Ambamata Temple, Udaipur

According to the tradition recorded by Wikipedia and Udaipur Times, Maharana Raj Singh (r. 1652-1680) suffered from a serious eye complaint that the royal physician could not remedy. He was advised to visit the Ambika Mata temple in the Arbuda hills, but before he set out he dreamed that the goddess herself was coming to Mewar and was shown the place where she would appear. Devotees believe he then had the spot dug and an idol was found, after which he began building the temple.

Wikipedia gives the completion date as Vikram Samvat 1721 (1664 CE). Udaipur Times says the idol was completed in Vikram Samvat 1721 and that, once the temple was ready, both idols were installed with ceremony, and that the Maharana endowed land and buildings so that worship could continue. These are traditional accounts, and they should be read as devotional history rather than archival record.

A small idol near the larger one is said by temple priests, according to Udaipur Times, to have originally appeared near the 'Chauth Mata' spot.

Architecture and sacred features

Wikipedia describes the temple as built on a platform about 20 feet (6.1 m) high inside a tall compound wall, with a courtyard and a Charan Paduka platform. About eight steps lead up to the temple. Above the main gate is a nakkar khana (drum house) flanked by statues of golden lions, and to its west stands the east-facing main temple of white stone.

Udaipur Times adds that the Charan Paduka, the platform where the idol is said to have first rested, is still preserved under a neem tree outside the temple and that devotees bow there first. It describes the temple as plain, with a mandap whose door is set with coloured glass, and with paintings on the door frame showing the Maharanas at worship.