Place · Shakta pitha · India
Ambajogai
/ɐmbaːdʒoɡaːi/
Also known as Amba Jogai, Ambejogai, Mominabad, Yogeshwari Nagari
Ambajogai is a town in Beed district of Maharashtra, in the Balaghat range of Marathwada, roughly 25 kilometres from Parli Vaijnath. It is built around the Yogeshwari temple, a major Devi shrine that serves as kula devi for many Deshastha Brahmin and Chandraseniya Kayastha Prabhu families across Maharashtra and Karnataka. The town also houses the samadhi of Mukundraj, considered the earliest Marathi philosophical poet, giving Ambajogai a dual identity as Shakta pilgrimage and early Marathi literary site.
- Date
- c. 12th century CE onward
- Periods
- Regional Flourishing, Islamic Age and Bhakti Traditions, Early Modern Age, British Colonial Age, Republic and Living Practice
- Function
- Sacred site & pilgrimage
- Confidence
- Established / referenced
- Location
- 18.729, 76.384
Worth knowing
The town has a striking cluster of Yadava-period rock-cut caves and stone monuments including the Kholeshwar and Barashivling caves, indicating substantial early medieval activity. Under the Nizam of Hyderabad it was renamed Mominabad, and the pre-1947 name persisted until Marathwada's merger with Bombay State in 1956 restored the Marathi name. It is paired with Parli Vaijnath as a Shaiva-Shakta twin pilgrimage in Beed district.
Connections (1)
- Site adjacencyParli Vaijnath, Beed
Ambajogai, 25 kilometres from Parli in the Balaghat range, holds Yogeshwari, the family goddess of a great many Marathwada households, so the district carries a Shaiva and a Shakta pole within a morning's travel of each other. Pilgrims combine them as a matter of course. Ambajogai also holds the samadhi of Mukundaraj, whose Vivekasindhu is among the earliest works of Marathi literature, which gives the small town a third claim entirely.
Sources
Wikipedia, “Ambajogai”. Archaeological Survey of India and State Archaeology monument records, and the standard regional literature.
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