Arasuri Ambaji

અંબાજી

Amba · Maa Amba

Shri Yantra, worshipped in place of an image

Ambaji, Banaskantha district, Gujarat · Shakta tradition

Gujarat Tourism counts Ambaji among the 51 Shakti Peethas, a list whose membership varies between traditions.

The story begins: “The goddess appears to them.”

Read the story
Directions

At the gate

Darshan hours
  • 8:00 am – 11:30 am · Darshan
  • 12:30 pm – 4:30 pm · Darshan
  • 7:30 pm – 9:00 pm · Evening darshan
Next aarti or puja (India time)
See the schedule below
Walking and access
The temple itself is in town, under a kilometre from the bus station by a roofed walkway. More on access
Getting there
Train: Abu RoadAir: Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport, Ahmedabad

Not yet confirmed: dress code, phone rules, entry for visitors of other faiths. Ask at the temple office or enquiry counter — and if you know, tell us. hello@aalayakatha.com

Full visiting details

Sthala purana

The story of this place

2 accounts are recorded. Each is told separately, in the words of its own tradition — they are never merged.

Family note: this story includes violence or death.
Told in: The Devi Bhagavata Purana, Book 7, chapter 30, with the Ambaji temple trust's account of which part of the body is here

Sati's body and the seats of the goddess

The account opens in the Himalaya, with Vishnu and Shiva performing austerities and repeating the goddess's mantra. The goddess appears to them. The sages, led by Daksha, ask that Vishnu and Shiva be restored to their natural state and reunited with their powers, and Daksha asks one thing more for himself: that the goddess be born in his family.

She grants it. One of her powers is born to Daksha as his daughter Sati, and Daksha gives Sati in marriage to Shiva.

The break comes through a garland. The sage Durvasa receives a garland blessed by the goddess and gives it to Daksha. Roused by its scent, Daksha lies with his wife, and the text treats the act as an offence. From then on Daksha begins to abuse Shiva. Sati, to keep faith with her husband, burns her own body in yogic fire.

Shiva's anger takes form as Virabhadra and the Bhadrakalis. Daksha's sacrifice is destroyed and Daksha is beheaded; he is later restored to life with the head of a goat.

Shiva does not let Sati go. He lifts her body onto his shoulders and wanders with it, and the gods grow alarmed at what his grief will do. Vishnu follows and cuts the body into pieces with his arrows. Wherever a piece falls, Shiva remains there in a form of his own, and the place becomes a seat — a pitha — of the goddess. Shiva declares that worship of the goddess at these places will bear fruit. When King Janamejaya asks where the pieces fell, Vyasa recites a long list of seats, each with its own name for the goddess.

The Purana is the source for the story; it is not the source for Ambaji's place in it. That comes from the temple trust, which holds that this is the land where Sati's heart resides — the reason Ambaji is counted as a Shakti Peetha. The same idea explains what a visitor does not find in the sanctum: there is no image of the goddess here, and the trust states that the Shri Yantra is worshipped as the original deity.

Where this account comes from

  • Purana: Devi Bhagavata Purana, Book 7, chapter 30 ("On the birth of Gauri, the seats of the Deity, and the distraction of Siva"), tr. Swami Vijnanananda sacred-texts.com
  • Temple administration: Shri Arasuri Ambaji Mata Devasthan Trust, Ambaji Temple ambajitemple.in · seen 2026-10-09
Told in: The accounts of Gabbar hill given by the Ambaji temple trust and the Banaskantha district administration

Gabbar, the older seat

Gabbar is a small, steep hill about four kilometres west of Ambaji village, and local tradition treats it as the goddess's original seat. The temple trust gathers three episodes there: the goddess slaying the demon Mahishasura, Rama worshipping Amba and receiving an arrow he would use against Ravana, and Nanda and Yashoda bringing the child Krishna for his first haircut. A lamp burns on the hilltop in a niche facing the Ambaji temple.

Read this account

West of Ambaji village, about four kilometres out, stands Gabbar — a small, steep hillock that the district administration describes as the goddess's original seat. Pilgrims who come to Ambaji go up it, and the temple trust ties three stories to the hill.

The slaying of Mahishasura. The first is the oldest in the order of the stories. The goddess Shakti comes down to this place to kill the demon Mahishasura, and from that deed she takes the title Mahishasur Mardini, the slayer of Mahishasura. The district administration also calls Gabbar the abode of Mahishasur-Mardini.

Rama's arrow. The second belongs to the Ramayana cycle. Rama comes to Gabbar and worships the goddess Amba. She blesses him with a divine arrow named Ajay, and it is with this arrow, in the trust's account, that Rama defeats Ravana.

Krishna's first haircut. The third is a family occasion. Nanda and Yashoda bring the child Krishna to Gabbar for his chudakarma, the ceremony of the first haircut, and invoke the blessings of Amba and of Shiva for him. The district administration records the same tradition, calling Gabbar the site of Krishna's head-shaving ceremony.

These stories are why the hill is not a side-trip but part of the pilgrimage. On top, under a pipal tree, footprints of the goddess are worshipped. A lamp burns constantly in a niche that faces the Ambaji temple, and after dark it can be seen from Ambaji itself — a line of sight between the hill held to be the older seat and the shrine in the town below.

Where this account comes from

  • Temple administration: Shri Arasuri Ambaji Mata Devasthan Trust, Gabbar Shaktipeeth ambajitemple.in · seen 2026-10-09
  • Government: District Administration, Banaskantha, Gabbar Hill Ambaji banaskantha.nic.in · seen 2026-10-09

In one minute

Why Arasuri Ambaji matters

Each line says who it comes from and how settled it is. What the labels mean

  1. The temple trust describes Ambaji as a Shakti Peetha and holds that the heart of the goddess Sati resides here.

    Source for: The temple trust describes Ambaji as a Shakti Peetha and holds that the heart of
    • Temple administration: Shri Arasuri Ambaji Mata Devasthan Trust, About ambajitemple.in · seen 2026-10-09

  2. Gujarat Tourism counts Ambaji among the 51 Shakti Peethas, a list whose membership varies between traditions.

    Source for: Gujarat Tourism counts Ambaji among the 51 Shakti Peethas, a list whose membersh
    • Government: Gujarat Tourism, Ambaji Bhadarvi Poonam Fair gujarattourism.com · seen 2026-10-09

  3. There is no image of the goddess in the sanctum; a Shri Yantra is worshipped as the presiding form of Maa Amba.

    Source for: There is no image of the goddess in the sanctum; a Shri Yantra is worshipped as
    • Temple administration: Shri Arasuri Ambaji Mata Devasthan Trust, Ambaji Temple ambajitemple.in · seen 2026-10-09

  4. The Bhadarvi Poonam fair draws more than one and a half million pilgrims, many of whom walk to Ambaji carrying flags.

    Source for: The Bhadarvi Poonam fair draws more than one and a half million pilgrims, many o
    • Government: Gujarat Tourism, Ambaji Bhadarvi Poonam Fair gujarattourism.com · seen 2026-10-09

Shilpa

When you visit, look for…

Architectural style not yet identified

The temple trust describes the temple as built of white marble with golden spires and a red flag. No published architectural study naming its style has been found yet.

  • Sanctum

    The Shri Yantra in place of an image

    There is no image of the goddess. The trust states that the Shri Yantra is worshipped as the original deity, and that devotees worship it with their eyes covered.

  • Spire

    Suvarna Shikhar — the gold-plated spire

    Embossed copper panels, gold-plated by the traditional mercury method, follow the patterns of the existing marble carving. The work was funded from devotees' gold and cash offerings and completed on 17 September 2018.

    Completed 2018

    gold-plated shikhara height: 61 ft
    • Temple administration: Shri Arasuri Ambaji Mata Devasthan Trust, Suvarna Shikhar ambajitemple.in · seen 2026-10-09

  • Enclosure

    Chachar Chowk

    The open square that surrounds the temple, per the temple trust.

  • Temple tank

    Mansarovar Kund

    The sacred tank the temple trust places near the temple.

  • Detail

    The lamp on Gabbar

    A lamp burns constantly in a niche on Gabbar hill facing the Ambaji temple, and is visible from the temple at night.

    Where to stand: At the Ambaji temple after dark, looking west towards Gabbar.

  • Sacred water

    Mansarovar Kund

    Named by the temple trust as lying near the temple.

Yatra

Plan your visit

Darshan times

Morning aarti7:30 am – 8:00 am
Darshan8:00 am – 11:30 am
DarshanThe trust's website gives the close simply as 04:30, which we take to mean the afternoon.12:30 pm – 4:30 pm
Evening aartiThe trust's website lists 07:00–07:30 without saying morning or evening; we take it to be the evening.7:00 pm – 7:30 pm
Evening darshanThe trust's website lists 07:30–09:00 without saying morning or evening; we take it to be the evening.7:30 pm – 9:00 pm

Confirm on the day. Times change on festival days and without notice. These times are not from the temple’s own notice.

Before you go

  • No dress code or entry rules have been confirmed for this temple yet. Traditional, modest clothing is always the safe choice; ask at the entrance.

Walking, steps and access

The temple itself is in town, under a kilometre from the bus station by a roofed walkway. Gabbar hill is steep: the temple trust gives 999 steps, while the district administration describes 300 stone steps at the base followed by a narrow, dangerous track. A ropeway has served Gabbar since 1998.

Crowds: The Bhadarvi Poonam fair brings more than one and a half million pilgrims over several days, with special arrangements for transport, food, parking and security.

Getting there

  • By air: Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport, AhmedabadThe temple trust gives the distance as about 185 km; the Banaskantha district administration gives 179 km.
  • By train: Abu RoadThe nearest railway station, about 20 km away per the temple trust.
  • By road: Ambaji bus stationFrequent buses from Ahmedabad, Palanpur and Mount Abu. The district administration notes the walk from the bus station to the temple is under a kilometre on a roofed walkway.

PIN 385110 (not yet checked with India Post)

The order of darshan

No published source gives the order in which to visit the shrines here, so we have not invented one. Follow the queue and the temple staff.

Festivals

  • Bhadarvi Poonam fairભાદરવી પૂનમ

    Aug–Sep · Bhadrapada, Shukla paksha, Purnima

    A multi-day fair culminating at the full moon of the Gujarati month of Bhadarvo. Many pilgrims make the journey on foot carrying sacred flags; in 2025 it ran from 1 to 7 September.

Customs you will see here

Itihasa

Through time

Two registers, kept apart on purpose: what the Puranas tell, and what the historical record shows. They answer different questions and we do not force them to agree.

In the Puranas and tradition

  1. The seats of the goddess formed from Sati's body

    The Devi Bhagavata Purana gives the general origin of the goddess's seats; the temple trust holds that Sati's heart resides at Ambaji. The Purana does not say in which yuga this happened.

    2 sources for: The seats of the goddess formed from Sati's body
    • Purana: Devi Bhagavata Purana, Book 7, chapter 30, tr. Swami Vijnanananda sacred-texts.com
    • Temple administration: Shri Arasuri Ambaji Mata Devasthan Trust, About ambajitemple.in · seen 2026-10-09

In the historical record

  1. 1960

    Shri Arasuri Ambaji Mata Devasthan Trust established

    A public trust registered with the Charity Commissioner and administered by government officials; the Collector of Banaskantha serves as Chairman and Managing Trustee.

    Source for: Shri Arasuri Ambaji Mata Devasthan Trust established
    • Temple administration: Shri Arasuri Ambaji Mata Devasthan Trust, About ambajitemple.in · seen 2026-10-09

  2. 1998

    Ropeway to Gabbar opens

    Ropeway services launched in 1998 made the climb to Gabbar easier.

    Source for: Ropeway to Gabbar opens
    • Temple administration: Shri Arasuri Ambaji Mata Devasthan Trust, Gabbar Shaktipeeth ambajitemple.in · seen 2026-10-09

  3. 2018

    Gold-plated spire completed

    The Suvarna Shikhar, gold-plated copper panels fitted over the main spire and funded by devotees' offerings, was completed on 17 September 2018. The trust lists 140 kg of gold contributed to the project.

    Source for: Gold-plated spire completed
    • Temple administration: Shri Arasuri Ambaji Mata Devasthan Trust, Suvarna Shikhar ambajitemple.in · seen 2026-10-09

Around here

Worth the detour

  • Viewpoint

    Gabbar hill

    About 4 km west of Ambaji, held to be the goddess's original seat; footprints of the goddess under a pipal tree and a lamp facing the Ambaji temple.

  • Place

    Mount Abu

    The hill station across the Rajasthan border, with direct buses to Ambaji.

Sources

Where this page comes from

  • Temple administration: Shri Arasuri Ambaji Mata Devasthan Trust, Home ambajitemple.in · seen 2026-10-09
  • Temple administration: Shri Arasuri Ambaji Mata Devasthan Trust, About ambajitemple.in · seen 2026-10-09
  • Temple administration: Shri Arasuri Ambaji Mata Devasthan Trust, Ambaji Temple ambajitemple.in · seen 2026-10-09
  • Temple administration: Shri Arasuri Ambaji Mata Devasthan Trust, Gabbar Shaktipeeth ambajitemple.in · seen 2026-10-09
  • Temple administration: Shri Arasuri Ambaji Mata Devasthan Trust, Suvarna Shikhar ambajitemple.in · seen 2026-10-09
  • Government: Gujarat Tourism, Ambaji Bhadarvi Poonam Fair gujarattourism.com · seen 2026-10-09
  • Government: District Administration, Banaskantha, Gabbar Hill Ambaji banaskantha.nic.in · seen 2026-10-09
  • Purana: Devi Bhagavata Purana, Book 7, chapter 30, tr. Swami Vijnanananda sacred-texts.com

Cite this page

Aalaya Katha Foundation, “Arasuri Ambaji”, Aalaya Katha, version last reviewed 2026-10-09. https://www.aalayakatha.com/temple/ambaji (accessed ).

Last reviewed 2026-10-09. How we label sources and confidence