History Of The Golden Parasol At Jwala Ji Temple, Vaishno Devi.

Do you know that the Mughal emperor Akbar worshiped Jwala Mata and had even offered a Chattar/ parasol made from Gold in the temple? Well, while many already know this, what might be unknown to them is that the parasol, was originally offered in gold, but since Mata did not accept it, the Chhattar just then turned into an unknown element.

During the reign of Akbar, Mata Vaishno Devi was largely worshiped by the Hindus. The emperor was unhappy to see the growing faith of his people in the religion. He decided to test the power of Devi Durga.

During the same time, among the devotees, was one person, named Dhyanu. He was popularly known as Dhyanu Bhakt.

Once he was on his pilgrimage to the Vaishno Devi Shrine. When Akbar came to know about him and his pilgrimage, he summoned him to his court. Dhyanu Bhakt presented himself before the king. A debate took place there in which Dhyanu Bhakt argued that Durga Mata is the greatest of all, greater even than a king.

The Minister of the king accused Dhyanu Bhakt of raising his voice before the king and of not accepting the king as the the greatest. They asked him to prove the prowess of Devi Durga. Dhyanu Bhakt explained that since he was no such big a devotee that he could prove the prowess of Devi Maa, so he could not do the same.

Hearing this, the king ordered that the head of the horse that Dhyanu Bhakt had taken along, be cut down.

Dhyanu Bhakt condemned the act and asked the king to keep the head and the torso for a month and that Maa Durga will come and make the horse alive again.

Dhyanu Bhakt then continued his journey ahead. When he reached the temple, he requested Devi Maa to help him prove how generous and almighty Jwala Maa was. But maa would not agree to prove her prowess before someone who has no faith in her. So She didn't respond.

But Dhyanu Bhakt had undeterred faith in her. Seeing that she was not responding, he struck his own head off.

Goddess Durga now had no option other than to appear and save her devotee. She not only made alive her bhakt, but also the horse that was being kept in the king's palace.

With this generous act, Durga Mata proved not only that she is really the almighty but also that Dhyanu Bhakt was her true devotee.

But then Dhyanu Bhakt was worried that since every devotee would not make such a big sacrifice, he therefore requested her to accept the prayers made with coconut and a flag. Devi Maa agreed to his wishes.

On the other side of the scene, while the head and the torso got intact again, the king would not agree and drop his ego. His minister tried all he could to stop the famous 'Akhand Jyot' of Devi Maa, the continuous diyas. From covering the flame with big iron sheets to flooding them with water, everything failed.

Now when nothing worked out, Akbar and his minister, finally dropped their ego and agreed that Maa Jwala was really the almighty.

With this notion in his mind, the king came to the Jwala Ji Temple, Vaishno Devi, to offer a parasol made of gold to the Goddess. Just the moment he offered it before Jwala Mata, the Chhattar turned into one of a metal different from gold.

This clearly meant that the Goddess was unhappy with the king. Not only because he had done the sinful act of getting the head of the horse chopped off, but also because he had been offering that golden parasol out of pride and not with a pure heart.

Finally, the king offered paan, supaari, dhwaja, nariyal and a chunari at the Devi's temple.

The parasol is still kept in the temple premises. It is believed that this metal could not be identified then. However, the modern science says that the chhattar mostly contains many mixed elements.