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Temples of Rajasthan - Ambika Mata Temple
by
V.A.Ponmelil
The Ambikamata Temple is situated in Jagat about 58 km from Udaipur. It is called as the Khajuraho of Rajasthan. Even though the temple is small in size, it is quite detailed and dates back to the Pratihara period. Durga, the popular manifestation of the Goddess is the presiding deity of the temple. She is in the image of slaying the demon Mahisha.
The legend says that Durga in order to kill the demon Mahisha borrows the weapons from all of the gods like Shiva's trident, Vishnu's discus, Indra's thunderbolt and achieves the combined power of all the gods together. During the fight, her opponent Mahisha fought much like Proteus in the Greek myth, taking on numerous forms until Durga defeated him by spearing and decapitating him, first in his buffalo and then finally in his human form.
The temple has the exterior walls with decorated figurative panels set in alcoves and is protected by several miniature eaves. The entire construction has numerous other carvings depicting the fine architecture.
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