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= Datta Mandir Vakola =

Summery
Shree Gurudev Datta Mandir in Vakola is a source of great solace for the devotees of Lord Dattatraya. As soon as one enter the shrine, one loses track of time and of the external world. At the enterance of the temple there is Ashwattha tree and nirmal padukas of Shree Datta. The calm and pure murti of Lord Dattatreya, flanked by Lord Ganesha on the right and Lord Hanuman on the left, makes one feel at absolute peace with oneself.

Bhajans, in the praise of Shree Datta, are sung here in the accompaniment of taals, 365 days a year with no exception. this nitya kram starts promptly at 7.30 Pm everyday and goes on till 8 Pm after which aartis of Shree Ganesh, Shree Datta and Shree Hanuman are performed. On Thursdays, the bhajan karyakram starts at 8 pm and gets over by 9 Pm, after which the aarti is performed followed by the tirtha and khichdi prasad.

Most of the important festivals such as Guru Pournima and Datta Jayanti are celebrated in the temple on grand scale.

History
The Datta Mandir of Vakola is one of the oldest temples in Mumbai. The history of this Mandir goes back to the year 1924, when a sadhu from northern India happened to visit the spot. At the place where Shree Datta Mandir stands today was just an audumber (cluster fig) tree. On seeing the audumber sapling, the sadhu declared that the place was a gupt-sthana of Lord Dattatreya, and instructed that a Datta shrine be erected at that place.

Under the Sadhu’s guidance the Shree Datta Paduka (in brown stone) was installed near the audumber sapling on the auspicious day of Gudi Padwa, Chaitra Sh Pratipada in the year 1924. Subsequently, three more murtis (idols) were installed: first, of Lord Shree Dattatreya (Bal Murti) in an unconventional sitting (Ardha-padmasana) posture; second, of Lord Shree Siddhivinayak also in sitting posture; and third, of Shree Maruti in standing posture with folded hands.

It is believed that these idols, sculpted in Jaipur, were brought in a procession from the Santacruz railway station to the site. The idols were ceremonially installed on 3rd July 1924, Aashad Sh Pratipada.

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Shree Datta Mandir Vakola is one of the only temples managed by Chitrapur Saraswats. At that time there were four Saraswat families staying at this location Shri Nadkarni Laxmanrao Dattaram, Shri Naganand Gulwadi, Shri Bhavanishankar Hattangadi, and Shri Dattaram Balvally. These families jointly took the initiative of building the Datta Mandir with generous assistance by other local residents.

In the initial years daily viniyogas were performed largely by Saraswat Archaka: Shri Laxman Rao, Shri Bhavanishankar Hattangadi and then Ved Mallapur Bhavanishankar, who after retirement from Chitrapur Math came to Vakola and stayed with Shri Naganand Gulwadi and served our temple till his last breath.

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The Silver Jubilee (25th anniversary) of Shree Datta Mandir was celebrated in year July 1949.

In May 1954, after an evening of bhajans organised by the families of Shri Naganand Gulwadi and Shri Bhavanishankar Hattangady, Shri Naganand Gulwadi suggested to Shri Shankar Balvally, son of late Shri Dattaram Balvally, to extend the space of the temple up to the mature audumber tree. The hall was completed by the time Datta Jayanti in 1954 and then onwards bhajans were performed in this hall. Special Thursday pujas and kirtans were also arranged in this hall. As Shri Naganand Gulwadi hailed from Shirali he introduced Deepnamaskar, Shankarnarayana geet and Mangalpad as in our Shirali math. Ever since, this nityakarma has continued.

In 1957, His Holiness Shrimat Anandashram Swamiji graced the temple by camping at Vakola during official tour. Once again in 1960 returned along with Shishya Swamiji H. H. Parinanashram.

Shri Shankarmam Balvally passed away in 1957 and his wife Smt. Indirabai became the owner of the temple.

The temple celebrated its Golden Jubilee year in 1973-1974 and Shri Naganand Gulwadi honoured the event as the kirtankar and read out the Shrimad Bhagavad Katha. Guru Purnima and Datta Jayanti were celebrated grandly that year with bhajans and kirtans. As it was a private temple the funds at the disposal of the temple were very meagre and it was also very difficult to raise funds. To overcome this problem, Shri Naganand Gulwadi mooted the idea of forming a trust. Shree Gurudev Datta Mandir Trust was hence formed in 1979. Shri Naganand Gulwadi was the founder member of the trust and Smt. Indirabai Balvally was chosen as the chairperson of the board of trustees.

The formation of this registered trust facilitated collection of funds for the temple. Shri Naganand Gulwadi relentlessly pursued collections for this fund by visiting people right from Colaba to Virar to Thane. Thanks to his herculean efforts a collection of approximately Rs. 3 Lakhs was achieved, and to this day the daily running expenses of the temple are met with the interest earned from this amount.

After so ably steering the management of the temple, Shri Naganand Gulwadi and Smt. Indirabai Balvally passed away in 1995 and 1996, respectively. Shri Durgadas Bailoor was appointed as the new chairperson and Smt. Archana Udiaver daughter of Late Shri Naganand Gulwadi joined as secretary of board of trustees.

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The year 1998-1999 was celebrated as the Platinum Jubilee of Shree Datta Mandir. In January 1998 Shri Durgadas Bailoor requested Shri Satish Gulwadi, son of Late Naganand Gulwadi, to join as trustee. To make the jubilee celebration a success the trustees of Datta Mandir drafted a 5-phase plan. In the first phase were grand celebrations of Gudi Padva, Ram Navami, and Hanuman Jayanti. Then in the second phase Parama Pūjya Shrīmat Sadyojāt Shaṅkarāshram Swāmiji was respectfully invited for a day in order to seek blessings and getting guidance. In the third phase bhajans, kirtans, Bhagvad Katha Vachan, hom and havans were performed as instructed and guided by H.H Shrīmat Sadyojāt Shaṅkarāshram Swāmiji. During the fourth phase Parama Pūjya Shrīmat Sadyojāt Shaṅkarāshram Swāmiji camped at Vakola, and a four-day stay was arranged at Shri Satish Naganand Gulwadi's residence. This four-day visit was a divine blessing to all Saraswat Samaj and devotees who visited Datta Mandir during H.H Swamiji’s presence. The fifth and final phase witnessed the spectacular celebration of Datta Jayanti Saptah and thus capped a remarkable and memorable year for all devotees of the temple.

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In the years 2003-2005, after many years of wear-and-tear, the temple hall was redeveloped. But, through these two years there was no halt in the daily bhajan programme and aarti was conducted on all days, by the grace of Lord Dattatray.

A monthly Purnima Palki Utsav was started around 2014, inspired by the palki seva done at Narsobawadi. Thanks are due to Mr.Sunil Kargutkar and Mr.Anish Margi who took the effort to learn padas from Narsobawadi and implemented it for our palki seva along with the help and guidance of Shri Satish Gulwadi.

2020 was a very difficult period for the entire world with the deadly havoc raised by the coronavirus. During this dark time we lost two of our most important devotees Mr. Rajan Perker and our beloved Shri Satish Gulwadi, the most active trustee who worked tirelessly for the temple till his last breath. It was Shri Satish Gulwadi’s vision to make the Centenary year a grand success and his sudden demise was a shock to all devotees.

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The year 2023-24 marks the Centennial Year of the temple and the Shree Datta Mandir Trust invites all devotees to join the celebrations and come to seek the blessings of Lord Dattatreya on this historic occasion.