Vajreshwari Yogini Devi Temple

According to The Tribune and Outlook Traveller, Chimaji Appa, the younger brother of Peshwa Bajirao I, led the Maratha campaign that took Vasai fort from the Portuguese in 1739. Outlook Traveller reports that before the campaign he prayed to Vajreshwari and vowed to build her a grand temple if he succeeded, and that he built it after the victory; boards at the temple entrance record this history. Wikipedia gives 1739 as the year of completion and Chimaji Appa as the builder.

Writing in 2003, The Tribune described the temple as 'a relic of Maratha glory'. It noted that the gateway is clearly old, while the covered walkway joining it to the sanctum and the cement spires over the sanctum and forecourt are later additions, so the temple has been substantially altered since the 18th century.

Wikipedia records that the village of Vajreshwari is listed, under the name Vajrabai, in the Imperial Gazetteer of India. The temple is managed today by the Shree Vajreshwari Yogini Devi Temple Trust, which the Ministry of Tourism's festival portal lists as the organiser of the annual fair.

Architecture and sacred features

The Tribune describes the temple standing on a hillock beside the road, reached by a flight of 52 steps up to the main gate, with grey stone walls that give it the look of a small fort from a distance. The sanctum and forecourt have concave domed ceilings inside, now capped by cement spires. Smaller images of Ganesha and other deities are carved on the pillars and walls of the forecourt.