What is the mystery behind Goddess Maihar’s temple?

This temple is situated in Madhya Pradesh’s Satna district, in a small named Maihar. According to a legend, when Goddess Sati offered herself to fire, Lord Shiva took her on his shoulders and traveled around the entire Earth. To stop the destruction of Earth, Lord Vishnu cut all the body parts of goddess Sati with his Sudarshan Chakra. At Maihar, Sati dropped her necklace and since then that place is famous as the temple of Goddess Maihar.

According to the people of Maihar, the hero warriors of Bundelkhad, Aalah and Udal found the temple when they were fighting a battle against Prithviraj Chauhan. It is said that Aalah performed austerity in that temple for 12 years. Impressed by the penance, the goddess made the temple her home. It is Goddess Sharda which is placed there.

It is due the falling of the necklace (haar) that the temple is famous as the temple of Maihar (मैहर). The greatest disciple of the Goddess is still Aalah. It is believed that even today, it’s Aalah who worship Goddess Sharda first every morning. It’s Aalah who adorns the goddess before anyone else in the morning. The gates of the temple are opened at the Brahma Muhurt, i.e., between 4:25 and 5:12 am. It is after this that others adorn the goddess and worship her.

Worshipers climb 1063 stairs to get the glimpse of the idol of the goddess. The temple is blessed with both faith and mystery. No one stays in the temple at night.