Salasar Balaji or Salasar Dham in is a place of man, the Thakur of that village ordered the idol to be religious importance for the devotees of . It is shifted to Salasar and placed at the temple for the re- located in the town of Salasar, on National Highway 65 ligious rituals to be performed. He brought two bulls, near in , . The temple placed the idol on its cart and left them in the open courts of Balaji, another name of Hanuman, is situated in the believing to build the temple at the place where the bulls middle of Salasar and attracts innumerable worshippers would stop. The place where the bulls stopped was given throughout the year. On and the present name of Salasar. Many of the villagers, shop- Purnima, large fairs are organised that attract devotees keepers and traders shifted their living to Salasar and thus as they pay homage to the deity. a new village was formed. Salasar Balaji is in the religious circuit that includes the pilgrim centres of Rani Temple and Khatushyamji, which are both located close to it. Initially a small con- 2 Temple struction, the temple of Salasar Balaji is now considered to be a Shakti Sthal (a place of power) and Swayambhu 2.1 Deity (self creation) by faith, belief, miracles and wish fulfil- ments of the devotees. The principal deity of the temple is Hanuman who re- ceives veneration along with other deities. Of the idols of Hanuman found in Hindustan, that at Salasar Balaji is unique because it has a round face with moustache and 1 Legend beard. It is believed that drinking water of the wells of the Salasar is due to the blessings of the Balaji.[2] There are several theories concerning the origins of Salasar Balaji. 2.2 Construction One claims the discovery of the site by Ginthala Jat of Asota village in district of Rajasthan. On one The temple was constructed in 1754 AD. Inspired by a Saturday of shukla Navami samvat 1811 (1754 strange dream in which Balaji featured, the founder of AD), a miracle happened. A Ginthala Jat farmer of Asota the temple, Mohandas Maharaj, constructed a mud-stone village was ploughing his field when all of sudden the temple initially with the help of Muslim craftsmen Noora plough was hit by a stony thing and a resonating sound and Dau of Fatehpur . The place was later de- was created. He dug up the soil of that place and found veloped into a concrete temple with the help of the suc- an idol covered with sand. His wife reached there with cessor of Jagirdar Rao Devi Singh who contributed his lunch. The farmer showed the idol to his wife. She in the construction of the temple as he was once saved cleaned up the idol with her saree. The idol was that of from the loot by Dungji-Jawaharji by the blessings of Bal- Balaji (Hanuman). They bowed their heads with devotion aji. Later, inspired by Mohandas’ devotion towards Bal- and worshipped Balaji. The news of appearance of Balaji aji, his descendants Kaniram and Ishwardas developed soon spread in the Asota village and reached the Thakur and renovated the temple which took the present form of of Asota. That night Balaji appeared in Thakur’s dream a large temple complex. A patta of the land was made in and ordered him to send the idol to Salasar in the Churu the name of Balaji in the presence of Shobhasar Thakur district. Same night a devotee of Hanuman, Mohandas Dhiraj Singh, Salasar Thakur Salim Singh and elders of Maharaj of Salasar saw Hanuman or Balaji in his dream Tetarwal Jats.[2] too. Balaji told him about the idol of Asota. He immedi- ately sent a message to the Thakur of Asota. The thakur was surprised to discover that Mohandas knew even mi- 2.3 Architecture nor details without coming to Asota. Certainly it was due to the divine powers of Balaji. The idol was sent to The temple was constructed over a period of about two Salasar and was consecrated at the place presently known [1] years using bricks, stones, cement, lime mortar, and as Salasar Dham. white marble. While white marble is used extensively A slightly modified version to the same story indicates throughout, the entire circulatory path, the Sabha Man- that upon seeing the dream of appearance of the Hanu- dap (prayer hall) and the Sanctum Sanctorum are covered

1 2 5 REFERENCES

with artistic works of gold and silver. The vestibule, the 3.1.2 Savamani doors and the utensils used in worshipping are made of silver. The main gate is made up of carving works of The other widely followed practice is the offering of food white marble. The temple shrine and the sanctum sanc- (weighing up to 50 kg) by the devotees to their deity, re- torum are decorated with floral patterns and other kinds ferred to as Savamani. The term “Savamani” is derived of mosaic works done in gold and silver to give the temple from the word “Sava” meaning one and a quarter in Hindi a rich look. The idols are high-quality sculptures.[2] and the word "Mun" or "Maund", a mass unit weighing about 40 kg; thus adding the total up to 50 kg. Though the food is mostly prepared by the cooks of the temple 2.4 Administration kitchens, the process is now being outsourced to several independent shopkeepers & food-caterers due to the in- While the worship of the deity is managed by the creasing number of offerings every day. Several delica- priests from the Dadhich clan, the temple is cies like , Baati, Churma, Boondi, Peda & is managed and maintained by the trust Hanuman Sewa chosen for Savamani. The food after first being offered Samiti. They also look after the management of the to the deity, is later used as part of family celebrations, distributed over to family and relatives or donated to the fairs, social works, public and private facilities such as [2] the maintenance of road, water supply, charitable hos- needy. pitals, in the village. Over the years, there have been many Dharamshalas and restaurants constructed here to stay and eat comfortably.[2] 3.2 Activities Some of the regular activities of the temple include:[2] 2.5 Timings • Regular worships of the deity The temple is open to devotees from early morning 4:00 • Performing Aarti on fixed time slots am till 10:00 pm in the night. However, the temple is not closed at all on some special occasions such as Hanuman • Feasting of Brahmins and other mendicants Jayanti.[2] • Recitation of Ramayan

• 3 Religious Aspects Recitation of & • Arrangement for Savamanis The aim of the temple is to propagate the devotion of • Hanuman and thereby the devotion of Rama. Thousands Recitation of Sundar Kand on every Tuesday in of visitors choose to come on feet, while some on pros- union by the singers. trated movement showing their intensity of devotion for • Balaji.[2] Arrangement of stay for the visitors

3.1 Rituals 4 Festivals and fairs

3.1.1 Coconut Tying • Sri / Chaitra shukla Chaturdashi and Purnima.[1] Of many rituals and traditions performed at the temple, the most widely followed is the tying of coconuts with • Ashvin Shukla Chaturdashi and Purnima moli (sacred red threads) in the temple premises by a • large number of devotees. It is widely believed that such Bhaadra Shukla Chaturdashi and Purnima practice helps them to fulfil their wishes, if done with sin- cere faith. The practice was originated by the Jagirdar of Sikar, Rao Raja Devi Singh. Devi Singh did not have a 5 References son. He heard about Balaji and came to this place and tied a coconut on a tree to fulfil his wish of having a son. [1] “About Salasar Balaji”. Retrieved 9 March 2012. He was later blessed with a handicapped son Rao Raja Laxman Singh after ten months. Thus the custom of ty- [2] “Salasar Balaji Temple Profile”. Retrieved 6 March 2012. ing coconuts to fulfil wishes continues at the temple from that time onwards.[3] [3] “Temple of Salasar Balaji”. Retrieved 9 March 2012. 3

6 External links

• Temple Profile

• Ramgarh Shekhawati • Shekhawati Bazaar 4 7 TEXT AND IMAGE SOURCES, CONTRIBUTORS, AND LICENSES

7 Text and image sources, contributors, and licenses

7.1 Text

• Salasar Balaji Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salasar_Balaji?oldid=740298370 Contributors: Bearcat, Utcursch, Mamizou, Jayjg, Rich Farmbrough, LRBurdak, Sfacets, Tabletop, Feydey, DaGizza, Bgwhite, Petiatil, Rsrikanth05, Shyam, SmackBot, Yamaguchi, Akanksh, Chris the speller, Rrburke, GourangaUK, Shyamsunder, Waggers, WinBot, Ekabhishek, MER-C, Busyanuj, ComputerVisionGuy, Tinucherian, The Anomebot2, Cpl Syx, Esyog, R'n'B, Pharaoh of the Wizards, Trusilver, Ginsengbomb, Katharineamy, Jaisingh rathore, Funandtrvl, Anna Lincoln, Logan, Desiapollo, Adu jaat, Flyer22 Reborn, Sitush, ImageRemovalBot, The Thing That Should Not Be, Boing! said Zebedee, Niceguyedc, Jusdafax, Sun Creator, Manojdwivedi, Arjayay, XLinkBot, Ism schism, Rorkadian, Addbot, Thaejas, Lihaas, Luckas-bot, Yobot, SwisterTwister, AnomieBOT, Materialscientist, J04n, Shadowjams, Tapariahitesh, Redrose64, Calmer Waters, FoxBot, Sibku, Andashopa, Brambleclawx, LcawteHuggle, Nyxaus, John of Reading, Dilip4starplus, GoingBatty, Tommy2010, Kuldeep.hmh, Shreyesh somani, Anandpincha, Gauravkochar, Uselessnut, Socialservice, ClueBot NG, Work2win, Widr, Ankushksharma, Vikas0407, BG19bot, Krenair, Msrag, SimmeD, DietFoodstamp, Tripnoted, None but shining hours, Dexbot, Telfordbuck, Wikiuser13, Nitace9, Hemantagarwal99, Pujariashish, Avibatra, H.shekhar2000 and Anonymous: 113

7.2 Images

• File:India_Rajasthan_location_map.svg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/36/India_Rajasthan_location_ map.svg License: CC BY-SA 3.0 Contributors: • Rajasthan_locator_map.svg Original artist: Rajasthan_locator_map.svg: by User:Planemad • File:Om_symbol.svg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b7/Om_symbol.svg License: Public domain Contribu- tors: No machine-readable source provided. Own work assumed (based on copyright claims). Original artist: No machine-readable author provided. Rugby471 assumed (based on copyright claims). • File:Salasar_balaji_02.jpg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fc/Salasar_balaji_02.jpg License: CC BY-SA 4.0 Contributors: Own work Original artist: Dausaanoop

7.3 Content license

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