The most important days at the Mardol temple are the Jatra (festival) and Navaratri. This is a time when the temple is packed with devotees flocking from all over to receive her blessings and partake in the communities activities. The Jatra or Jatrotsav is usually during the month of Magha and Navaratri Makar Utsav. A Harikeertan is also perfomed during this period.

But, while every day is important, Sundays hold a special significance. Sunday is supposed to be Shri Mahalasa's day! And it is on this day every week, week after week, that the Palakhi Seva
is performed. Shri Mahalasa's idol is taken out in the Palakhi, or palanquin, and around the temple to with songs and bhajans.

A Palakhi seva is an affair not to be missed!

Another feature of this temple, as also in other temples in this part of the world, is the DARSHANS of the oracles. Here, a person is possessed by a benevolent deity and through whom communication is made with the devotees. The Darshana Patris (those who get these darshans) and their associated deities are as follows:

a. Shri Waman Pai (Gram Purush)
b. Shri Sunil Pai (Simha Purush)
c. Shri Vishwanath Pai (Mhal Purush)
d. Shri R.V. Shanbag (Kal Bhairav)

The Darshan of Shri Gram Purush can be viewed on all Sundays

Shri Mahalasa's Kulavis and Mahajans belong to the following "four and a half" Gotras (a form of lineage that is unique to a particular family among Hindus. A boy and girl from the same Gotra cannot marry, because they are considered to be siblings.):

a. Kaunsha
b. Bharadwaj
c. Atri
d. Gargeya
e. Vatsa

While those from the Kaunsha Gotra, whenever they visit the temple, are supposed to worship Shri Mahalasa and then their Kula Purush, i.e., Simha Purush, devotees belonging to the other Gotras should first pray to Shri Santeri & Shri Laxminarayana, and then to Shri Mahalasa and their respective Kula Purush and Shri Gram Purush!

(You may note that there are five Gotras mentioned but the intro said "four and a half": Vatsa Gotris, for reasons not known, are considered to be half Gotris.)


While our full-fledged prayers and poojas are offered only after taking a bath, when we visit the temple after a long and tiring journey, we are supposed to enter these temples and give Dhool Bhet (coming in from the dust, to mention in a literal sense), thanking the Gods (in the order mentioned above) for making this journey possible and so on...

After this is done, one can go to the temple's residential rooms and take a bath and refresh oneself! Only then can the services be offered.

The Bhatmaams at the Mardol temple are:

a. Prabhakar Shridhar Bhat
b. Upendra Gopinath Acharya
c. Waman Vishnu Khedekar
d. Padmanabh Madhav Bhat
e. Krishna Narayana Bhat
f. Waman Sadanand Bhat

 

There are three families of Archakas in the Saunsthan. The family of Bhatji performing sevas on behalf of Gowda Saraswat Brahmin, the family of Khedekar performing sevas on behalf of other Brahmins and the family of Acharya performing sevas on behalf of people of other community.

Shri Mahalasa is worshipped by a large section of the Hindu society. Her Kulavis are mainly Gowda Saraswat Brahmins. While a majority of them are Pais, there are other families too. Some of the family surnames are given below:

Pai Vernekar	Pai Kuchalekar
Pai Raiturkar	Pai Kakode
Pai Kane	Pai Vaidya
Kamath	Acharya
Pai Keer	Shenvi Mhopkar
Pai Nevrekar	Shenvi Bhujale
Mahale	Nayak
Kini	Prabhu
Shenvi	Shenoy
Bhat	Jambotkar
Deshpande	Nadkarni
Kotnis	Sadekar
Pai	Kulkarni
Bhakta	Prabhu Desai

There are, besides GSBs, many families from the Karhade Brahmins, who also consider Shri Mahalasa to be their family deity. Interestingly, they too are from the above-mentioned "four and a half" Gotras. Then, there are some Vaishyas (traders) Sonars (goldsmiths) and so on, who also follow Shri Mahalasa.