaves and a coconut, as Tulja Bhavani; five torches are carried round it five times with the cry 'Amba Bhavani'. Practice differs by branch and village. Among the Bhonsle line she is the family goddess; the Bhonsle page on this site also names Shambhu Mahadev of Shingnapur as a Bhosale kuldevata, so families should ask their own elders which of the two is theirs.
Shrines
Tulja Bhavani Temple
Tuljapur, Dharashiv (formerly Osmanabad) district, Maharashtra
The main shrine, on a hill above the town in the Marathwada region. The nearest railhead is Solapur, about 40 km away (Outlook Traveller, 2017).
Bhavani Mandap shrine
Kolhapur, Kolhapur district, Maharashtra
A Tulja Bhavani temple within the old palace premises at Bhavani Mandap, described as the kuldevi of the Kolhapur royal house (Inditales). It is a second seat of the same goddess, not the Ambabai temple.
Festivals
Navratri
Ashvin, the first nine days of the bright fortnight (September or October)
The annual Tulja Bhavani fair is held during Navratri, with devotees, many on foot, arriving for Dussehra (Wikipedia, Tuljapur).
Dussehra (Vijayadashami)
Ashvin Shukla Dashami, the day after Navratri ends
Temple accounts describe the goddess being carried in procession through the town on this day.
Kojagiri Purnima
Ashvin full moon
Large crowds gather at Tuljapur after Navratri, around the Kojagiri full moon (Wikipedia, Tuljapur).
Stories and Legends
Maloji and Bhavani
Kincaid and Parasnis (1918), as summarised on this site's Bhonsle page, record a family story. Maloji Bhonsle, searching a forest at night, saw the goddess Bhavani. She told him a Shiva incarnation would be born in his house and restore Hindu rule, and he later went on pilgrimage to her temple at Tuljapur. The page itself calls this a bakhar-style legend, not a record.
The Bhavani sword
Tradition holds that Shivaji sought her blessing before his meeting with Afzal Khan near Pratapgarh in November 1659, and that she gave him a sword, called the Bhavani talwar, one of three he owned (Swarajya, 2023, reporting priests and devotees). This is devotion, not a documented fact. Two of the temple's gates are named for Shivaji's parents, Shahaji and Jijabai.
Families who keep Tulja Bhavani
Kuls, lineages and surnames that sources tie to this deity. Branches within each may keep another.