Located at the seashore on the northern side of Malabar Hills, Mahalakshmi Temple is one of the most sacred temples in Mumbai. The temple enshrines three deities, namely Lakshmi, Kali and Saraswati. However, the principal deity is goddess Lakshmi and hence the name Mahalakshmi temple.
The shrine has quite a curious history. It is said that, when the Mahalakshmi temple was being built in around 1785, the Britishers failed in their repeated attempts to connect Mahalakshmi area to Worli, by building Breach Candy, on account of the ferocious tides, ultimately surrendering in all kinds of constructions. It is supposedly connected with the building of the Hornby Vellard. Here, a divine intervention happened, in the process of a dream, dreamt by the project`s chief engineer, who saw Goddess Lakshmi Herself asking him to search for a statue of the Goddess in the sea near Worli. A thorough search recovered it, and he built a temple on it. After this incident, the work continued without any hitch.
The entrance to the Mahalakshmi temple is ornately designed, the inside always abuzz with the vendors of flowers, sweets, incense sticks, and all. The temple contains images of Mahalakshmi, Mahakali and Mahasaraswati respectively. All three images are decked with nose rings, gold bangles and pearl necklaces. The image of Mahalakshmi is shown riding a tiger and a demon (Mahisur) in tandem. During Navratri celebrations, the temple gets a special look; worshippers from all over India come to this holy monument to offer their prayers. Long queues can be seen at that time with devotees waiting in patience to offer their humble offerings to the Goddesses. One needs to climb a few 100 steps in order to get to the main shrine; pigeons can be seen at such a height.
On order to reach the temple, one need to hire a taxi from Mumbai Central Station and go towards West, the landmark being Cadbury Company, Mahalakshmi temple is adjacent to the famous Haji Ali Mosque. It takes 5 to 10 minutes from the station. Also, a public bus from Mumbai Central Road Bridge or Tardeo AC Market can be taken.
Haji Ali Mosque/Dargah, the famous Heera Panna Shopping centre for electronics, Cross Roads shopping Mall, Atria Mall (Worli), US Embassy, Pedder Road, Napense Road are the hot spots for shopping in and around the area, also the Cadbury Factory is near by, for visiting places of interest.
Eminent Hindu Trustee board members maintain a well-balanced infrastructure of the Mahalakshmi temple.
