On our way to Dwarka, we were told by our driver about Krishna’s kuldevi mandir of Harsiddhi Mata. (see map location)

Not sure what a kuldevi is? Here’s a video from Sadhguru on kula deities

This temple is at Gandhvi, a small seaside town on the route between Porbandar and Dwarka. The main shrine is in the town. I found it very powerful. The Aigiri Nandini chant was playing in the background and I meditated there for quite some time.

There is another temple for this mata on a small hillock in town. This temple on top of the hill is said to be established by Krishna himself. However, it is now only a ruined shell. My family went and visited it while I was meditating below. It overlooks the sea and has a lovely view.

There is a car road that takes you to the temple. And there is a route by steps also. Either ways you can go there. It would take you about 10 minutes or so from the town temple.

Is Harsiddhi Mata Really Krishna’s Kuldevi?

We asked the poojari in the Dwarkadish temple and he said, Krishna’s kuldevi was Amba mata. He cited some random story to make his point. But he wasn’t convincing. Moreover, it goes against their monetary interests, if he were to promote other nearby temples. There is an Amba shrine in the Dwarkadish temple. If she is the kuldevi then more people would conduct special poojas there, thus he would benefit.

So, I can’t say whether Harsiddhi mata is really the kuldevi of Krishna. I thought the shrine was a powerful one. And Wikipedia has an interesting story,

The original temple atop the hill is said to have been built by Krishna himself. Krishna wanted to defeat the asuras and Jarasandha so he prayed to Amba Mata for power. With the blessings of the goddess, Krishna was able to defeat the Asuras. After this success, he built the temple. When Jarasandha was killed, all Yadavas over overjoyed (harshit) and they celebrated their success here. Hence the name Harshad Mata or Harsiddhi Mata. She has since been worshiped as kuldevi of Jadejas(Yadavs)

source: wikipedia

This suggests that Amba may have been the kuldevi of Krishna but then he established this temple and the devi here was names Harsiddhi mata. So in a way she can be considered a form of Amba.

Read about the temples of Somnath Jyotirlinga town.

Harsiddhi Mata Temple Town

The Harsiddhi Mata town is fairly small. Apart from these two mata temples, there is another mahadev temple. It is by the sea. The marketplace is really quaint, didn’t seem there was much to shop there.

The air has a salty tang to it and makes for a nice halt on your road trip. Nearby, at the beginning of the town, there is the Gujarat tourism restaurant called Toran. It has good Gujarati thalis. You can also ask for the Rotla and gud (jaggery)..it is delicious and made with freshly ground flour.

Have you been to this temple? What was your experience?