|
|
| |
| |
 |
|
| |
|
|
| |
|
|
| |
History
of Agarashala
Just as Shree Naroram Mantri got the inspiration to build the beautiful
temple for the Devi, Shree Ramachandra Malhar Sukhatankar got the
inspiration to build Agarshala (guest house) for the benefit of
the Devi's devotees travelling from far places to seek her blessings.
The Agarshala built by him two decades back had become old and was
in need of repairs. It was also not found to be suitable for the present
style of living. The inspiration to repair and renovate the Agarshala
was received by one of her devotees, Shree Durgarao Shantaram Borker,
an Engineer by profession. After inspecting the Agarshala he felt
that instead of repairing the old Agarshala, it would be better
to build a new Agarshala having self-contained flats with water,
electricity, water connections, bathroom, etc. facilities. This idea was well
received by the then Chairman of the Shree Shantadurga Sansthan
Committee and also by other well known personalities from amongst the
Mahajans (Devotees whose family deity is Shree Shantadurga devi). After
due discussions, Shree Shantadurga Seva Samiti (committee) was
formed to start and execute the work of construction of the Agarshala
after demolishing the old Agarshala and also to arrange for repairs
and renovation of the Main entrance door and the Nagarkhana. This
Samiti collected donations from Mahajanas of the Devi as well as
from those of Shree Mangesh for meeting the construction work expenditure.
The Government of Goa supported the efforts by bringing the electricity
and water connections till the temple complex. The work of construction
of the new Agarshala with 24 flats started on 22 January 1965 at
the auspicious hands of Goudpadacharya Shree Sachidanand
Swamimaharaj (Kavalem Muth). The work was completed as per schedule
and the house-warming of the new Agarshala was done on Paush Shukla
Saptami, Shake 1887 i.e. 30 December 1965.
Facilities at the Agrashala
The temple has a well built agarshala [guest house] of 98 self
-contained flats. Each of these blocks comprise of one room and
one kitchen with toilet/bathroom facilities. When the agarshala
was originally built, there were only 24 flats, 12 each on the
ground floor and the first floor of the building. In the recent
past the agarashala was expanded and more rooms were added. At present
agarshala has 24 flats each on the left and right sides of the temple
(12 flats each on the ground floor and the first floor of the building)
and 26 flats on the back side of the temple premises (13 flats each
on the ground floor and the first floor of the building).
Shree Shantadurga devasthan agarshala was the only one of its kind
among all the devasthans agarshalas in Goa which provided all the
kitchen facilities to the people in the rooms like utensils, stove
etc. and it also provided hot water geysers in all the bathrooms
in the agarashala.
Currently the devasthan does not provide the kitchen utensils, stove
etc. but the kitchen room is still there and hot water geyser facility
is still available to the visitors. Along with this, the blocks
are provided with 3 mattress, 3 bedsheets, 3 pillows.
The rent of the each block in the agrashala is Rs. 75/- only per day
and is uniform for all the 98 blocks in the agrashala. The rates
are the same and fixed all throughout the year and also during all
the utsavs.
The
blocks are allotted only to the Mahajans/Kulavis whose Kuldaivat
[ family deity ] is Shree Shantadurga Devi and for a maximum period
of 5 days only. The bookings for the blocks can the done by sending
an application by post or over telephone, to be followed by a money
order of Rs. 75/- [minimum for one day] in favour of Shree Shantadurga devasthan or to be paid at the devasthan temple itself while at the temple. This advance sent is adjusted aginst the room rent. On cancellation, there would no refunds done.
For bookings in Agarshala, postal money order may be sent at the below address or may be booked online through Credit Card facility provided through this site.
Kamavisdar,
Shree Shantadurga devasthan,
post office Kavlem,
Goa. 403401.
Telephone : +91 - 832 - 2312557
The
booking for the flats during Jatra utsav and Magh Panchami is required
to be done 45 days in advance and during all remaining utsav seasons
30 days in advance. Since during these seasons about 1000-1500 applications
are received for booking of the blocks, allotment of the flats
is done by way of lottery system.
During the utsav seasons like Jatra utsav and Magh Panchami, etc.,
the agarshala gets fully booked. while during the monsoons it is
almost vacant.
Apart from these housing facilties, the devasthan also provides
a marriage hall with facility for providing lunch and a Puja/Vidhis
hall and a Santarpan hall. There is also a Khanaval [canteen] which
provides pure vegetarian food made in Karwari style. These facilites
have been made available in the newly constructed housing building
on the right hand side while entering the temple through the mahadvar.
The rate of the marriage hall is about Rs. 5700/- per day. Amount to be paid in advance. On cancellation, Amount is not refunded however it can be postponed to some other day as per the availability of the Hall. The Santarpan
hall is used during the Santarpan utsav and for Puja Prasad.
|
|
